If you can’t trust the BBC…

From today’s BBC Gossip Column…

Chelsea are closing in on the transfer of Fiorentina defender Branislav Ivanovic. (The Times)

For those thatdon’t know, the column in question is just a collection of tales from the tabloids, updated throughout the day, and a guarenteed way to get loads of hits during the silly season that is the transfer window.

However the above extract is from today’s… oh dear. Just to confirm, the original story in The Times did not make the same mistake. Branislav Ivanovic is indeed already a Chelsea player. As this picture will attest to.

It’s slightly pedantic to point that out but when the BBC, the bastion of journalism in the UK / the world can’t even get a fact right regarding the big four, BIG FOUR, BIG FOUR then something is wrong.

Maybe the window is rotting their brains and they find it as rtedious as everyone else. Only three and a bit days to go thank God.

My first Superdraft

Anyone who has followed this blog since the start will have follow my conversion from MLS-o-phobe to having a Toronto FC tattoo enscribed on my forehead, or somewhere in between.

No. 1 draft pick – Steve Zakuani is headed to Seattle Sounders

Last year I began to follow them about midway through the season and therefore I missed out on the hoopla of the pre-season draft. If I’m honest, at the time I wasn’t even aware when or where it was taking place.

However today that all changes. Today (in fact, now) the MLS Superdraft 2009 is happening and I am watching it live thanks to the wonders of illegal streams.

It’s worth remembering, as excellently pointed out by Yahoo Sports, that this is the poor relation in terms of American sports drafts. Unlike their version of football or basketball, the power and money lies in Europe and so the best play gravitate towards there. Their best young talents at the moment such as Adu, Altidore and Bradley are already over here and the same article points out a great college player is on his way to Denmark (!). So it’s not as if their league is where home players strive to perform.

However in a way I suppose is akin to the Charity Shield over here it is seen as the curtain opener for the new season.

I’m not going to commentate on the whole thing because I’ve been watching for 20 minutes already and they’ve made about five selctions. Five rounds of 13 players I know nothing about is not something I can persevere with even in the name of this blog. Plus I’ve also just noticed that copy and pasters extraordinaire Goal.com are actully producing some fresh content and doing a liveblog of the event. So go there if you want the full ins and outs or the official MLS site listing.

Some things stand out to me even after less than an hour of viewing. In England you get people snubbing moves to places like Hull and Sunderland because they don’t want to live in the area and be 3-5hrs away from their family. Yet here, you have teenagers or people barely 20 years old being told where they will go, and could be anywhere in the US, but they are delighted simply to have the chance to play professionally. I’m not eulogising the attitude or ven making a direct comparison between the countires but it is a refreshing sight nonetheless. If I was from Toronto or New York and told that Real Salt Lake had drafted me and I had to move to Utah, I would not jump up and grab the scarf, but I guess it’s the whole college sports mentality.

Watching the coverage also makes me realise how much better American sport is covered on tv in general (bar the amount of adverts) and the level of analysis, even for a niche sport such as soccer, just seems so much better thought out than the equivalents over here.

Another thing, it’s so refreshing to watch coverage of what is basically football transfers and not see the best players automatically snapped up by the best clubs. I know it’s the entire point of the draft system but it’s worth highlighting anyway.

The thing is, most of these guys drafted today will barely make any first team appearances it seems but you can tell by looking at previous drafts that this is not a worthless process. Occasionally you’ll get number one draft picks live up to the hype before too long, such as Maurice Edu, and someone who get picked without much fanfare but turn out to be much better than expected such as Clint Dempsey.

At this point, the first round is nearly up. Toronto have drafted a lad called Sam Cronin who is a defensive midfielder and apparently ready to step into the first team already which is a bonus. O’Neill White was our second choice, fourth overall and is Canadian so that will probably help fill some sort of nationality quota.

I’m going to quit here because there is a long way to go and according to the commentators the drafted people may well be traded before the day is out so they’ll be wearing a new scarf and stating how much they’ve always wanted to play for (insert team here) within hours. Also my stream has disappeared. But it was fun while it lasted and the MLS season is sort of officially underway which makes me actually slightly excited which is odd considering when it kicks off properly I will rely on youtube highlights to keep up. In short, go TFC.

