PRL

press in totally made up story shocker: http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1780_3833326,00.html

I used to be of this view, but taken from a personal angle, the Daily Telegraph wrote an article about the company i work for and in a piece of no more than 200 words they got the company's business wrong, they got our location wrong, they got all kinds of figures totally wrong. Now, i'm not saying it's the same thing, but this was an article in the finance section of the Telegraph, a supposedly reputable source writing about things that any of us could find on the internet if we did a small amount of research. They didn't even apologise, just withdrew the article from their website 2 weeks after publishing, corrected everything they got wrong and put it back up. I'd imagine the quality of journalism in the sports section of your average tabloid is substantially worse and so can only imagine what percentage of what they write is actually correct. Yes, occasionally are scoops, but stories that gradually worm their way out, such as the Aimar story, seem to be when a dripped rumour becomes an avalanche so everyone repeats it to avoid seeming like they were missing something. If it's a load of bollocks, who cares. I honestly reckon that if you just watched players and listened to what they said in press conferences you could decipher whether they were completely happy at a club as well as monitoring clubs to see how healthy they were financially / what their transfer policy is / has been then you could have a more accurate stab at an entire summer of transfer activity than what any of the papers do.

It is a bit depressing. I strongly believe a lot of what is being said is absolute bullshit, but in the modern era of everything being communicated as fact to all and sundry, it can be doing us no good having hacks constantly write about us being rejected by various players. Footballers aren't exactly notoriously bright and i'm sure they check the odd footie site now and then (if they've all got feckin facebook and bebo, one would think they have managed to master the basics of using a computer). It's kind of like being tried for a crime you didn't commit, it doesn't matter whether you're innocent or guilty, once the Daily Mail get hold of it, you're fucked either way. Hope i'm wrong though.

Cole was on the news when i got home from school... Shearer was when i was round a mate's house chilling out during school holidays and my mum came hammering on the door, which she had never done in my entire life, so i totally shat myself that something dreadful had happened... It wasn't helped when she started her sentence with 'your granddad's just been on the phone'... Then she said 'You've signed Alan Shearer', i sprinted past her and straight home, put teletext on and nearly burst into tears i was so excited. One of those moments i'll never ever forget. Fuck off with the 'where were you when Diana died' that i often hear asked, it's all about where you were when Alan Shearer signed, that exact moment you found out it wasn't a lie... I can only imagine what it would feel like to win something, but Shearer signing will always remain up there for me until that day finally comes.

Did you continue reading down to this bit: At 3:53pm on Tuesday 15th July 2008, Aimar was transferred to Newcastle United from Real Zaragoza for a fee of £7.6M. He will wear squad number 8. Later that day, at 4.19pm he was sold to Sunderland, although the deal is resting on his nationality being changed to Irish.

Terrible SPG...

He's saying that all the extra information available these days is mostly bullshit; it was far more exciting and worthwhile when we knew nothing about signings beforehand. He's depressed that nothing seems to be happening, but he knows full well that he's depressed for no good reason. The real reason he should be depressed is that we were crap last year. hehe, i see i must read things completely differently to everyone else... My bad, then

Erm...what exactly is wrong with that text? Pretty much spot on in my opinion. Hmmm... k, well i'm looking like being outvoted on this one, the whole thing came across as a rambling whine to me, half bitching at the club for there being no gossip going around and half saying if gossip did go round we'd fall on our ass because of it... Maybe i read it incorrectly, but i have re-read a couple of times and it seems still seems like some mid-90s bandwagon jumper with schitzophrenia(sp?) getting annoyed because we aren't in the press every day.

Dave - seriously, you think that's a good letter? The guy can barely string a sentence together and things such as: "Tabloids are speculating faster and wronger than ever before. Why? Because nothing newsworthy is really going on." "When Andy Cole went to Man Yoo, I was gutted. He was crap before we sold him, but he was still my hero." "Ah the mid-nineties I was happier then. I didn't have to watch Sky Sports News for hours waiting for some Newcastle-related things to happen. I didn't have to peruse endless blog sites looking to burden someone with my opinion. My mum wouldn't let me phone Teamtalk, It was too expensive, and mostly as much crap as it is now. I wasn't as...obsessed." (not even sure what the hell this means!) "But it is not enough. They aren't satisfying because 'we' (I should stress at this point I have never played for Newcastle United) still haven't won anything. Man Yoo fans will be listening to Giggs regail them with tales of 2 CLs and 10 EPLs. We get John Beresford telling us how much Steven Taylor has improved." "So what is the reason we are all miserable? Because Newcastle were crap last year. " All that irked me somewhat...

