<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>The biggest news of the past 24 hours is that Manchester United has reportedly tabled an official £20 million bid for Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov. Problem is there’s no evidence of an actual bid being made and all we have to go on is a quote from his agent in The Sun newspaper. What is the “money quote” from the agent that “confirms” that the “bid” has happened?
<blockquote>“I cannot make any comment until there is official confirmation from Tottenham or United.” </blockquote>
While the story may be true, it could also be the agent trying to start a price war to raise Berbatov’s price.
What makes the whole affair ludicrous is now the other British tabloids are picking up on the story and regurgitating the news, and all they have to go on is an article from The Sun. Meanwhile, The Daily Mail even had the cheek to call the story an exclusive.
Here’s a breakdown of how the story broke and how the other news organizations rewrote The Sun‘s material without one of them crediting The Sun:
Headline: <a href="http:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1413705.ece#OTC-RSS&amp;ATTR=Football" target="_blank">United’s £20m Berbatov Bid</a> 
Newspaper: The Sun 
Day/time article appeared in RSS feed: Friday, 8:53pm ET 
Number of attributed sources: One 
Source: Emil Dantchev, Berbatov’s agent 
Number of direct quotes: One (from agent) 
Quote from agent: “I cannot make any comment until there is official confirmation from Tottenham or United.” 
Article length: 266 words
Headline: <a href="http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/ferguson-turns-his-attention-to-berbatov-865860.html" target="_blank">Ferguson Turns His Attention To Berbatov</a> 
Newspaper: The Independent 
Day/time article appeared in RSS feed: Friday, 9:03pm ET 
Source: “There are reports” (i.e. The Sun) 
Number of direct quotes: Zero 
Article length: 965 words (although only 121 words are about the Berba “bid”)
Headline: <a href="http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/12/premierleague.manchesterunited?gusrc=rss&amp;feed=football" target="_blank">United Bid For Berbatov</a> 
Newspaper: The Guardian 
Day/time article appeared in RSS feed: Friday, 10pm ET 
Source: “According to reports” (i.e. The Sun) 
Number of direct quotes: Zero 
Article length: 135 words
Headline: <a href="http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1034446/Get-Berbatov--Fergie-puts-20m-table-Spurs-ace.html" target="_blank">Exclusive: Get Berbatov: Fergie Puts 20m On Table For Spurs Ace</a> 
Newspaper: The Daily Mail 
Day/time article appeared in RSS feed: Friday, 11:17pm ET 
Source: None mentioned in reference to “bid” 
Number of direct quotes: Zero 
Article length: 628 words (with only 454 about the Berba “bid”)
At 2:48am ET on Saturday, BBC Sport mentioned 20 words about <a href="http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/7503126.stm" target="_blank">the story</a> and appropriately placed it in their Saturday Gossip Column
Headline: <a href="http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/07/12/ufnberbatov112.xml" target="_blank">Spurs Striker Dimitar Berbatov Subject Of Bid From Manchester United</a> 
Newspaper: The Daily Telegraph 
Day/time article appeared in RSS feed: Saturday, 4:06am ET 
Source: “According to reports” (i.e. The Sun) 
Number of direct quotes: One (the same quote from The Sun) 
Article length: 317 words
To me, this is all about selling newspapers. All of these tabloid and broadsheet newspapers want the eyeballs on their website so they can sell more advertising space. And those print newspapers who were able to squeeze the news into their fish wrappers last night will sell more copies today with the headline about Berbatov. As of press time, the only respectable English newspaper that hasn’t written about the story is The Times. That either may be by choice, if they determine the story is to be utter tosh, or they may be trying to write their own version of the story with new facts and quotes. Then again, they may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
And all of this comes from one news story in The Sun which features plenty of hearsay and one innocuous quote.
The British press are quick to criticize football clubs and stars, but isn’t it time that they raise their journalistic standards and refrain from lazy journalism?