Transfer deadline watch

I generally hate the transfer window because it’s an excuse for all bad papers to print simply made up rumours rather than attempt any actual journalism.  However the last day is always good fun.  I think that’s mainly because I am a Spurs fan and we have a penchant for concluding deals at 23.58 in the evening.  So, for the rest of the day, I’ll update this until midnight with the craziest rumours and any actual deals that occur.

- BBC gossip column
- Sky paper talk
- Times Window Watch
- Guardian rumour mill

NEWCASTLE appear to have kicked the day off by announceing they have agreed a deal to sign Xisco from Deportive La Coruna. I’m not sure why a striker is a priorit when they have Martins, Owen, Viduka and to a lesser extent Andy Carroll and even Shola Ameobi on the books.

HAMBURG have pleased me greatly by announcing the signing of Thiago Neves, which will likely br their last bit of business this window.  He’s an excellent vDv replacement nad young too.  Martin Jol is building a side that could challenge for the Bundeliga this season.

MAN CITY are hopefully preparing for the loss of Corluka to Spurs by signing two South American defenders.

(Sporting Life) “Good news for all of you out there who despise the word “undisclosed” (we certainly do). The Stock Exchange confirms that Spurs have paid £14million for Roman Pavlyuchenko.”

FULHAM are apparently desperate to trim their wage bill and are thus willing to let Collins John and Alexei Smertin leave for nothing.  The latter maybe going to Cardiff.  I think either would be good signings for any number of Premiership teams.

INTER MILAN have signed Ricardo Queresma for a fee belived to be in the region of £19.5million, yes, pounds.  That’s a lot of money for a team who already boast a bloody huge squad.

TOTTENHAM have finally completed the signing of Vedran Corluka.  I am delighted.

Not a transfer as such, but MAN CITY have been taken over by new owners from Abu Dhabi.  Pretty massive story in the works there.

The guy on a MAN CITY who last night predicted the takeover, is now saying that there will be a massive 11th hour signing from the club as well.  If my memory is corrent, his info is usually pretty reliable.  Link.

DERBY have reluctantly let Tyrone Mears join Marsielle on loan.  That man’s agent deserves a pay rise.

All the news is rightly relating to Man City’s takeover and there are only twelve and a half hours of the window left.  It seems as though Robinho will not be leaving Madrid as they have been unable to sign Santi Cazorla or David Villa to replace him.  Also, time is running out for Berbatov to sign for Manchester United but as always with Spurs their deals will be ongoing until the stroke of midnight.  It would really amuse me though if the four biggest transfer stories of the sumer (Barry, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Robinho) all ended up being damp squibs.

MAN CITY look set to offload Felipe Caicedo to Hertha Berlin on a season-long loan.  On a normal deal, getting rid of a striker you paid over £5m for this year would be reasonable news but today I doubt it will even make the back page of the MEN.

Meanwhile, Bent ‘Arry got the itch and had to sign someone from France or he would never have forgiven himself.  Nadir Belhadj has signed on loan “with the view to a permanent move”.

WEST HAM may actually pull off some decent defensive signings if they can secure Paulo Ferreira and Johan Djourou for the rest of the season at least.  There really are no excuses for Curbs if those two arrive.

The MAN CITY takeover is now officially official.  Good luck to the fans.  Apart from the one of Sky Sports News that just said he’s renewing his season ticket now when he wasn’t going to ordinarily.  He can fuck off.

EVERTON have officially signed Louis Saha after the world’s longest medical.

Mark Hughes has told Sky Sports News that the reported british transfer record bid for Dimitar Berbatov has been accepted by Tottenham!  He will meet the player later today and hopes to convince him to make the move.  Incredible.
REMEMBER TO KEEP CHECKING BACK THROUGHOUT THE DAY AS THIS WILL BE UPDATED FREQUENTLY.

Re: below

Just moments after making about people getting needlessly worked up by unubstantiated gossip, I see two stories that make me angry.

