The Athletic “gutting” British newspapers

[Pogue Mahone]

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[mitchmouse]

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Hell of a lot of change, all at once. Consequence of “traditional” newspapers running out of cash?

not many top top names there

 

[Wumminator]

What’s this about an August 5th launch? Can’t see anything online about that but I may just be being dumb.

Don’t know where I heard the 5th of August, must have been a guess! Anyway it’s live now, have a look!

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Imagine a new football department, they said.

Imagine hiring some of the best journalists in the country.

Imagine having the time and resource to plan and execute in-depth articles in a world where West Bromwich Albion matter just as much as Manchester United, where the inside story at Burnley is put together with the same passion as the lowdown on the latest managerial change at Chelsea.

Imagine ignoring the world of sensationalism and trying to share better – and untold – stories. Trying to stand out in the clickbait crowd.

No, this is not a bad reworking of a John Lennon song. It’s The Athletic UK and from today we are bringing our journalism to you.

 

[Werder Herzog]

Basically, a bunch of reporters already up their own swiss will become further enshrined. These announcement tweets are cringe worthy.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Some personal news...

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I might sign up for a year and see how it goes. I'd be hoping for some in depth statistical analysis devoid of click bait deception.

If its just going to be opinion pieces and in depth stories on how player x's relationship with his pet poodle got him through the emotional darkness of an ankle injury then I'm not interested.

 

[Fletchageddon]

Sports writing done well is a true joy. Fair play and good luck to them, I’ll probably give it a go.

For all those whining about sports journalists who only read the tabloids...maybe give it a go too? That’s like only eating strawberry sherberts and saying all food is crap.

Theres so much nuance to football, at every level and this platform looks to let these guys discuss that.

 

[Irrational.]

I think it'll work. This is no different to subscription based magazines etc.

It may also breed a whole new generation of ITKs.

 

[reelworld]

Their NBA coverage is top notch tbf. I don't know how it will translate to football though

 

[Ever Moas]

Ideally they'd just take Ronay and put him behind a paywall and leave everyone else as is

 

[sincher]

Most footie journos are ten a penny. I am busy unfollowing all those who have joined the athletic so I can avoid links to paywalled stuff. Shame Daniel Taylor went, but guess what I am over it already.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

To be honest most of the British jounos have embarrassed themselves this Summer by showing they have actual very little sources and few connections with clubs. I already have an Athletic sub for NBA news so I guess I can read.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

So. Is it any good?

Based purely on tweets hyping articles behind the paywall, I’m getting the impression they include photo by photo breakdown of formations and player movements with those wee arrows and dots G Nev uses on MNF.

So my initial response is, obviously, feck that shit.

 

[Damien]

So clearly the two most important questions about this are:

• What is @Wumminator's pen name on there?
• What will David Ornstein change his twitter handle to now? theathletic_dave?

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Andy Mitten and Laurie Whitwell will be covering United over there.

 

[MUFC OK]

Literally couldn't care less about these so called journalists. None of them have any clue or inside scoop on what is going on, hope they take their convoluted, narrative driven, sarcastic 'blog' articles elsewhere for someone else to blow wind up their arses.

I agree they see themselves as celebrities these days, in reality most are just football trivia fans with English literature degrees. It annoys me that I even know some of these names.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Would I get banned for posting links?

 

[Damien]

Would I get banned for posting links?

You can post links but not the full article. We've had legal issues in the past from even 'free to read' sites about posting the whole article on here.

 

[Brophs]

Andy Mitten and Laurie Whitwell will be covering United over there.

And Wumminator, who they headhunted from an Internet forum, apparently.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I'm tempted to give this a go. If you subscribe in August you get 50% off for the year, which i think works out to £30 for the whole year. I like Raphael Honigstein and Michael Cox so i may give it a go. Hopefully there's a free trial.

 

[rotherham_red]

I signed up this morning. It's really good and has a lot of strong content re Utd. Andy Mitten is one of the contributors.

They've also just uploaded a story with the inside track on how Maguire was signed.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I signed up this morning. It's really good and has a lot of strong content re Utd. Andy Mitten is one of the contributors.

They've also just uploaded a story with the inside track on how Maguire was signed.

Any statistical analysis?

 

[lifted]

I'm tempted to give this a go. If you subscribe in August you get 50% off for the year, which i think works out to £30 for the whole year. I like Raphael Honigstein and Michael Cox so i may give it a go. Hopefully there's a free trial.

I think you get a 30 day free trial, but need to add your card details first and remember to cancel.

 

[rotherham_red]

Any statistical analysis?

I haven't seen any but only had a cursory glance.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I think you get a 30 day free trial, but need to add your card details first and remember to cancel.

Cool. I'll give it a look later.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Any statistical analysis?

They got Micheal Cox on board and he normally does that sort of stuff.

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[Classical Mechanic]

They got Micheal Cox on board and he normally does that sort of stuff.

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Cheers. I think I'll give it a shot. £30 is peanuts really.

 

[Dan_F]

Free trial for 30 days it’s worth a go. I’m on holiday for 2 weeks, so I’ll get plenty of time to check it out. I didn’t realise you get access to all the other sports too, makes it worth it even if like me you just casually follow them.

 

[Guy Incognito]

Tempted to subscribe or take up the free trial offer. It looks impressive at first glance, though I don't like headlines which scream 'here's what really happened' when they are just passing off hearsay, the words of others and in most cases general knowledge.

So glad Barney Ronay and Jonathan Liew stayed put where they were. Easily the two best sportswriters.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Tempted to subscribe or take up the free trial offer. It looks impressive at first glance, though I don't like headlines which scream 'here's what really happened' when they are just passing off hearsay, the words of others and in most cases general knowledge.

So glad Barney Ronay and Jonathan Liew stayed put where they were. Easily the two best sportswriters.

Agreed. Although you should check out Ken Early. He’s on a par with those two IMO.

 

[Baxter]

Was tempting and will probably go for the free trial, but a quick look at the Scottish stuff and just Old Firm. Not very appealing.

 

[Gavinb33]

I have subscribed its only £30 for the whole year during August I spend more than that on 3 gins some nights

 

[adexkola]

They got Micheal Cox on board and he normally does that sort of stuff.

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This is a really good article. I'd subscribe if this is what you can expect everything they come out with something.

 

[ArmandTamzarian]

I've jumped onboard too, this article about the agents and transfer window nonsense was a good read.

https://theathletic.com/1112938/201...s-what-really-happens-in-the-transfer-window/

 

[Nick7]

I've jumped onboard too, this article about the agents and transfer window nonsense was a good read.

https://theathletic.com/1112938/201...s-what-really-happens-in-the-transfer-window/

Signed up for the trial and came to post about this. That was a good read definitely.

 

[fps]

Barney Ronay's my favourite sports writer by a mile. But I wouldn't pay to read him behind a paywall.

 

[BusbyMalone]

This is a really good article. I'd subscribe if this is what you can expect everything they come out with something.

I'm going to wait until the season kicks off then i'm gonna opt for the free trial. I'll decide by the end of August if i'm going to continue, as that's the cut off for the 50% off deal.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Have to say I like it already. The have some round tables with the journos too so you can ask them questions on the articles. They had one on the Maguire transfer.

 

[BobbyManc]

This is hilarious only because Neil Custis is very very upset on Twitter that he wasn't handpicked from the rag that he writes for and is handling it all in the most mature manner possible.

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