The Athletic and Leicester

[Nick]

I paid £29.99 for a year and would do so again.

 

My current annual subscription goes again on June 1st but will cost £59.99 which I'm not prepared to pay.

 

Cancelled.

[KingsX]

Having been equivocal about Tanner's work, I should give credit where due.

 

His "Inside Story" piece on the Cup final included details which revealed the heart and soul of a club that, well, actually has a heart and a soul.

 

I can't share the whole piece for the usual reason, but here is one such detail.

 

 

As the players arrived at Wembley — resplendent in their Hugo Boss navy suits chosen by the players’ leadership group, including Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan and Jamie Vardy with input from Rodgers — they walked into the away dressing room to see their strip piled neatly in position by long-serving kit manager Paul McAndrew and noticed a postcard placed on top. It was the first thing they saw when they reached their seats.

 

Face up was a picture memento of the day, an occasion postcard with the club’s badge and fixture details, but when they turned the card over, each had a personal message from loved ones wishing them luck. Some had messages from their parents, some from wives, partners and children, but each designed by Rodgers to provide that final drop of inspiration.

 

https://theathletic.com/2592228/2021/05/17/rodgers-postcards-vardys-dogs-and-tielemans-messenger-the-inside-story-of-how-leicester-city-won-the-fa-cup/

[Guest ttfn]

Nice story (credit also to Stuart James who has always had some good stories on us from when he was at The Guardian).

 

I went onto the Athletic yesterday to get some post-match analysis or similar. 4 articles on our first FA Cup in history, the same number of articles as there were about Alisson scoring a goal in the Premier League.

 

I’m cancelling as soon as my subscription is up, for £25 a year it’s probably worth it but I paid £60 for this year and my feed is just full of big 6 sycophancy. It’s just not worth it for the one good Leicester article and 2-3 good general football stories per month.

 

[CosbehFox]

5 minutes ago, ttfn said:

Nice story (credit also to Stuart James who has always had some good stories on us from when he was at The Guardian).

 

I went onto the Athletic yesterday to get some post-match analysis or similar. 4 articles on our first FA Cup in history, the same number of articles as there were about Alisson scoring a goal in the Premier League.

 

I’m cancelling as soon as my subscription is up, for £25 a year it’s probably worth it but I paid £60 for this year and my feed is just full of big 6 sycophancy. It’s just not worth it for the one good Leicester article and 2-3 good general football stories per month.

 

Further proven by their team of the season selection which is incredibly big six biased 

[worth_the_wait]

If you want to get a good insight into the life of a footballer ... get a subscription to The Fox.   £16.50 a year.

 

They have some brilliant interviews with ex players. 

 

I've learnt more from those 100 or interviews, than every other football article put together.

[Daggers]

4 hours ago, KingsX said:

Having been equivocal about Tanner's work, I should give credit where due.

 

His "Inside Story" piece on the Cup final included details which revealed the heart and soul of a club that, well, actually has a heart and a soul.

 

I can't share the whole piece for the usual reason, but here is one such detail.

 

 

As the players arrived at Wembley — resplendent in their Hugo Boss navy suits chosen by the players’ leadership group, including Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan and Jamie Vardy with input from Rodgers — they walked into the away dressing room to see their strip piled neatly in position by long-serving kit manager Paul McAndrew and noticed a postcard placed on top. It was the first thing they saw when they reached their seats.

 

Face up was a picture memento of the day, an occasion postcard with the club’s badge and fixture details, but when they turned the card over, each had a personal message from loved ones wishing them luck. Some had messages from their parents, some from wives, partners and children, but each designed by Rodgers to provide that final drop of inspiration.

 

https://theathletic.com/2592228/2021/05/17/rodgers-postcards-vardys-dogs-and-tielemans-messenger-the-inside-story-of-how-leicester-city-won-the-fa-cup/

It is a very good piece. Well crafted and full of little gems.

[Richard]

4 hours ago, ttfn said:

Nice story (credit also to Stuart James who has always had some good stories on us from when he was at The Guardian).

 

I went onto the Athletic yesterday to get some post-match analysis or similar. 4 articles on our first FA Cup in history, the same number of articles as there were about Alisson scoring a goal in the Premier League.

 

I’m cancelling as soon as my subscription is up, for £25 a year it’s probably worth it but I paid £60 for this year and my feed is just full of big 6 sycophancy. It’s just not worth it for the one good Leicester article and 2-3 good general football stories per month.

 

In the aftermath of the final Michael Cox and the Chelsea correspondent both wrote about how Chelsea were unlucky and won the xG. The same Michael Cox who wrote a piece in favour of the Super League.

 

Straight after an FA cup final with all that drama and emotion the first thing they write about is Chelsea having 0.5 higher xG? Ridiculous.

[UpTheLeagueFox]

Some lovely stuff by Rob Tanner and his colleagues on us over the weekend.

Brought the magic alive.

 

Rob cares about the club and some of the comments on here have been overly critical IMHO. 

[Freeman's Wharfer]

His articles are ok when co-authored. Says a lot.

[ScrumpyJack]

Tanner’s pedigree at the Mercury isn’t the greatest advertisement for The Athletic. For Leicester news specifically, it’s no better than Guardian’s output.

 

With a broader range on football they do commonly have really interesting articles. An example is a really in-depth article on the restructuring at AC Milan over the last few years.

[Dahnsouff]

7 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Some lovely stuff by Rob Tanner and his colleagues on us over the weekend.

Brought the magic alive.

 

Rob cares about the club and some of the comments on here have been overly critical IMHO. 

Listened to the O&C podcast which Rob was on, and although it’s his adopted club, his passion for the club is beyond doubt.

[Reginaldo]

3 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Listened to the O&C podcast which Rob was on, and although it’s his adopted club, his passion for the club is beyond doubt.