For the love of god, it seems some expect rather more... Although i can't even decipher what the below is even trying to say. If anyone has 5 spare minutes please send something to F365 to let them know we aren't all total retards: A Depressing Summer For A Toon Fan Every day I come to your website, multiple times a day, when I should be working. I'm mostly waiting for a bit of news on my team (Newcastle United). I am deeply unhappy with the summer. Not only is it a lot colder than it should be but not much has been happening at NUFC outside the Joey Barton 'fiasco' (Honestly, a blind baby panda bear could have seen that coming, no?). So I have tried to self-reflect and explain the emptiness we all feel in July. We have all played Championship Manager and we have all won. We have all signed Ronaldhino and Gerrard because we were challenging for the CL final. We have lived through the emotion simulated on a PC and now we want to see it in real life. The problem is computer games only take seconds to simulate weeks, and we want all the transfers done in the hour and half it took us last night in our bedrooms. But in reality, at a club (like NUFC which is looking more stable than it has done since Uncle Bobby was in charge), that sort of quantity of news isn't generated. Tabloids are speculating faster and wronger than ever before. Why? Because nothing newsworthy is really going on. Nowadays in an age of information at our finger tips 24/7 via the internet that fans have an insatiable desire for 'info'. We want to know exactly what schemes Keegan is concocting for the match at Old Trafford, who's coming for a nosey round the stadium. I remember when you used to have to check teletext every day, all year because there were no transfer windows. Still most transfers happened in the summer, but they weren't given the same credence, the same importance as they have with the current generation. When Andy Cole went to Man Yoo, I was gutted. He was crap before we sold him, but he was still my hero. I knew nothing about it til it happened. But that made it more dramatic. When Shearer turned down Alex and jumped into bed with Kev, I didn't know about it til it happened. But that didn't matter, because I knew about it WHEN it happened. I didn't really need to know before because I didn't know Alan Shearer and couldn't have greased the wheels to get him to sign for Newcastle. I still want to know before 'it' happens, but telling me is not really a good idea. Why? Cos I'd blab to everybody, and the club I support would look stupid if it didn't come off. (And there might have been a ManYoo fan who was listening and then they'd have paid more and got Shearer.) Ah the mid-nineties I was happier then. I didn't have to watch Sky Sports News for hours waiting for some Newcastle-related things to happen. I didn't have to peruse endless blog sites looking to burden someone with my opinion. My mum wouldn't let me phone Teamtalk, It was too expensive, and mostly as much crap as it is now. I wasn't as...obsessed. It isn't the club's fault. It's mine. I know I have an obsession. I invested in the club emotionally. All they are offering is a ticket to come and watch them kick a ball around. They aren't offering to be my mates, or to take me out on the lash. They actually make a lot more provision than they used to. Stories every day about NUFC on their website. There are places I can go and talk to other similarly deranged folks... But it is not enough. They aren't satisfying because 'we' (I should stress at this point I have never played for Newcastle United) still haven't won anything. Man Yoo fans will be listening to Giggs regail them with tales of 2 CLs and 10 EPLs. We get John Beresford telling us how much Steven Taylor has improved. That is the essence of the problem. We haven't signed anybody who will win us the league because we aren't good enough to challenge. We need to improve year by year and really the big stadium, the high-profile players, the 'loyalty' of the fans, well ultimately all that stuff means nothing without even a League Cup. Even Spurs have the League Cup. So what is the reason we are all miserable? Because Newcastle were crap last year. Michael J McGowan (Does that J make my name look fat?) http://www.football365.com/mailbox/story/0,17033,8744_3817216,00.html Maybe we've just discovered DaehtihS's real name...

