According to the Sun “Manuel Almunia has challenged Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy, by insisting: We can’t win anything with kids.” The story also appears in the Mirror.
No journalist or source is given, and at the moment I can’t find the usual suspect: the interview given in Spanish, and read by a Sun journo whose only linguistic skill is a very limited grasp of proto-English.
They state that Almunia said: “We need the manager to work harder to get what we need, the club to make an extra effort to make us more competitive. We need more than youth.”
And the Sun (part of the phone tapping Murdoch empire) says in its commentary, “Almunia’s outburst puts him on a collision course with Wenger, who rejects the idea that simply spending money is the way forward.”
Now you might think that this is enough for one day as a tirade against a player who has shown consistently that he is willing to srve to the club by waiting his turn without complaint, and then do everything possible for the club. But no. This is the Sun. In a story which looks suspiciously like a phone-tap the Sun now says that Almunia’s wife has seen a “ghoul at their swish pad on the site of an old asylum.”
“Spaniard Almunia, 30, has also heard chains rattling and had stereos turning on at full volume on their own. He is so spooked boss Arsene Wenger has given him permission to go home for lunch to avoid leaving wife Ana alone at the house in Abbots Langley, Herts.
“Terrified Almunia said yesterday: “My house is small but there is a lot of history to it and it seems there are ghosts.
“We’ve spoken to neighbours, and they said this was normal.”
So, two stories in two days against one player (although I am sure I have heard the ghost story before). Why is this? The most likely reason is that the editor of the made-up section of the paper said he wanted an Arsenal story against someone they haven’t done before, and two journalists came up with different made up tales. They then went into the editorial meeting, went through the “Michael Jackson seen playing for Lincoln City Youth Team” bit and came up with these.
Anyway, the paper is clearly trying like mad to derail Arsenal supporters with ever more fanciful nonsense (and judging by some of the comments received here in the last 2 days, succeeding in a few cases). So the question is what should we do?
Obviously the Curse of Arsenal has been put on the Sun (not something to be taken lightly after our effect on Birmingham City) But I suggest Sun journalists (who are mostly fat white men of Anglo Saxon heritage) should be nominated as a “dangerous” (as opposed to endangered) species and should be hunted to extinction.
Arsenic, rope around the neck, electrocution, injections of lemming powder, knife across the wrist and whitewash in the eyes (a variant on cut and paste), exposure to an actual football match, a bolt between the eyes, a ban from all pubs, clubs, bars and off licences, a hit over the head with a blunt instrument, burial alive, seduction by a preying mantis, seduction by one of those priests who seduced little boys and was then move on to another parish by the Catholic Church, all and any of these approaches are hereby sanctioned.
Meanwhile, and referring to more savory matters, I am most grateful to the Arsenal Youth blog for pointing out a fact I missed. Rhys Murphy (who I tipped as my absolute outsider for one who might just burst through unexpectedly this season) has been called up to the England U19 squad for this month’s UEFA European Championships in Ukraine. Also there are Gavin Hoyte and Henri Lansbury (who also got a mention in the list of players we might see coming through). Fran Mérida, who is higher up the list of likely players will represent Spain in the same competition.
Final, final point, you may have noticed that with the able help of one of our eagle eyed regular correspondents I have been trying to remove the people who just cut and paste articles from elsewhere onto the site.
These people are mostly the children of Sun journalists – journo wannabes who are still learning how to drink 18 pints before work.
It is a bit of a tough battle, so to help the cause a little further, here’s an extra twist.
If you have had a comment accepted before, your comment will go through automatically. But if it turns out to be an anti-Arsenal or anti-Wenger rant with no argument, and nothing to do with the article it is posted under, then I might remove it. I welcome all debate and reasoned argument against what is said on Untold Arsenal – but pure negative statement and made up invective of the Sun type seems to serve no purpose. Post on the Sun’s site, if you want to post that sort of stuff.
If you have not posted before your piece will go into moderation. To show that you have at least read this article, you will need to start your comment with the phrase “Ref Sun Journalists”. If you don’t I’ll know it is just another cut and paste job, and it won’t get through. I will give a new easy reference at the end of each article.
To emphasize, this only affects new posters – and is designed to pick off the people who get banned from the site for plagiarism and them come back with a new name. Sorry if it seems a bit Draconian, but the negative rambles picked up from other sites and deposited here are getting in the way a bit.
(c) Tony Attwood 2009
Yes, this Almunia ghost story did seem familiar. And yes again, I found it highly strange that he would come out and criticise Wenger after all his (Almunia’s) patience and whatnot. To me, we haven’t had a model professional like Almunia since Gilberto, and before that, Bergkamp. Those type of players are the ones who the young ones should look to, in terms of how to act professionally.
Anyway, back to this story. Never having lived in the UK, I’ve never been exposed to The Sun, but I have heard mutterings that it is glorified tabloid-journalism. What I fail to understand is how they manage to get away with what must be blatant lies (seeing as how they don’t/can’t source their information).