Berbatov To Man United: British Newspapers Follow The Sun&#039;s Lead - World Soccer Talk

Berbatov To Man United: British Newspapers Follow The Sun's Lead

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Berbatov pads stats
Against weaker opponents
Bad news for Reading 
West Ham shocked Manchester United 2-1 at Upton Park.&nbsp; It was West Ham’s third consecutive victory over United in the League.&nbsp; The result was a bit unfair to Man U, who controlled much of the match.&nbsp; They had a chance to seal the victory foiled when Ronaldo shanked his penalty (One suspects we won’t be seeing him wink or kiss the ball anytime soon).&nbsp; The last two goals were from set pieces, which were simply poor marking and poor concentration.&nbsp; Man U have no one to blame but themselves.
Brace yourselves for the thundering sound of the more corpulent members of the English Press hurling themselves off the bandwagon.
Everton dishearteningly lost to Arsenal 4-1 at home.&nbsp; The Toffees looked set to take this one, bringing a 1-0 lead to the half-way point.&nbsp; They dictated the play and possession, the crowd was up for it and the rain was pooring down.&nbsp; Arsenal looked dead and dusted.
However, Everton flat-lined in the second-half, allowing Arsenal to climb back into it, after two spectacular finishes from Eduardo.&nbsp; Adebayor and Rosicky came on late to poor salt on their wounds, and Arsenal escaped with a victory to vault them back on top of the table.
Eduardo thrived when finally given a league start, and, hopefully, Wenger will wisen up and give him a decent run of games to find his form.&nbsp; He may just be the mythical fox in the box for which Gooners have been pining.
Nicklas Bendtner, however, had a horrendous outing in his first league start.&nbsp; The normally precocious youth was hesitant and a step off the pace for the entire match.&nbsp; He punctuated his piss poor performance by getting sent off for a second booking just as Wenger attempted to substitute him.
The rivalry between the Spanish Internationals also injected a bit of spice to the match, with Arteta being sent off for elbowing Fabregas in the face.&nbsp; Cesc may have made the most of it, but it was an easy call and a stupid move by Arteta.&nbsp; He now faces a three match ban and, as Everton’s best player, his absence could very well cost Everton a chance to compete for the Champions ‘ League places.
Chelsea weasled a home win against Newcastle 2-1.&nbsp; Big Sam’s Boys deserved at least a draw from this match, as they dominated much of the second half.&nbsp; They were burned on Kalou’s entirely offside goal.&nbsp; You could have driven a truck between Kalou and the last defender.&nbsp; Allardyce will be vindicated on <a href="http:\/\/www.therightresult.net/">The Right Result</a> but that won’t help him stave off uber-qualified Angel of the North from taking his job.
Grant’s substitutions would undoubtedly have earned more scrutiny, if Chelsea had not been fortunate and come away with a victory.&nbsp; Why remove arguably your best attacking player on the field in Joe Cole, particularly with an unfit Michael Ballack huffing and puffing but not blowing any houses down in midfield?&nbsp; Let alone for Pizarro, who is completely worthless.
Also the announcer described Ballack as being an expert at timing late runs.&nbsp; He’s not timing late runs it just takes him that long to finally get forward.&nbsp; He doesn’t get forward.&nbsp; He doesn’t get back in defend.&nbsp; He can’t tackle.&nbsp; He doesn’t pass real well.&nbsp; What exactly does he do?&nbsp; And why the captain’s armband over Essien?
Tottenham beat out Reading in a prolific 6-4 encounater at White Hart Lane.&nbsp; Spurs play sub-par opposition and, surprise, Dimitar Berbatov pops up like a randy groundhog to score four before scurrying back underground in preparation for a top half of the table side.
It seems like these type of games always involve Reading on the losing end, which is not exactly a good thing.&nbsp; Reading’s defense is shit, and it is an area Steve Coppel needs to shore up, to assure Reading staying in the Premier League.
Juande Ramos should quit football and start his own diet business.

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Berbatov To Man United: British Newspapers Follow The Sun's Lead

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