The Podcast 5000-1 with Matty Elliot is really good. A word of warning he does wax lyrical about Manscape products and once you have that image of Rob in your head it never leaves...

[FoxesWalk]

I’ve been getting unauthorised charges on my card from The Athletic after their website crashed when I tried to sign up a few month ago... they deny I have an account but continue to charge me. 
 

It’s a fecking nightmare to deal with them and their support is useless.

I’d advise anyone considering an account to think again. The content is OKAY but not worth the money; and god help you if you have any problems! 

 

[Spudulike]

On 06/05/2021 at 08:54, davieG said:

I gave up during the free subscription period.  I also gave up on Tanner's book about our Championship win it was 90% just a rerun of the match reports with very little added. I've read several others on the win and they were all significantly better and way more interesting.

Tanners 5000-1 book was the first to hit the shops, clearly rushed to beat the competition and subsequently wasn't that good. I agree. 

 

I think the Jonathan Northcroft Fearless is the best so far, in my opinion, but there is still a gap for a much better one. I'd like a coffee table tome with easy pick up and read detailing the season week by week, including interviews with players, fans and how the world was reporting it. Full colour pictures and league tables and the effect it was having on other clubs. 

 

It would be good to have something to leave lying around as a talking point when visitors come over (especially if they are fans of other clubs). 

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

3 hours ago, Spudulike said:

Tanners 5000-1 book was the first to hit the shops, clearly rushed to beat the competition and subsequently wasn't that good. I agree. 

 

I think the Jonathan Northcroft Fearless is the best so far, in my opinion, but there is still a gap for a much better one. I'd like a coffee table tome with easy pick up and read detailing the season week by week, including interviews with players, fans and how the world was reporting it. Full colour pictures and league tables and the effect it was having on other clubs. 

 

It would be good to have something to leave lying around as a talking point when visitors come over (especially if they are fans of other clubs). 

Yeah, 5000-1 wasn't that great. I like Tanner, but actually think Jordan Blackwell has covered the beat better than him since taking over for the Mercury (yes, I know most of the site is crap.)

 

I think there are a few books yet to be written: A coffee table full colour; a real indepth behind the scenes (no one is really talking about it yet -- football is different than U.S. sports in that respect); and a good book covering everything the 2016-2017 season -- including the most disastrous window imaginable -- and now the win affected everything.

[Turtles Head]

I have five 30 day free passes for the Athletic if anyone is interested

[ousefox]

I really like Tanner. Always enjoyed his articles and insight. Good to see Jordan Blackwell coming through at the Mercury too. 

[Steve Earle]

1 hour ago, MarriedaLeicesterGirl said:

Yeah, 5000-1 wasn't that great. I like Tanner, but actually think Jordan Blackwell has covered the beat better than him since taking over for the Mercury (yes, I know most of the site is crap.)

 

I think there are a few books yet to be written: A coffee table full colour; a real indepth behind the scenes (no one is really talking about it yet -- football is different than U.S. sports in that respect); and a good book covering everything the 2016-2017 season -- including the most disastrous window imaginable -- and now the win affected everything.

Leaving the topic a tad, but I always felt there was a market for an MOTD DVD of the season featuring just our games, pundits post-match comments (‘no, they can’t win it’) and the league table.

 

Given Saint Gary’s position as presenter & love of the club, I’m a bit mystified why it never saw the light of day.

 

Could it be that we’re just a small club, hence a limited market?

[Guest ttfn]

I cancelled my subscription this week, there’s only 11 months to go…

 

The final straw for me was the article on Cambiasso and his home debut against Man United. I thought we might get something interesting, it’s a great story within a story about what was at the time probably the most incredible 90 minutes we’d seen in the previous 15 years. 
 

Absolutely pointless piece, devoid of any insight whatsoever, using the same old tired sources giving the same old stories. Just not worth the money when you see what fans of other clubs are getting - I’m effectively paying to subsidise the man United and Liverpool coverage.

Edited 9 September 2021 by ttfn

[mod hero]

Bill Anderson, his stuff was horrific and his player ratings were weird. This is coming from me being 10 years old as well. 
 

 

[Lineker's Lugs]

1 hour ago, Steve Earle said:

Leaving the topic a tad, but I always felt there was a market for an MOTD DVD of the season featuring just our games, pundits post-match comments (‘no, they can’t win it’) and the league table.

 

Given Saint Gary’s position as presenter & love of the club, I’m a bit mystified why it never saw the light of day.

 

Could it be that we’re just a small club, hence a limited market?

For some reason that season, and I hadn’t done it before and haven’t since, I recorded the first few MOTDs and trimmed them down just to our bit.  And as things were going well I kept it going.  I think I missed about three games in the end (from memory it was Liverpool and Arsenal away and, because it was on a Monday, Newcastle at home).

 

I've definitely watched those recordings far more than the official DVD.

 

As for the Athletic, I enjoyed it so much I even binned off a £1 a month offer. But as an NFL fan and with the season starting tonight I may take advantage of a £10 for a year offer I’ve seen.  I wouldn’t pay even that little just for the City coverage though.

[I am an Ostrich]

On 06/05/2021 at 08:46, FLAN said:

On a par with Jason Bourne as a journalist.
I remember asking Bourne why he wasn’t asking the club for their stance on the Offside Trust when clubs were starting to back it. He basically said he didn’t know what it was - this was a massive story at the time 

Jason Bourne, now he really is a shocker 

[Out Foxed]

they're fast becoming what they sought to separate themselves from 

[Bluefoxtim]

 

What happened to the weekly podcasts with Matt Elliott?

[Jakemoore]

I personally think the athletic is great. Rob Tanner is a bit hit and miss but the articles about football and the premier league generally are well worth the subscription fee.