The second one is from the Telegraph who have proved that their online output is nothing more than copy and paste jobs from other sites. I think even they would admit at this point that they don’t treat the internet with a great deal of respect and wouldn’t dream if following similar practices in their newspaper.

The Sky Sports story appears to have some validity though. It may be time to buy a Sunderland shirt with Tainio 6 on the back ahead of next season. If this move does come off then it’s an outrageous bit of business by Keane who will have three experienced top-half Premiership players along with someone who was rated as one of the most promising centre backs in Europe less than 12 months ago.

If we effectively replace those four with a striker Bentiez (the man who signed Kuyt, Crouch and soon Robbie Keane) claimed “lacked the pace for the Premiership” and half of David Bentley then I will not be impressed.

There marks the end of the self-indulgent Spurs bit of posting.

MASSIVE TRANSFER NEWS £££!!!

A mainstay of the Summer in the UK is the constant speculation over who is coming and going from various clubs and numerous headlines featuring astronomical £££ signs with accompanying pictures of players who are clearly not worth it.

The comedian Frankie Boyle went on a rant on the last edition of ‘Mock the week’ on the BBC and said that football is merely a government tool designed to divert attention from the real issues in the world. He claimed that if the sport was to disappear then it could easily be replaced by a man holding a silver pendant swinging in the air with a voiceover saying “Look! Look at the shiny thing.”

While it amuses me no end to speculate on the possibilities of men in pubs analysing the said shiny thing – “It’s just not swinging fast enough. Should be left to right, left to right in a fluid and effortless motion. It’s too route one at the moment with it just jumping from side to side in a classicly archaic British way.” – I’m going to allow myself to be sucked into the conspiracy and talk a little more about football. It’s more fun than wars or oli crises anyway.

If talking about the game is often boring and repetitive then discussing speculative transfers is tenuous in the extreme. It’s well-known that there’s little truth in 95% of reports due to combination of media needing to fill space and agents wanting to keep their players in the news.

I stated earlier in the summer that Ronaldo was going nowehere and that seems fairly prophetic as I sit here today. The key in all of this is to look for quotes from the clubs or players and in the absence of them then to assume there is nothing in it, I find. As a Tottenham fan, we get linked with too many players *every day* to possibly pay attention to the rumours. When you see them in the shirt then allow yourself to believe that they play for your club.
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Which reminds me, have we actually signed Heurelho Gomes yet? That situation has gone worryingly quiet since we announced the agreeing of a fee with PSV Eindhoven.

I think it’s purely because I am Spurs fan that I have any passing interest into the make up of the numerous gossip columns that pollute internet sites and papers themselves. I only ever read the BBC anf Guardian ones, especially the latter because they are fully aware of how ludicrous the claims they are repeating are and positively join you in mocking them.

Today’s is a good example and clearly has utter disdain for everything being printed. I particularly like…

Speaking of steals, Liverpool’s light fingers are wandering over 19-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker David Ngog. They’ll pay £1.5m for his services, which appears a paltry sum until you realise that he’s Jean-Alain Boumsong’s cousin. Ah.

…which manages the obligatory thieving scouser jibe and a Boumsong insult in the same passage. Good work.

I do wonder why transfer reports are treated with such importance by a seemingly high number of fans in my personal experience. I’m often asked what I think of the latest ‘report’ that Spurs are set to sell and replace our entire first XI in the next four days and I;m always unsure how to repond. While obviously not wanting to appear rude there’s no polite way to say that you don’t think they warrant discussion and that you feel following transfer proceedings with anything than a mocking demeanour seems like a pitiful waste of time.

Even worse is when you’re aksed, “Do you think we’ll sign x?” or “So, if x on his way?”. Without resorting to pointing out that you’re not actually involved in negotiations and have absolutely no idea as to the situation, it is hard to know how to respond in a polite way. “Well the news of the world had a fifty-word story on it ten pages from the back of the paper next to an advert for 4 porn videos for a tenner so I don’t see how it could be fabricated in any way.”

