Writer's Block

Never thought I'd ever utter these words, but, thank god for Glenn Hoddle. If it wasn't for Glenn Hoddle's week late thoughts on Michael Owen joining Manchester United I'd have been reduced to pointing to the the silly rumour that we're after Ibrahimovic, and criticising some sloppy writing in The Daily Star. Instead I get to criticise Glenn Hoddle...
The question about this Glenn Hoddle story is - why? It's a week after the event, have the Telegraph had his comments for a week and just thought they'd save them for a day when little else was happening to fill a space, or, have they been trying to get in touch with Hoddle for a week, desperate to have his opinion on the matter, and finally we get to breathe a sigh of relief as he reveals what he thinks on the subject. I like to imagine it's the latter, The Telegraph sports office bursting into spontaneous applause as Steve Wilson put down the phone and declared, "Yes! Finally, Glenn Hoddle's opinion on the Owen transfer, what a scoop!" So here it is:

“Michael Owen will score goals if he is given chances,” says Hoddle. “He was in a side last season that was struggling, for whatever reason, but his goals ratio, even at Madrid where he was used from the bench, is staggering."

Well worth the wait... The best bit is this quote, where Hoddle tells Capello that he's wrong:

“Capello has been wrong to leave him out. Owen has a proven record at international football.

“If we had a squad full of goalscorers that would be different but we haven’t. Owen only needs two chances to score a goal and that’s the mark of a top level international striker.”

Yep, Capello, 100% record in World Cup qualifiers, has certainly missed Owen...

Other "news". The Mirror report that we're after Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I'm really buying that. There source. Oh. There isn't one. That's a surprise...

We completed the signing of Gabriel Obertan yesterday. The report of this in The Daily Star is really bad. It seems a bit like shooting fish in a barrel to slag off The Daily Star for its writing, but it is a national newspaper and so really it should do better than this. It seems a little like Chris Brereton who wrote the piece was maybe late for something or fancied an early finish and just rushed this off. First off there's this, taking a quote out of context to make Obertan sound bad:

The 20-year-old is on his way to Old Trafford despite Bordeaux boss Blanc telling Fergie yesterday that the player had “psychological and mental challenges” which he needed to get over before he could ­become a world-beater.

The full quote (here in yesterday's paper round up):

"They certainly hope to advance him, something that Bordeaux and Lorient have failed to do. He has the potential, but he must overcome psychological and mental challenges so he can express his true value."

The quote concentrates on his potential, whereas the summary in the article concentrates on his "challenges". Surely the point of buying young players is to develop them, if there wasn't challenges in the way of players we'd be paying £80 million for everyone, rather than the £3.5 million we've reportedly paid for Oberton. And that's not the worst part of the article, that's just a slightly recontextualized quote, this is awfully sloppy writing:

Fergie has forked out just £3m for the winger – a pittance in modern- day football – but it is a sign that Blanc is not that bothered about letting him go.

That's the type of thing I might write, but I write on this blog, not on a national newspaper. It's just so casual, and I know it's the Daily Star and I'm not expecting really complex writing, but some effort would be nice. And, not wishing to be picky (I am), but the fact that Obertan was loaned out by Bordeaux for (from memory) the second half of last season is possibly a greater sign of Blanc being not that bothered about the player than the transfer fee.