- Still plenty of time for journalists to make up false tales about who is going where…
- There is no safe and sure way of making money by owning a football club
By Tony Attwood
So we have a bit of news: Ipswich v Arsenal in the next round of the League Cup with round three matches are played in the weeks of September 7 and 14. OK you probably knew that but I thought I would mention it, just in case.
Ipswich themselves have had their ups and downs but have indeed beaten Arsenal 18 times over the years, although we have beaten them 32 times. There have been 11 draws, so we should be hopeful of progressing that competition. So even if Arsenal are putting out their second XI there is a fair chance of a smooth ride through. The most recent result was a 0-4 away win in April 2025.
Before this game with Arsenal they have Liverpool at home.on 4 September And so far this season they have beaten Leicester City 3-1 in the second round of the League Cup on 25 August and prior to that they have beaten Sunderland 2-1.
Now, we regularly put the point that the newspaper industry is hyper negative when it comes to dealing with football in general as mostly they just tell us how bad everything is – unless it is Liverpool.
And yet the football clubs continue to let the journalists come into matches free of charge and have desks to sit at armed with phones and videos. And what do the clubs get in return? I suppose the clubs work on the idea that any publicity – even the really bad publicity they get most games – is better than the club not being mentioned at all.
But the level of negativity is getting so bad that one has to wonder if the clubs are getting anything out of this when we see headlines like these two which turned up recently in the Mail…
Aston Villa fans turn on Ollie Watkins
‘No chance!’: Peter Schmeichel is shot down live on TV
Mind you Aston Villa do seem to be getting things wrong. I know there has only been one game so far, but even so, sitting at the foot of the table is not a good sign.
But it is the incessant way that the media hit out at clubs and players that makes me wonder about the relationship between the two. Take for example, “Man United flop Paul Pogba slashes price of £3.95m mansion in England – complete with indoor football pitch – just as his contract is torn up at Monaco.”
Or how about…
Harry Maguire is caught tackling his OWN TEAM-MATE in new angle of Man United’s defensive horror show – as Luke Shaw’s comments sparks concern about weaknesses.
Or
New £18m Chelsea signing’s WAG left terrified and trapped by a SQUIRREL – after ChatGPT told her it could attack – amid struggles with move to London.
‘Come on, that’s ridiculous!’: Man United boss Michael Carrick snaps at ex-player interviewer as pressure hits on first question about his team’s ‘passion’ after collapsing at promoted Hull City.
Matthias Jaissle hits out at ‘soft’ penalty decision that cost Newcastle victory in 2-2 draw with Liverpool as Andoni Iraola backs £125m Alexander Isak after star’s disappointing return.
Liverpool are as flawed and unpredictable as they were last term but their late equaliser in 2-2 draw with Newcastle already feels like a huge moment for Andoni Iraola, writes IAN LADYMAN.
After last season’s rescue job Michael Carrick should have been backed to the hilt this summer by Man United. Instead here’s how club’s dawdling and crowded hierarchy has hung him out to dry.
Man United’s two major areas of concern, the four players who failed to shine in Michael Carrick’s system but why there is still no need for panic, writes NATHAN SALT.
‘He forgoes any fact-checking’: How Fabrizio Romano’s transfer machine broke down – ‘excessive spam’, public spats, Saudi deals, a social media ban, his cryptic quit threat and when ‘Here We Go’ goes wrong.
One of the points that the journalists and their editors are making is that these newspapers and their staff know far more about football and how to do it than the people running the clubs. And yet logically if that is so, surely the journalists and their colleagues ought to be running the clubs and taking the better pay.
I mean if I was running a club that was half way down its division and there was a journalist who knew everything there was to know about football, sure it would be logical to bring him into the team.
The only real explanation for the situation is that what the journos write is actually mindless gibberish. and that the managers do in fact know more. And yet the journos go pumping out their tripe day after day. And people read it.
So maybe it is me that is odd.
Either way I can’t see that football is being best served by this situation. Yet I wonder what would happen to clubs if the journalists starting writing positive stuff, such as “It is hard for Tottenham at the moment what with just missing relegation by one place for each of the last two seasons, after having spent an utter fortune on their new ground, and losing their first match this season. But….”
Actually now I come to write that I see the problem the journos have. What can you say after that “But”?
