aka Dus

But, but buit a man like Rafa wouldn't think something like that... Can this be an end to this foolishness now.

Get your digs in here lads. I guarantee you Paul Doyle, Sean Ingle and the rest of the fiver letter writers will be coming through the forum looking for material any minute now! Smartarses. ;-)

True enough. Either he's saying it cos Rafa/Rafa's agent briefed him or he hasn't been briefed but he has a good ear to the ground and can provide a 'newsworthy' angle for Sky Sports News on some rumours where Sky have no other source - ie Spain. I've an open mind about whether Rafa has briefed his mates, but Ballague saying something doesn't necessairly mean he knows something because he's been told it by someone who matters...

No apology needed Andy, I can see where you are coming from. And to be fair, maybe if we did represent to Sky that we as the target Audience don't like hearing an implication that our players have talked directly to a pariah organisation when they haven't, they might not do it again. Could be that Cobs is right and they do it as editorial policy to try slowly re-ingratiate the name of that paper among our fans without the awareness they should have. But maybe it was also a good editor attributing the story to the right place - ie where they got it from - (but phrasing it poorly) or it could have been a new cr@p editor forgetting he shouldn't use that phrase about Liverpool players when it's 'ok' for them to use it for other clubs players.

Perhaps it is part of their motivation but Sky Sports will have taken the quotes from the Agency Hack who attended, by way of the Sun, so regardless of any effort we make they aren't going to change what WOULD be standard journalistic practice if they weren't there themselves (which I presume they were, given they'll show it tómorrow?). I can see the importance of representing the point, given Sky could in theory say "Robbie told the Times" but maybe the Times don't file copy as quickly or maybe wouldn't even carry the quote at all. Unless Sky had people there themselves, they have to get the quote somewhere. I'm not defending anything except standard journalistic practice.

You've obviously misinterpreted what I am saying - or I have misinterpreted what the issue is here. My point describes how and why Sky Sports News say things like "blah blah blah, Robbie Fowler told the Sun" It had nothing to do with why we shouldn't buy the Sun.

I will be satisfied with nothing less than 3-0 to Barca.

Because he's a journalist on a retainer first, and needs to pay the mortgage, and a fan second. A lot like yourself and myself with the jobs we do, I suppose.

People have to stop over reacting to this. On press days like this/yesterday, all the journos turn up at a pre arranged time and meet up in the press room. The manager and/or designated players come in, together (usually) or singly, and talk to the media. First up is TV and radio, then the dailies, then the Sundays (if its a Friday press briefing). So the player only very very rarely sits down and talks directly to one journo - unless the journo pays for it these days (sign of the times). Any and normally ALL quotes that come out the day before a match day are made to a table full of journalists or from a microphone to a room full of journalists. Robbie didn't speak to the Sun - almost certainly a stringer from a Sports News Agency was at the press event at Melwood, scribbled down his shorthand and went back to his newsroom where he knocked out 300 words and sold the story to the Sun. Sky may well have lifted the quotes from the sun (probably from the Newscorp intranet/server/feed) and hey presto, Robbie "told the sun" when he also told every other hack there the exact same thing.

"Finnan wanted for Bosnian genocide questioning"

The best game I think I have seen him play for us out there. Fair play, he did't really let us down, though you'd like us to have better out there, which isn't his fault.

"Chelsea's constant attempts to spin the interpretation of events to suit their purposes has demolished their credibility." is dead right.

Graham Hunter just on the radio in Ireland. Now he's wrong far more than he is right, and some of the detail (defensive midfielder) of what he said is a clear sign that he's reaching and adding some extrapolations to one small piece of information which is interesting. I wonder is the journo Ballague? Anyway, they mentioned the Rafa money stories and Hunter said (paraphrasing quite accurately): "Rafa has a friend in the Spanish press who I won't name being briefed by Rafa. Rafa's message to the Liverpool board is that I got you CL and made you competetive in the Prem. I want to spend a lot of money on a right winger and 'defensive' midfielder this summer and I deserve to be backed up. As long as the Liverpool board aren't listening to him he is happy to see stories linking him to Real and Inter. It's a story to take seriously." The defensive midfielder thing cannot be accurate but my guess is that Hunter would know if Rafa was briefing a journo down there. Someone mentioned earlier that the briefings are coming from Spain. Might be something to that.

His vanity has got the better of him. He actually came out and claimed that he walked out of the airport first to deflect any nastiness away from his team. On the one hand, he could be telling porkies because he cannot stand for people to think he's cocked up and brought this all on himself. On the other hand, he could be telling the truth. But then in broadcasting what he is doing so that the media and the rest of us plebs can understand, he is not the pig-headed arrogant manager he is being made out to be, he just shows his ego up for the mammoth size it is. Take your pick - he's either a lying gobshyte with too pride, or he's a talented manipulator, with too much pride. Either way, he's a ****.

Can you offer yourself as a source 'close to' someone and get on the phone to an obliging sports 'news' editor please?

Translator and Lackey. heh heh

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Is there any evidence for anything being spoken about in this thread? I think the phrase used above of "pulling it from the air" just about sums it up.

Biscan helps Panathinaikos sink AEK in Athens derby By Barney Spender ATHENS, March 5 (Reuters) - A goal by former Liverpool player Igor Biscan gave Panathinaikos a 1-0 win over city rivals AEK Athens on Sunday, dealing another blow to their slim hopes of catching Greek first division leaders Olympiakos Piraeus. Several violent incidents occurred before the derby match, local media reported. Rival fans threw sticks and rocks outside the Olympic Stadium and riot police had to use teargas to disperse the crowd after being attacked with Molotov cocktails. Panathinaikos and second-placed AEK are now level on 48 points, 12 behind Olympiakos who routed struggling OFI Crete 4-0 to stretch their winning sequence to 16 games as they bid to win their ninth title in 10 years. The Athens derby offered plenty of excitement but only one goal, Biscan stealing between two visiting defenders to head in after 52 minutes. GOAL DISALLOWED Panathinaikos had a second goal ruled out for offside against Dimitris Papadopoulos. The home team were also awarded a controversial last-minute penalty when Yiannis Goumas appeared to tumble theatrically to the ground. Italian goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino then dived to his left to save Fanis Gekas's spot kick. AEK had a chance to level in the dying seconds but Nikos Lymberopoulos headed wide. Olympiakos had an easy night after Michalis Konstantinou headed them into the lead after 15 minutes. A penalty from Predrag Djordjevic and a seventh goal of the season from Rivaldo put them 3-0 up at the break. Spanish striker Dani came on for Rivaldo with 25 minutes to go and, after 604 minutes of league football for the club, scored his first goal following a neat interchange with Djordjevic. Xanthi reclaimed fourth place after beating Egaleo 1-0 on Saturday. They leapfrogged Iraklis who were beaten 3-2 at Atromitos, Giorgos Zacharopoulos hitting a hat-trick for the hosts.

Even Momo Sissoko could have seen that Robbie was on.

I'll be chosing 5Live commentary from teh red button thingy for any games I watch on the Beeb. Otherwise, I'll be sticking with RTE, whose pundits are the best in the business, for many different reasons. The BBC should get Martin O'Neill back for the telly.

If meant seriously, that's the kind of mentalist talk which bemuses me and puts me off this whole 'funding debate'. What's your opinion on the papers all appearing to have been briefed. You think it's coming from Rafa?

Not sure but I think it was a little earlier than that. The quotes were said to be from an older Spanish interview and mistranslated but nobody ever really backed up the dismissals of the quotes with a 'proper' translation. Until Rafa himself says something - and maybe he will - I don't think anone really knows anything.

Isn't it Oscars night?