I wonder why people allow themselves to be so concerned by transfers rather than sitting back and waiting for official announcements. I know people care about their clubs and many of the same people have a lot of time at work when they are bored and have nothing do but browse NewsNow for the latest on the Berbatov to Hamburg in part exchange for Ricardo Moniz story, as supplied by fansfc.com. Is there really such a high number of people with no other interests to occupy them for even three months a year – or maybe it’s just those I seem to notice. Maybe I have such a one-track mind that I instinctively tune out at the merest mention of the problems faced by locals in the Niger Delta or what Obama’s trip to the Middle East tells us about his potential presidential term.

A few hundred words later and I’m not sure of the point I am trying to make. Basically, it’s a plea to football fans to stop placing such emphasis on unsubstantiated rumours at the expense of actual journalism and stories. This might all be frustration on my part at the upcoming sale of Berbatov which will only re-inforce the strongest team in the country and cement our status as a club that can aim to finish fifth at best. If I see a report on tribalfootball.com commenting that “Tottenham now look set to retain the services of their Bulgarian superstar” then I’ll gladly believe it and repeat the story to anyone who will give me the time of day.

RONALDO JOINS REAL MADRID!

Along with “Swiss and Austrian police express disappointment at England-less tournament” and “Arsene Wenger to be best man at David Bentley’s wedding”, the above is just one of the many headlines you won’t be reading this summer.

I understand it’s an awkward summer for sports journalists in this country. England and / or Scotland failing to qualify for Euro 2008 has hit them hard. Advertising revenues are down and not as many will get to experience the delights of Austria and Switzerland as will have hoped.

Therefore as your average British tabloid readers don’t care about football matches where they don’t have a tattoo or at least replica shirt for ones of the team involved they will have to find other avenues with which to fill the back pages. This will inevitably involve largely unfounded rumours being portrayed as fact mixed in with massive hyperbolic exaggerations about stories with a hint of truth but little developments.

I can only imagine the disappointment that surged through newsrooms when the story of Avram Grant’s dismissal broke on Saturday afternoon. He’s been a news goldmine ever since he was handed the job and the papers have enjoyed feasting on his every move in the past seven months or so. A large portion of that has been spent criticising him in every possible way and speculating on replacements and what fun they’ve had.

Now Abramovich has only gone and ruined that fun by doing the one thing they have been advising for the whole period and actually sacked him. They couldn’t do it midway through July could they, oh no. They had to do it before May was even out. With the news emerging tonight that Chelsea have already begun interviewing and expect to name a replacement in the next few days the story becomes even shorter. They can’t spend the weeks they would have liked speculating on his successor. The Independent got their pound of flesh today with a story even they admitted had little foundation in reporting Didier Deschamps keenness to take over at Stamford Bridge. If Chelsea don the worst thing possible and appoint an acknowledged coach with a clean reputation then they really will be sticking two fingers up to the press.

In the absence of anything exciting happening in West London (bar Fulham signing Bernand mendy on a free transfer!!!) attentions have been turned to Manchester. We seem set for a summer of “Will he, won’t he?” regarding Ronaldo possibly moving to Madrid. View From The Shelf can exclusively trump everyone and break the news for you now…

…

…he won’t.

A journalist I respect in Graham Hunter was quoted on Sky Sports News earlier as saying words to the effect of “Ronaldo could clear all this up once and for all if he would just commit himself to Utd but his silence speaks volumes.” Did everyone miss the Champions League final? In the immediate aftermath of the game an ITV reporter said “Cristiano, you can’t leave after something like this can you?” to which he replied “No, I will be here next season.” I would say you cannot get a more clear cut denial than that.

The sceptical may say that he may have meant he will be in Moscow next season rather than Manchester, but I don’t think anyone can produce enough oil to pay for a Portuguese playboy who has said that even the North of England is too cold for him to move to Russia.

Quite simply there is not a story here and I will do whatever people deem a suitable online equivalent of eating my hat is if the move does transpire in the next couple of months. The papers are desperate to fill the space and the TV channels need something to report on. What better than a story involving the two biggest clubs in the world arguing over a good-looking, controversy-magnet who also happens to be one of the best players in Europe.

