Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal
By Tony Attwood
Untold is launching a new regular Media section, which for the moment and with amazing originality is being called UNTOLD MEDIA WATCH.
It will run on a regular basis, alongside our other features including…
- Dogface’s preview of the ref and his history in refereeing Arsenal matches,
- Walter’s review of the ref’s performance after each match, plus various statistical analyses
- Phil Gregory’s match preview, and occasional series on football finances
- Dale’s regular series on injuries
- My own work on Arsenal’s history and ex-players (which generally appears on www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk) and…
- Billy the Dog’s occasional lurches onto another planet
Untold Media Watch will be organised by Anne Thompson, who has already contributed a number of articles for Untold, and Anne is looking for writers and researchers to help pull the information together. If you are interested you can write to Anne at anne.thompson.79@gmail.com
As with other Untold series, the Untold Media section will appear first because no one else seems to be doing it (hence “Untold”) and because, as Anne puts it, we all share a sense of injustice about the way that the media treats Arsenal.
Anne is currently working on a follow up piece about this Antony Kastrinakis (who wrote so many of the articles that she has cited), so we hope to have a wide range of articles on all aspects of Arsenal and the media.
Finally, Untold is never a closed shop. We do have our fundamental view of being pro-Wenger, but beyond that the key point is that we publish football articles which are in some way related to Arsenal, and which don’t get published or widely read elsewhere. If you have an idea for an individual article or indeed for a whole series, please do let me know. For any ideas other than the new media series (which as I noted above should go directly to Anne) please email me: Tony.Attwood@aisa.org
Please do note that if you are sending in an article I need it to be as a Word document attached to an email (not pdf, and not in the email) with your name at the top of the article as you wish it to appear on Untold). I also need you to give Untold an assurance that you have not offered the piece anywhere else.
And a final thing: Untold is a voluntary activity run by enthusiasts. The admin of the whole process (especially when just in my hands) is known to be occasionally erratic, and if you don’t get a reply to an email, or if you put forward an idea and then find us using it without acknowledging you personally, please don’t take offence. It is not me trying to steal an idea nor me deliberately ignoring you, it is just me making a balls-up of things. Write again, and I’ll try and get it sorted.
There’s the “old world” expression: a watched pot never boils. A media watch is a powerful everyman’s antidote to the toxic brew that bends minds against Arsenal. Bon voyage Untold Media!
@bob
I think they know we’re watching ’em! Either that or they’re all on their summer holidays. Anti-arsenal press is very quiet at the moment, nothing to report at all in this mornings Metro… However, the Evening Standard may change that 😉
A section of media watch should gets some milage from MPH – mobile phone hacks – historical information where there might have been some untoward MPH involved eg Diego Forlan’s reroute to Manchester while on his way to Middlesboro. I have no doubt that several aspects of our beloved Arsenal have been impacted by MPH.
sorry for being off topic but anyone that can, should catch up on the channel 4 documentary HOW TO BUY A FOOTBALL TEAM
It is dynamite and adds credence to all this site stands for re match fixing and infuence in the game
Bryan Robson, Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
@Laundyender
Yup – it’s good stuff! Watched the first half but got it recorded.
Laundyender
Fergies starting to look a bit tainted too!! 🙂
For those folks interested in Untold Media participation or future commentary, here’s some excellent NY Times context on FIFA: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/sports/soccer/18iht-fifa18.html?_r=1&ref=sports&pagewanted=all
Stevie, Dogface,
For those who can’t access it, could you guys (eventually) offer some bullet points on what the program alleges and how sound the evidence seems to you? Cheers.
p.s. ditto on the above for Laundyender…
I just watched that Dispatches programme.
It’s mainly about the ease of buying and then profiting from the quick sale of an English lower lrague club in flagrant breach of the ownership rules. The undercover reporters are shown by an investment group how to hide the fact that you own more than one club – special investment vehicles etc. And of course all done with borrowed money. They (the investment fund which was going to facilitate the purchase) employ Bryan Robson as a “consultant” and they portray SAF as having enough influence over several other managers to get them to loan players to the newly bought clubs and help them win promotion to the PL increasing the club’s value many times over. Three-five years was the time frame.
There is a subplot about the connection of SAF to a “businessman” who is the main man in this investment company. The businessman also mentioned that SAF tells him which clubs to bet on…as a bit of fun, apparently.
Steve Bruce, Alex McLeish and a couple of other managers who they claimed could be called upon by SAF to loan players to the clubs all denied knowing this man, but he definitely knows SAF.
I watched it with a heavy heart
Bryan Robson was such a good player and an inspirational captain, a true legend in his time, So sorry to see him corrupted by money and greed.
The tentacles of SAF were alluded to, we know the nature of his influence, clearly it is potentially a game changer or it would not have been used as a selling point for £25,000 000 investment.
The FA will ignore the points this programme raises on SAF, they are simply shit scared of him and the power he yields, particularly his influence over other teams. To see the way he treated PNEFC discussed in a business deal in Thailand, with Bryan Robson smirking was very sad indeed. I hope PNE fans are infuriated by the arrogance of the man and the disdain he has for sport.
The close links of the usual suspects McLeish, Bruce, Hughes, and SAF were also mentioned, again adding substance to a common theme in game match outcomes.
Asian betting was mentioned, but only as a bit of fun, i smelt something, but certainly no evidence.
Asian ownership and money laundering was certainly mentioned and is a matter for real concern.
What was clear though was that the ownership of the game is in a state of crisis, and that some owners regard we fans as a hindrance to their objectives.
I have no doubt the programme will be appearing online in various forms, try to catch it, it is compulsive viewing, in this country it will be overshadowed by the long awaited kick in the nuts the Murdoch Empire is suffering, that is unfortunate for in another time this programme would have made front page news.
Finally A HUGE WELL DONE C4 AND DISPATCHES TEAM. FOLLOW THIS SITE AND YOU WILL GET MORE MATERIAL ON A SIMILAR THEME!
a link for those that can access it
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od
Laundyender,
many thanks! perhaps C4’s work will give at least some pause to those MPs who are currently (by the Guardian’s mention a month ago) busy spearheading Sir Rednose’s elevation to the House of Lords. Has anyone seen/heard of anything more on this in the media? Some would argue that it’d be one of football’s crowning achievements and symbolize its rightful place in society, blah blah blah (especially in this year of The Rednose 20th). Others would say that anointing SAF, or any sitting coach “Lord Football” would be something short of healthy for the cause of competitive football and fair play on a level pitch.
Today’s (Tuesday’s) NY Times takes note of the outbreak of “rampant game fixing” around the world. “Match fixing has been a cancer within football that is only now being recognized for its deadly consequences to the sport,” states a major interviewee. It’s a great read and adds great contextual understanding for Untold Media or reader’s comments to be:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/sports/soccer/widespread-match-fixing-cases-rattle-soccer.html?ref=sports
In the Shadow of the Emirates
This guy lived just down the road, another article on how widespread the problem is.
Have the EPL buried their heads in the sand!!
telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/8648454/Global-match-fixing-investigation-claims-major-scalp-as-Wilson-Raj-Perumal-is-jailed-for-two-years.html
Laundyender,
These two articles go hand in glove. Of course EPL is on top of it all, with Scudamore today coming out full-bore for goal line technology in 2012-13. Yep, that’ll do the job alright. We can all take our naps now.
Hey everyone, just as an update, I’ve been working to finish my above-referenced article re Antony Kastrinakis, so have not had time yet to follow up on any responses I may have received. If you’re interested, please hang in there, and I hope to be able to devote my full attention to this in the next few days. Thanks.
-Anne