Here in Australia, we did have one such tabloid journalist ending up with egg on his face when he mistakenly announced on TV that Jeff Goldblum died in a climbing accident (or something like that), after he read that on a website (which, by the way, clearly stated at the bottom, that all stories here are made up, hahaha!). I would really like such an incident to happen with the likes of The Sun and such.
I’m not a new commenter, but in support of your efforts…
“Ref Sun Journalists”
🙂
Regarding Almunia and his many ethereal house visitors, yes, I am quite sure I read a similar story about a year ago. Something to do with his wife being quite religious and needing to jet back to Spain for consultations with priests or some such. Being Catholic myself, the scariest movie I have ever seen was The Exorcist. Granted, I was quite young when I first saw it and I believe it was around the time I was going through Catechism, but still…Jesus, Mary and Saint Joseph did that scare me half to death! Anyway, having put some years behind me since then, I’m more than a little skeptical that Almunia’s wife, or Almunia himself, has been put off by any extra residents who might be occupying their home. Unless, of course, it’s the ghost of Jens Lehmann, who may only have been an apparition while at The Arsenal.
As to the Sun journos…hmmm..I’ve little to add to your myriad suggestions, Tony. All quite good. Perhaps though, being the good sports we are, we could all chip in for an all-inclusive hols at Gitmo for them?
Good job Tony,
It is about time we did something about these serial “ranters” who only seek to disrupt the flow of logical argument.
About the Sun and it coteries, I wish there was something more concrete that could be done. It has really gone beyond logic, what they are doing. A friend once said “If a handshake gets beyond the elbow, it becomes wrestling.” The Sun’s actions have even gone beyond that. There surely has to be something that can be done.
If only our club could do something?
Just reading through yesterday’s selection of comments and though there were a few annoying rambling pieces it was, for the most part, interesting and thoughtful conversation.
On the point of ‘so called fans’ I have always used the phrase ‘so called supporters’. I think the distinction is obvious and the criticism, when leveled at the right targets, perfectly valid.
As for The Sun perhaps we should start a campaign encouraging all Arsenal fans to boycott the paper?
I have always thought it is a sad indictment of the rest of the country that it was only people in Liverpool who stopped buying the paper after the disgraceful Hillsborough headlines.
Do we really hate scousers that much?
Of course imagine using this site as a conduit to boycott The Sun would be rather fruitless. I am sure the majority of UA posters are like me in that they wouldn’t even use it line the hamster cage.
I suppose if Tony writes about it it could at least get some exposure on Teamtalk!
🙂
“Ref Sun Journalists”
As a show of solidarity I too will employ the preface.
My only hope is that as the Sun and NOTW will become so discredited and desperate that people will come to regard them in the same way as the Sunday Sport.
It is a slim hope. I despair at the tripe our society can lap up and regurgitate instead of forming their own opinions.
I definately recall the Almunia ghost. God they’re so tedious these so called journalists. When you think of the courage of journalists in some countries; risking their lives to bring the truth to people and we have the Mail and the Sun.
‘Ref Sun Journalists” U go tony, i’m sick en tired of all this negatie rubbish towards arsenal, en to make all this anti arsenal transverstites mad i jus ordered all our new shirts even the ugly white one. as for the sun and its affiliates i got a nice torture recipe for them, get some chillies,crush them en put them in a pot, take a stick, dip it in there e leave it 4 a month, then stick it up their asses en see if they will ever talk s%#t again.
“Ref Sun Journalists” just to give you support Tony.
Maybe we all should login to the Sun and write some crap of our own in response to there lies.
I did last week when they were telling the same old “Fabregas goes to Barca….” story again and again in some slightly changed article from a few weeks ago.
I called them liars and asked what they saw when they looked in the mirror (not the newspaper 😉 ) and could live with what they saw in that mirror.
I don’t know if it got passed the censor. Who cares, The only sun I live with and I like is the one that comes up every morning and goes down every evening. Thats the sun I love.
“Ref Sun Journalists”
Nice write up as usual and like always I didnt believe the Almunia news yesterday.. Just the usual crap from the press..
BTW, I really loved the debate between Jonny, Steww, Flint and others on yesterday’s blog… It was wonderful.. The only disappointing thing was the usual moaning without any valid reasons..
In the last couple of days, the idea of Usmanov buying the remaining flats in Highbury Square, which was first published in the comments section of this blog couple of weeks back which was later used for an post, is being used at lots of places and many Arsenal fans are agreeing to this idea being a better way for Usmanov and even for Stan to show their love for Arsenal.. So BIG CHEERS!!! to Tony and the readers(Dont remember who the name of the reader who put forward this idea.. 🙁 ) of Untold Arsenal for this wonderful idea.. Maybe in the next Q&A with the board Gazidis or shareholder’s meeting someone should put forward this idea so that the Arsenal Board can use this idea… 🙂
Sorry if I’ve deviated from the topic in discussion…
“Ref Sun Journalists”
Sorry mates, I was so riled by the Sun nonsense that I forgot to write this at the top of my comment in solidarity. Better late than never.
Jonny Neale: I was going to suggest a boycot but felt that it may not necessarily work. If it can work, I will whole heartedly support it.