As I said earlier, I can understand why they are talking about it. I just wish so many people would stop falling for it. The next person who asks me what I think about the rumoured move will be treated with the short shrift they deserve and directed immediately to this post.

The finishing line approaches

Having finally decided that someone may as well win La Liga, despite nobody apparently wanting it that much, Real Madrid confirmed regained the La Liga title for the second consecutive year with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Osasuna. Coach Bernd Schuster has apparently been assured that he will not be sacked over the summer and will be given the chance to mount a proper challenge for the Champions League next season.

Reports in Bulgaria also suggest that Madrid may be the likely destination of Dimitar Berbatov should (when) he leaves Spurs this summer. if he has to leave, and I sincerely hope that he doesn’t, then I’d love him to go to a team like Real or AC Milan so that I could continue to follow his career with a clear conscience. It would be heartbreaking to watch him play for a different English team every week and even see him come back to White Hart Lane in someone else’s colours.

—–

Chelsea kept their Premiership dream alive at least for a few more days with a 2-0 win away at Newcastle earlier today. The match was fairly routine but it was followed by anabsolutely bizarre interview from Kevin Keegan where he said he doesn’t expect Newcastle to progress next season.

The ever-useless Jamie Redkanpp then said that Newcastle can’t expect to finish higher than tenth at best with their current squad. The same squad that contains Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, Mark Vuduka, Shay Given, Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye, Steven Taylor, Joey Barton etc etc… Not all of them are top drawer players but Reading finished eigth last year with a team substantially poorer on paper.

—–

Bayern Munich confirmed what everyone already knew when their nil nil draw confirmed them as Bundesliga winners. Raphael Honigstein has a lovely line at the end of his weekly article…

In Munich, policemen scrambled to close off the main streets in anticipation of revelling crowds. But no one turned up. The 21st title had been a formality a long time ago. No one could pretend otherwise. The Red and White faithful were no more in the mood to celebrate this success than a man who’s filled out €70m-worth of lottery tickets and finds he has won his money back.

His column also tells a very interesting story about Jan Koller’s own fans turning on him despite being their best hope of avoiding relegation.

—–

In Italy Inter Milan missed out on the opportunity to effectively clinch the title by losing “El Derby” 2-1 to AC Milan. Highlights of the game can be found here (including a completely amazing miss from Filippo Inzaghi at the 1.35 mark) and it provides suitable ammunition for those Kaka obsessives following on from a post made yesterday. For the time being at least Roma still have at least a mathematical chance of snatching the title at the last minute although given the team’s relative fixtures remaining you would be foolish to bet on it.

One such fixture for Inter Milan will be when they travel to Parma, my Italian team, for the last game of the season. This game could both crown them as champions and unfortunately send their opponents crashing to Serie B at the same time. They currently lie one point adrift of safety and depressingly their other remaining game is away to Fiorentina who themselves are fighting for the final champions league place. It’s not looking promising.

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Talking of AC, in the least surprising bit of transfer news we’ll see all summer, Matthieu Flamini shocked nobody by turning his back on Arsene Wenger in favour of receiving Milanese bags with a € sign printed on the front. This doesn’t bother me but it strikes me as a pretty mercenary act on his part. If this was at the end of last season then I could understand him leaving after not having secured a starting spot or even worse being played out of position at left back, excellently, and being dropped for a Champions League final. Maybe he bears a grudge?

—–

His soon-to-be former central midfield partner Cesc Fabregas features in an advert that is the subject of much outrage over at The Offside. For those that haven’t seen it (and as someone that doesn’t watch a whole heap of television I couldn’t tell if it;s started airing yet or not) it involved the Arsenal midfielder being covered in fireproof clothing and then set alight. A football is then is then doused in lighter fluid and set aflame which he uses to perform kick ups.

I can’t say I’m as outraged as they appear to be, and I’m inclined to agree with one of the commenters that it is probably someone else rather than Fab who was actually set light to, but it’s reasonably impressive nonetheless.