RSS
ATOM
advertisement
Media Microscope: Your British Tabloid Transfer Gossip Report Card
Do any of these guys actually get their rumors right?
Sep 2, 2010 1:10:00 PM
By Seth Vertelney
Ah, transfer gossip. We all love to decry its existence, saying it’s all frivolous rumor and unfounded hearsay yet still, in the end, we can’t turn away. We might not like to admit it, but it’s our patronage of the very gossip we disparage that keeps the rumor mill churning each silly season.
We scoff when we see a report that Manchester City will offer £300 million, plus access to half the oil reserves in the United Arab Emirates to Barcelona for Leo Messi and Andrés Iniesta, but damn it if we don’t click on it anyway. And therein lies the problem.
Because this gossip isn’t leaving us anytime soon, perhaps the better idea is to try and vet out the sources that are actually reliable in the throw-stuff-against-the-wall-and-see-if-it-sticks world of English tabloids.
I tried to keep track of any many rumors as I could that were being flung about over a six week period: from the beginning of May until just around the beginning of the World Cup on June 11.
Now that the transfer window is shut, we can look back at these rumors and see which, if any, had a shred of validity. It’s certainly not all-encompassing, but at least provides a snapshot in hindsight as to whether any of these guys actually knew what they were talking about.
The Good
The Guardian: Looking back, The Guardian got their rumors correct more often than not, sometimes even months before the rumor came to fruition.
• 5/1- “Everton favourites to sign Jermaine Beckford from Leeds United.” On 5/31, Beckford signed a four-year deal with Everton.
• 5/15- Oliver Kay: “Manchester United are determined to beat Chelsea to the signature of Jack Rodwell.” Though it didn’t happen this transfer window, Sir Alex’s interest in Rodwell was later widely reported.
• 5/15- Stuart James: “Wolverhampton Wanderers hope to sign Steven Fletcher from Burnley.” On 6/3 Wolves did just that.
• 5/17- Everton Gayle: “Manchester City are poised to make a £24m offer for Aston Villa's James Milner,” Three months later, Milner joined Man City in £18 million deal, plus the £8 million-rated Stephen Ireland.
• 5/26- Stuart James: “Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing the Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies in a deal that could mean Jermaine Jenas moving in the opposite direction.” Not so much.
• 5/27- Daniel Taylor: “Manchester City target £35m Edin Dzeko from Wolfsburg and David Silva, give up on Fernando Torres.” Dzeko never arrived, but Silva did on 6/30 for £24million.
• 5/30- Dominic Fifield: “Chelsea have paved the way for Joe Cole's departure from Stamford Bridge by formalising their interest in the Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun, with the Israeli confident a transfer can be completed over the next week.” It wasn’t the next week, but on 7/2, Chelsea snapped up Benayoun from the Reds.
The Average
Daily Mail: Surprisingly, the Mail wasn't too bad and even more surprisingly, their nameless and faceless "Sportsmail Reporter" was more accurate than many of their named reporters.
• 5/4- Simon Jones: “Liverpool want England and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole to spearhead an Anfield revival” Well played Simon: on 7/19, Liverpool signed Cole.
• 5/5- Matt Lawton: “Chelsea have made a dramatic move for Fernando Torres that they hope will catch Manchester City cold and take the Liverpool striker to Stamford Bridge for a British record transfer fee that could reach £70million.” £70million? In a word: no.
• 5/5- Sportsmail Reporter: “Chelsea are ready to tempt AC Milan with a £70million double bid for Alexandre Pato and Thiago Silva.” Ready, maybe. Willing? No.
• 5/5- Sportsmail Reporter: “Real Madrid look set to beat Manchester City to the £30million signing of Argentina winger Angel di Maria.” The unnamed one is correct, as on 6/29, Real Madrid agreed to sign Di Maria for €25 million.
• 5/8- Sportsmail Reporter: “Wolves are ready to offer £3million for Hull's Stephen Hunt after the winger was told he could leave for a cut-price figure.” This is true. On 6/21 Wolves announced the signing of Hunt.