Tony – I think that you are being a little hard on the journo’s who ran the old story re: Almunia and ghosts. It’s a lot more likely than the Cesc to Madrid stories that have been run all over the place. The problem with boycotting the Sun is that every time they run an Arsenal in crises story all of the Spud’s fans get really excited and have to find someone to read it to them. Let’s face it when you’ve had years of false promises on what your team is going to achieve all you have to look forward to is the failure of your rivals. The fact that Arsenal are not in crises and are building a very promising team is what drives these stories, its easier to make up lies about how bad Arsenal are than face your own short comings.
“Ref Sun Journalist”
did anyone see that story about arshavin aswell? i think it was the one about him admiring barcelona, it had a quote back from last year when he was linked with them, they then made out he said it this year, recycling old news and changing the theme to some fantasy in their heads like they play too much fifa 09 or championship manager…well, as you guys well know, its not worth reading all the stories about our beloved club, it will always be along the lines of ‘not spending enough money’, or ‘fabregas to barca’, or ‘wenger out’ you know the usual..what id suggest to give these lazy journalist a kick up the arse is just to boycott buying their paper, hit them where it hurts, in their pockets, and support our club by subscribing to one of their papers or magazines..forget the gutter press.
I saw the Almunia story and immediately dismissed it as rubbish because it was so obviously uncharacteristic of the man. Which perhaps raises the question, why do some ‘supporters’ appear to take stories like these so seriously, and why do they then use the claims as a pretext for yet another attack on the club, the manager and the players? Alright, that’s two questions.
stuartlondon – I don’t know why, all I know is that they are in serious need of medication.
Marc
The problem with boycotting the Sun is that every time they run an Arsenal in crises story all of the Spud’s fans get really excited and have to find someone to read it to them.
Please take 5 billion bonus points. Really made me laugh.
Tony
“Ref Sun Journalist”
an amusing anecdote about Almunia.he was interviewed a while back on Arsenal T.V. and said at any dead ball situations such as free kicks or corners,he screams in Spanish to various players as to what to do or not what to do.He said,no one understands him,but it makes him feel better.
Even the renowned page three in The Sun is full of “falsies” these days .Says it all really.
Even though they are silly stories what the newspapers are printing, the point is the stories are not supposed to make sense. The media are the new age alchemists. Hypnotists with a pen.Where the end result is more important than what you percieve on the journey. You could say that the newspapers use metaphors to generate an emotion,an understanding or a view point.The emotion they want to create is fear. They treat us like children sat on the carpet in front of the teacher (being them) telling us spooky stories to get the desired effect. This makes them unreliable and not libel. Why would you be libel for a comic book reality that people give truth too by believing in it.Darren brown uses this technique with repetitive themes. N.L.P is apart of it(mind manipulation techniques).You have subliminal techniques.Overt and covert techniques. They are trying to combine fear with arsenal. The Almunia stories project fear and because its an arsenal player fear becomes associated with arsenal. Fear has always been A destructive factor within human nature. It can make u vibrate at a lower frequency preventing you from exploding into your true potential . Arsene wenger wants the players to play without fear(i wonder why). Each one of us when ever we have achieved in live its when we have let go of fear. These newspapers see the true energy of arsenal and in simple terms it seems like they want the desired effect of failure.The only thing i can suggest is NO MORE FEAR, NO MORE FEAR, NO MORE FEAR. AMAZING THINGS CAN HAPPEN. A blind man empowers his other senses.Lets not be decieved by what we see.
The Bad Press that Arsenal get, Should/could bring The Arsenal together and make them stronger and more determined this season. just like in the old days when everyone hated us.
But this poor journalism will be a thing of the past one day.
I still dont know how they get away with it, Surely people dont believe this tripe?
Meditation – Can I suggest a small change – NO MORE FEAR, LOTS MORE BEER!
We got to give the humour price to Marc. LOL. 3 in a row.
Just let Marc handle those reporters of the sun in that way and the trouble is over.
Marc – You make an excellent point “The problem with boycotting the Sun is that every time they run an Arsenal in crises story all of the Spud’s fans get really excited and have to find someone to read it to them.”
Ignore them – the rags are losing readership on both sides of the Atlantic because they have lied so much. The more irrelevant they becomee the better.
s-g
I remember the Almunia/ghoul story too.
With regard to stopping the plagiarism, I fully support the ‘Ref’ for each post. Might seem like you’re over-doing things, but if it helps things, great! What’s tougher to stop is the lifting of your work & it being placed elsewhere… Best’ve luck with that! Hope there was a way to stop that…
i think we all have to take everything we read on the net with a pinch of salt. i think its fairly obvious that no reliance whatsoever can be placed on any red-top paper. likewise for the mail, express, times and telegraph. the sport has no sport in it just more ‘falsies’.
arsenal.com is a great source for news. the problem is, is that all the rest of them want to be first with our news. so they make up a hundred stories, one will probably work, but if not, they make up a hundred more.
occasionally one of the bs stories will be picked up by other outfits, probably mis-translated, and a huge bs story will ensue. each paper adding a little more bs.
‘almunias ghost is michael jackson wearing white gloves’