And a quick word on the Gareth Barry / Martin O'Neill saga
I guess when managers of the repute and standing of Martin O'Neill point out what they feel are inaccuracies in their local paper, the man in The Editors' Chair has to sit up and take notice.
And so I did.
But the moans from Martin appear to me to be about the Mail not carrying his interpretation on a very delicate stage of a crucial story on the future of Gareth Barry.
In essence, MON told our man at Villa that:
1. the price for GB was bigger than the purse he believed Lpool to have; and
2. GB was not unhappy at Villa; and
3. that he, Randy and many others were really going to work on GB to stay; and
4. therefore, in MON's opi nion, he was odds on favourite not to leave; BUT
5. if the massive price was raised and if GB decided he wanted to go that there would be no point in keeping an unhappy player.
All the above was in the Mail story and MON's quotes. The headline - 'Barry can go if the price is right' was NOT entirely reflective of the story. Headlines can't be... this one was only eight words. But nor was it inacccurate.
Basically, if Lpool offer a certain figure (let's say £20m - MON reckons they won't and that Lpool can't afford it), and let's say this and the package and the hope for medals tempts GB (it would). THat's when the headline may come home to roost.
Of course, MON fuminates because the effect of the Mail headline is that it's read out on Talksport and appears on Sky Sports News. I can understand his view of this.
But he and Villa should also understand that we have to reflect different angles on different stories each day, and we can't nullify these simply to stay in chorus with MON's admittedly impressive orchestration of the press. Not all the time, anyway.
So what will happen?
Well, I've been wrong before, but given Lpool's self-destructive board atm, my money's on GB to stay with Villa for one more season. But no medals in 2008/9 and he's off.
(10) comments so far add yours here
Share:
Older/Newer
« The morning after the night before... | Taxis, planes and automobiles madness in Berlin »
10 Comments
Leave a comment
Keep up to date
Technorati
Authors
Steve Dyson
Blog from the Editor on recent issues and events.
I just hope that this doesn't alienate MON's position with the Mail inasmuch as the Mail will be last in line to hear of any genuine news from Villa Park. Up to now Bill seems to have had a good relationship with MON, we don't want to go back to the O'Leary days of non-communication.
I'm pretty sure MON is bigger than that. He knows that BH has contacts throughout Villa Park anyway...
Agree with all you say but sill worried about your grammar.
'Editors' Chair' - so there's one chair for several editors.
'Fuminate' - surely it's fulminate.
Agree with all you say but sill worried about your grammar.
'Editors' Chair' - so there's one chair for several editors.
'Fuminate' - surely it's fulminate.
Blimey Bilstonian... this is a blog, not an English essay... please excuse my fast fingers inserting the apos. in the wrong place and missing the 'l'...!
"Sill" Bilstonian? Surely it's "Still..."
Surely Democracy will win?
http://forums.birminghammail.net/viewtopic.php?t=10171&start=0
Not that it really matters what Bill Howell has to say these days anyway. To say his reporting has started to become innaccurate would be an understatement, and to be honest not too many people believe what he has to say anymore these days because he gets it so wrong time after time.
Interesting stuff from ARapidLerner...
I think he is in the camp that doesn't like anything but what they want to to be facts coming out.
Unfortunately, esp. in passionate football, so often the real facts are not want the fans want.
Barry? Let's hope he stays, but if BH has heard he's offski then he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't report this.
As to BH's facts, cast your mind back to O'Leary days. Oh, and who first broke the news of Randy?
Methinks you'll find BH sails closer to the wind than many, sometimes sychophantic (check spelling!) Villa reporters, but he also gets more facts right more often!
Couldn't agree more with the above poster. I support another Midlands team, not Villa or Blues, but as a keen football fan read all the stuff that the Mail produces. And as a neutral, I see nothing wrong with what Bill Howell has written. Villa fans are just looking for someone to blame for the fact that Barry is likely to leave and - guess what - it's easy to blame Bill because he's the one writing the stories. I'm pretty sure Colin Tattum would be writing similar stuff if he'd got information that maybe Larsson or McFadden were to leave Blues. As to O'Leary, it's my opinion that Howell saw through him. And let's face it, no one's been beating down his door since he left Villa have they?