• 5/9- Joe Bernstein: “Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy is set to end up in the Champions League after all -- by moving to Tottenham this summer in a cut-price £6million deal” No Joe, Bellamy went on a season long loan to Cardiff City on 8/15.
• 5/10- Sportsmail Reporter: “Liverpool expect to sign Rangers defender Danny Wilson over the next 48 hours.” The timing was off, but on 7/20, Rangers agreed to sell Wilson to Liverpool.
• 5/10- Sportsmail Reporter: “Everton are closing on a £3million deal for 1860 Munich's young striker Peniel Mlapa.” Nope. On 5/26, Hoffenheim signed Mlapa.
• 5/18- Sportsmail Reporter: "West Ham hope to close a deal for France international Sidney Govou this week." Hope wasn't enough. On 7/2, Govou signed with Panathinaikos.
• 5/19- Christopher Davies: "Alberto Aquilani could be leaving Liverpool and heading to Juventus in an exchange deal involving Brazil international Felipe Melo." No exchange, but on 8/21, Juventus nabbed Aquilani from Liverpool on one year loan.
• 5/22- Stephen McGowen: “Celtic forward Aiden McGeady is shock £9m target for Spartak Moscow.” Mr. McGowen got this one: on 8/13, McGeady signed with Spartak.
• 5/23- Bob Cass: “Chelsea are about to launch a £26million bid for Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric” No.
• 5/24- Ashley Gray: "Chelsea eye cut price Darijo Srna as Shakhtar Donetsk prepare to cash in on £20m-rated Croatia defender." Chelsea may have eyed him, but Shakhtar didn't cash in, as Srna stayed put.
• 5/27- Sportsmail Reporter: "Arsenal are interested in Lorient’s £8m-rated centre back Laurent Koscielny." On 7/7 Arsenal announced the signing Koscielny for a reported £10 million.
• 5/31- Sportsmail Reporter: "Manchester City to flex financial muscles by beating Liverpool to Athletic Bilbao's Javi Martinez." Man City flexed and posed, but Martinez went nowhere.
• 6/2- Simon Jones: "Edin Dzeko set for Manchester City switch: Roberto Mancini is closing on £36m Wolfsburg ace." Maybe just copy and paste this one next transfer window?
• 6/3- Sportsmail Reporter: "Yaya Toure's Barcelona exit talks are set to pave the way for £20m move to Manchester City." One month later, Yaya joined brother Kolo at Man City.
• 6/7- Rob Draper and Bob Cass: "England and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole is ready to turn down Manchester City and make a dramatic switch to Arsenal after the World Cup." Two reporters, one wrong report.
• 6/9- Sportsmail Reporter: "Fulham are closing in on the £8million signing of striker Dieumerci Mbokani." Incorrect. On 7/30 Mbokani signed with AS Monaco.
The Sun: Like the Daily Mail, The Sun hid several of its reports behind a veil of anonymity. This anonymous reporter, unlike the nameless one at The Mail though, was completely off.
• 5/3- Rob Beasley: "Steve McClaren is to take charge of Bundesliga side Wolfsburg." Beasley had it right, as on 5/11, Wolfsburg confirmed the appointment of Steve McClaren as new manager.• 5/6- No name: "Kasper Schmeichel is eyeing a deal with Champions League finalists Bayern Munich" I guess I was eyeing a deal with Bayern too, then. Schmeichel joined Leeds United 7/1.
• 5/11- Antony Kastrinakis: “Patrice Evra is ready to quit Manchester United this summer - with Real Madrid and Inter Milan ready to pay £18million." Evra, as usual, is back with Manchester United.
• 5/13- Shaun Custis: “Birmingham will move for Wigan midfielder Charles N’Zogbia today. Fulham left-back Paul Konchesky is another target while Manchester United’s Ben Foster will replace on-loan keeper Joe Hart.” Ben Foster did complete a move to Birmingham. The other two? Not quite.
