Water is wet; the sky is blue; the UK press repeatedly lies about LFC. It's expected. If a (non)story can be manufactured, twisted, exaggerated or blown out of proportion you can rely on the UK's peerless football writers to do it. I thought it would be fun to highlight the worst cases, so today I'll start off with our old friends at that bastion of football journalism: The Daily Mail
Story: ln the Red! Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez handed measly £5m summer transfer kitty
The lies
1. "Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks’ pledge to hand Rafael Benitez a ‘substantial transfer budget’ was in question last night after it emerged that the manager has no more than £5million to spend".
Source? NO
Proof? NO
It 'emerged'?! Classic journo speak for 'I made it up'.
2. "Opinion is split over whether it might make financial sense to cash in on at least one of the stars if it allows the club to make several new signings".
Source? NO
Proof? NO
Whose opinion is 'split' exactly? The sly implication here is that the Anfield hierarchy is actively considering selling one of Torres or Gerrard. There's no proof of this at all, it's just a sneaky way to introduce further anxiety into the minds of Liverpool fans.
3. "Benitez is believed to be working to a budget of £4-5m".
Source? NO
Proof? NO
Again, consider the language: Benitez is 'believed to be' working with a budget of 4-5m. According to whom? Upon what is this belief based? The writer offers no evidence; no source; no credible reasoning for arriving at such a figure. The only possible conclusion is the figure is made up.
Factual truth rating = 2/10 (Well, they got the date right)
Jaimie Kanwar
Story: ln the Red! Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez handed measly £5m summer transfer kitty
The lies
1. "Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks’ pledge to hand Rafael Benitez a ‘substantial transfer budget’ was in question last night after it emerged that the manager has no more than £5million to spend".
Source? NO
Proof? NO
It 'emerged'?! Classic journo speak for 'I made it up'.
2. "Opinion is split over whether it might make financial sense to cash in on at least one of the stars if it allows the club to make several new signings".
Source? NO
Proof? NO
Whose opinion is 'split' exactly? The sly implication here is that the Anfield hierarchy is actively considering selling one of Torres or Gerrard. There's no proof of this at all, it's just a sneaky way to introduce further anxiety into the minds of Liverpool fans.
3. "Benitez is believed to be working to a budget of £4-5m".
Source? NO
Proof? NO
Again, consider the language: Benitez is 'believed to be' working with a budget of 4-5m. According to whom? Upon what is this belief based? The writer offers no evidence; no source; no credible reasoning for arriving at such a figure. The only possible conclusion is the figure is made up.
Factual truth rating = 2/10 (Well, they got the date right)
Jaimie Kanwar
Yes, you are right Jamie, I ran a story a few weeks ago saying that Rafa will get upwards of £20 million plus to invest in the team by our thankfully, outgoing owners.
ReplyDeleteI believe it to be true, although my heart skipped a beat when I saw that £5 million headline in the Mail
Every single story in the papers is like this, there all not to be believed. What's the point in all theses revealed articles, they just seem to be facts that nobody needs to know.
ReplyDeleteYou Liverpool fans are dumb pr***..to react to a tabloid . I guess if the Daily Mail print an article you have 120mil to spend and sugar daddy with loads of tosh to invest, the Daily Mail will be printing facts and no source is required.,.This is exactly the reaction of your fans when there are "good" news.I don't ever see them ask for source..
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree you can't believe everythiung you read , but you don't have to read a tabloid news to know that Liverpool as a club sucks...All the fanbase and history and you manage to drop to this humiliating level.