"All London Evening papers" There used to be two (there was one called the 'Evening News' in the 70s) now there is only one. Sorry, I don't know what you mean!!! There are now two London 'free' evening papers released, the London Lite and the London Paper, these are in direct competition with the Evening Standard and are given out to people free on the streets. Concentrate mainly on London-based Sports news, but do occasionally branch out if the story is juicy enough. The 'free' papers here are mainly morning ones (The Metro) or weekly ones. I don't hink we get any 'free' evenings. Got to admit i was of the view the standard is dying a death, stalls seem to be disappearing as everyone takes the free evening papers which are basically heat / crap sports news. But i must also agree the Standard is Daily Mail written shite. As is the Metro. It's all about the Londonpaper, you're at least guaranteed a few pics of some celeb hotties for the journey home

Think that's the first time i've laughed out loud at work at a message board post...

A whole new thread to speculate that a random club who may have bid for a player is us?! dunno if this even warrants being in 'realistic summer targets'!

Yesterday they didn't even know he was coming, now all of a sudden they know the in's and out's of his payslip. Amazing. And have they not got his old club wrong, he's Valez Sarfield (sp?) not Newell Old Boys. Just goes to show that the journalists don't even check the most rudimentary of facts (i've not checked here so am fully prepared to be shot down if i've got this wrong!)

And what the hell would that be? Urban Dictionary; HAHAHAHA Funny as fcuk!!! Sweet Jeezas. What will these sex pervers cum up with next. Monkey face and donkey punch would be two that spring to mind...

Doom monger

Very very impressed with the way this has been done, but admit to knowing nothing about the player, pretty exciting stuff...

Exactly this

So, would you be saying you wouldn't welcome him as a signing then? For us, he'd be class and i'd welcome him as he's miles better than anything here, but for the likes of Barca where he'll be playing in the Champions League i think its too much. I'm not saying he's not a good player because he is, but he'll never be great like he's been hyped up to be. Ah, in which case, totally agree with you, more concerned people were implying they wouldn't have him here, which would be madness

So, would you be saying you wouldn't welcome him as a signing then?

People not think that maybe Barcelona made their approach in the run up to a Russia v Spain semi final of a major tournament in an attempt to get him to choke? Look at the quotes from him, he's always dreamed of playing for Barca, club he supported as a boy, never thought he'd ever realistically stand a chance of playing for them. Then just takes one phone call and a Zenit statement to make him think that the next game he's playing in is not only the biggest game of his international career as there is a euro championship final place at stake, but also his big chance to make his dream come true in a game the whole of Spain and, more importantly, Barcelona will be watching? That's a fuckload of pressure for someone who isn't used to being in the spotlight and could go a long way towards explaining last night. If someone has voiced this opinion earlier on, apologies, i didn't flick back through... For what it's worth i'd still take him in a heartbeat, class player. Amazing to see people slating him after one bad game, still can't work out if that's sarcasm or not? Anyone who has watched him play for Zenit in the UEFA cup this year (not going to claim to have seen any russian domestic games, but have seen a lot of the UEFA cup games) will know that he'd be an exciting signing. Yes, he may not work, but that's a gamble we're going to have to take whoever we sign. The post above about Duff sums some of the short-sightedness up well, to describe Arshavin as Duff mk II when you have said 'a 27-28 year old who needs to adapt to a new league' - pretty sure Duff was about as proven a premier league player as you can get. Pretty sure Carr, Babayaro, Butt, Parker and many more had proved themselves at other clubs prior to joining us, it didn't exactly guarantee they were resounding successes.

Evening Chronicle, Shields Gazette, Sunderland Echo. Yep yep, more a reference to their headline choice... It's like they've lifted it straight from here!

Looks like Football365 have even jumped on the bandwagon, if you take a look at the headline on the side of their page at the minute... (can't be doing with learning image linking!)

England regular. Don't English players cost a lot of money? We've no need to sell and Liverpool have behaved disgracefully throughout this sage, so I suspect MON is determined to make it as difficult and expensive as he possibly can. I don't blame MON at all but I cannot see Pool bettering that offer, then its back down and sell him or put up with an unhappy player. If Carrick and Hargreaves are worth £18m then Barry is worth at least £20m in my view.

Not sure if already mentioned but Ramsey has signed for Arsenal