• 5/15- Andrew Dillon: "Yossi Benayoun is a surprise transfer target for double-chasing Chelsea." This one was even before The Guardian's similar report. On 7/2, Chelsea signed Benayoun from Liverpool.
• 5/17- No name: "West Ham are set to snap up France star Sidney Govou on a free from Lyon." On 7/2, Govou signed with Panathinaikos.
• 5/19- No name: "Manchester City are set to make a £22million raid for French ace Yoann Gourcuff." Not much was heard from Gourcuff until he signed with Lyon on 8/23.
• 5/21- No name: "Valon Behrami is set to become the first West Ham player to be offloaded this summer. The Swiss winger is a 5 million target for Serie A side Palermo." Behrami wasn't the first West Ham player offloaded, nor was he offloaded at all.
• 5/28- Martin Blackburn: "Manchester City will test Valencia's resolve to hang on to Spain winger David Silva this summer." On 6/30, Silva has completed his £24million move to Manchester City.
• 5/31- Antony Kastrinakis: "Arsene Wenger has lined up a £21.8million deal for Bordeaux ace Yoann Gourcuff - his No 1 choice to replace Cesc Fabregas." Same paper, different team, still wrong. Gourcuff signed with Lyon on 8/23.
• 6/2- No name: "Jimmy Bullard is joining Celtic after Newcastle pulled out of the race to sign him." Bullard remained with Hull City after the close of the transfer window.
The Bad
News Of The World: A whole lot of wrong, as you'd expect.
• 5/2- No name: "Inter want to send controversial striker Mario Balotelli to England, with West Ham an ideal destination if Gianfranco Zola stays in charge at Upton Park." This seemed odd even at the time and on 8/12, Balotelli moved to Manchester City.
• 5/8- Martin Hardy: "West Ham will begin their rebuilding process by signing Martin Petrov on a Bosman free transfer." On 6/22, Petrov agreed to terms with Bolton Wanderers.
• 5/9- Aidan Magee: "Harry Redknapp is gearing up for next season’s Champions League campaign by making a move for Real Madrid superstar Raul.” Raul joined Schalke at the end of July.
• 5/9- Jeremy Butler: “Chelsea’s Michael Ballack looks in line for a return to German football with Schalke.” Right country, wrong team. Ballack signed with Bayer Leverkusen on 6/25.
• 5/9- Neil Ashton: “Steve Sidwell is on the verge of a cut-price move to Fulham after being told he can quit Aston Villa.” It didn't happen. Sidwell stayed with Villa.
• 5/15- Andy Dunn: "Roman Abramovich will reward Double-winning boss Carlo Ancelotti by backing a sensational move for Kaka." Abramovich is probably now happy Dunn was full of hot air.
• 5/15- Garry Doyle: "Tottenham striker Robbie Keane will NOT be joining either Wolves or Sunderland this summer." Correct, but...what an odd thing to report.
• 5/15- Andy Dunn: "Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is set to signal his commitment to the club. He will make an offer of up to £4.5million for Bristol City striker Nicky Maynard." Hodgson signaled his commitment to Fulham by…bolting for Liverpool on 7/1. Maynard stayed at Bristol City by the way.
The Ugly
• 5/1- Football Spy: "Aruna Dindane is on the brink of signing for Blackburn." No. On 5/24 Dindane signed with Lekhwiya of Qatar.
• 5/6- Darren Lewis: "Arsene Wenger is set to make £10million defender Pape Malickou Diakhate the first new signing of his Arsenal revolution." Another no. On 8/30- Lyon inked Diakhate to a one-year loan contract.
• 5/7- James Nursey: "Aston Villa lead the race for Crystal Palace starlet Nathaniel Clyne as unsettled defender Luke Young prepares to quit." No and no. Both players stayed put.
• 5/8- John Cross: "Real Madrid are planning another record breaking transfer deal this summer with a £120 million offer for Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi." Why stop at £120 million? Why not just say £1 billion?
• 5/8- John Cross: "Chelsea veteran Deco will hold talks with Fluminense this weekend to negotiate his Chelsea exit." They got one! Fluminense signed Deco on 8/7.
• 5/11- Alan Nixon: “Harry Redknapp is ready to sign David James for Tottenham on a free transfer." On 7/30, James signed with Championship side Bristol City.
• 5/12- James Nursey: “Birmingham have made an official enquiry for Carlton Cole as West Ham prepare to sell the striker.” Wrong again. Cole stayed at West Ham.
• 5/15- Paul Smith: "Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will attempt to start his spending in preparation for the Champions League next season by signing Manchester City defender Micah Richards for around £6million." See what I mean by "paragon of inaccuracy?"
• 5/16- Brian McNally: "Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is poised to beat North-East duo Newcastle United and Middlesbrough to the signing of Rangers striker Kris Boyd." On 7/5, Middlesbrough confirmed the signing of Boyd. So, no.
• 5/22- Neil McLeman: “Yaya Toure wants to move to Chelsea despite the lure of joining his brother Kolo at Manchester City,” Guess the lure of joining his brother was stronger than McLeman thought.
• 5/23- Simon Mullock: “Steven Gerrard is ready to quit Liverpool after the World Cup Finals." Maybe he meant the 2014 World Cup Finals?
• 5/23- Steve Stammers: “Robbie Keane is set to move from Tottenham to Aston Villa in a £15million deal.” Robbie Keane moved nowhere.
• 5/26- James Nursey: "John Carew heading to Italy (Fiorentina or Sampdoria) as Villa raise funds for Keane or Zamora." Hmmm...no, no, no, no and....no.
• 5/27- Alan Nixon: "Cardiff City are making an astonishing move to bring Craig Bellamy 'home' - and the Manchester City ace may help the amazing bid" Nice scoop, as on 8/15, Bellamy joined Cardiff City on a year's loan.
• 6/1- Alan Nixon: "Chelsea's Slovakian World Cup winger Miroslav Stoch is ready to sign for Turkish giants Galatasaray in a surprise £2.5million deal." Another case of right country, wrong team. Stoch joined Fenerbahce on 6/10.
• 6/2- Alan Nixon: "Ambitious Fulham are set to sign Frederic Piquionne in a £2million deal after agreeing a fee with French giants Lyon." Well, if by "Fulham," Nixon meant "West Ham," then he was correct.
• 6/5 Paul Smith: "Joe Cole will return home from the World Cup and join Arsenal on a free transfer." Liverpool, not Arsenal, signed Cole on 7/19.
The Rest
I did examine other publications, but didn’t get enough reports to do a proper exposition. Here’s a quick round up:
Average: The Times, Telegraph
Bad: The People, Daily Star, Daily Express
What have we learned? Nothing but an old journalistic standard: know your source. A news story that says "Report: xyz," is just that, a report. It's one source re-reporting what another already has. And if the original source is News of the World, or The Daily Mirror, well, believe it at your own peril.
Seth Vertelney is an assistant editor of Goal.com. Follow him on twitter, you know you want to.
Thank you for your comment!
Please enter your name
Please enter your location
Please share your comment!
3 Comments
Advertisement
Inside Goal.Com
-
DEMPSEY'S DIARY: Playing in the World Cup was the ultimate dream
In his latest diary entry for Goal.com, the U.S. international and Fulham midfielder talks about playing in his first World Cup despite a back injury and what it meant to score.
-
ROGERS: Capello resigns as coach, but the villain is FA chairman Bernstein
Capello and John Terry are far from blameless in the England saga, but the real culprit is the FA chairman.
-
LABIDOU: Is MLS falling behind? The league's new younger direction
With high-profile players like Nicolas Anelka and Luca Toni rejecting MLS for other developing leagues, is the league falling behind its competition?
-
ROSANO: Mexican soccer needs to address referee treatment
Nick Rosano argues that Mexico's continued officiating problems may have less to do with referees themselves and more to do with how they are treated by the federation.
-
VERTELNEY: MLS owners take to Twitter to spread their team's word
"Any time you tweet, it's a mini press conference," says Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson.
Advertisement
Advertisement
