The Athletic and Leicester

[HoustonFox]

10 hours ago, ttfn said:

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.

 

7 hours ago, Jakemoore said:

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. 

I really enjoy the athletic too. The pods and long reads are enjoyable and it’s great to catch up on some other sports. 
 

On Tanner’s article, if you compare it to others in that series like James Horncastle’s on Recoba or Nick Miller’s on Tugay, they’re not even in the same ball park. Such a shame Rob didn’t get more quotes from the man himself or those who were around at the time like the others. 

[Tuna]

The Athletic has absolutely appalling reviews on trust pilot.

[SemperEadem]

It’s pretty rubbish for our content but really good on others.

[mozartfox]

1 hour ago, Tuna said:

The Athletic has absolutely appalling reviews on trust pilot.

What about Perez? 5 stars?

[Nick]

Enjoyed the training ground article. Really good content.

[Spudulike]

On 18/05/2021 at 06:59, worth_the_wait said:

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.

The Fox Summer Special 2021 is brilliant. Especially like The joy of Six article about the FA Cup final. 

[Daggers]

3 hours ago, Tuna said:

The Athletic has absolutely appalling reviews on trust pilot.

That’s odd, because if this place is anything to go by then football fans are a collection of intelligent, reasonable, and fair souls.

[Footballwipe]

I know I've harped on about their podcasts in the past, but I do listen to a fair few of theirs:

• Totally Football Show - think loads know this one already tbh as they bought the production company
• Athletic Football Podcast - Tends to be "big team heavy" but still feel like there's good insight to be had
  • Business of Sport - falls under this feed but Matt Slater and Chapman are good at looking in depth at, well, the business of sport
• Football Cliches - If anyone hasn't listened to this yet, I'd recommend. Doesn't take itself seriously and is really good fun
• Beyond the Headline - Occasional 'series' podcast which has looked into things like Neyamr's transfer, Newcastle's Ashley ownership, Fall and rise of Rangers as well as Sam Allardyce's managerial career

It looks like they've had a reform/overhaul during the summer as they've upped their output of some of these, and dropped others

[David Guiza]

1 hour ago, Footballwipe said:

I know I've harped on about their podcasts in the past, but I do listen to a fair few of theirs:

• Totally Football Show - think loads know this one already tbh as they bought the production company
• Athletic Football Podcast - Tends to be "big team heavy" but still feel like there's good insight to be had
  • Business of Sport - falls under this feed but Matt Slater and Chapman are good at looking in depth at, well, the business of sport
• Football Cliches - If anyone hasn't listened to this yet, I'd recommend. Doesn't take itself seriously and is really good fun
• Beyond the Headline - Occasional 'series' podcast which has looked into things like Neyamr's transfer, Newcastle's Ashley ownership, Fall and rise of Rangers as well as Sam Allardyce's managerial career

It looks like they've had a reform/overhaul during the summer as they've upped their output of some of these, and dropped others

I love Football Clichés. Anything niche like that is always right up my street; particularly the XIs they do from time to time. 

Particularly proud that Lilian Nalis got into the 'players we remember for one thing XI'. 

[Sharpe's Fox]

is it me or do football journalists seem like some of the most stuck up weirdos around? They seem right up their own arse. Its not like their doing anyting important they may as well be the tiddleywinks correspondent for CBBC Newsround.

[Guest ttfn]

1 hour ago, Sharpe's Fox said:

is it me or do football journalists seem like some of the most stuck up weirdos around? They seem right up their own arse. Its not like their doing anyting important they may as well be the tiddleywinks correspondent for CBBC Newsround.

There was an almost unreadable article on The Guardian the other day by Fabrizio Romano talking about the “inside story” of the transfer window. 
 

It was about 2,000 words of seemingly the same story repeated of him getting a WhatsApp message from somebody and describing the rush he got from telling people information they were going to find out 10 minutes later anyway. You get the impression he and plenty of other football journalists see football as something that gets in the way of the transfer window.

 

You also see it in the complete inability of many sportswriters to write a coherent match report but that’s one for another day.

[drumbeat]

I read that Guardian article ^^^ 

 

It left me wondering what Fabrizio Romano actually did. He seemed to be reliant on what others told him.  Seemed little more than a conduit to me. Bit maybe that's it; who you know.

[Dan]

6 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

I know I've harped on about their podcasts in the past, but I do listen to a fair few of theirs:

• Totally Football Show - think loads know this one already tbh as they bought the production company
• Athletic Football Podcast - Tends to be "big team heavy" but still feel like there's good insight to be had
  • Business of Sport - falls under this feed but Matt Slater and Chapman are good at looking in depth at, well, the business of sport
• Football Cliches - If anyone hasn't listened to this yet, I'd recommend. Doesn't take itself seriously and is really good fun
• Beyond the Headline - Occasional 'series' podcast which has looked into things like Neyamr's transfer, Newcastle's Ashley ownership, Fall and rise of Rangers as well as Sam Allardyce's managerial career

It looks like they've had a reform/overhaul during the summer as they've upped their output of some of these, and dropped others

Quite like the football tactics podcast as well. That's generally a decent listen.

 

Football cliches is quality. You're a liar if you claim to listen to that and not smile/laugh through a lot of it.

[Sharpe's Fox]

Would honestly rather listen to a pissed up Paul Merson about football than anyone who writes about football for a living. At least the former has played the game.

[Gamble92]

When it started it was genuinely a better standard than free sites like Leicestershire live but that isn't exactly a difficult thing to achieve.

 

We've entered an era where the headline is more important to them than the content. As long as we click it they're getting page views and more money and that's all that matters. The standard was always going to go down when thats the aim. I know the athletic is subscription but they put their headlines all across Facebook with a preview of the article.

 

Its worse that this type of clickbait journalism has crept into punditry now too. People like Paul Merson are more interested in saying an outrageous quote that Sky will then put on youtube with the quote. Usually something that winds up a set of fans. I.e "Leicester go to Hinckley for pre season, Arsenal go round the world".

Edited 10 September 2021 by Gamble92
.

[Tanya]

11 hours ago, pmcla26 said:

I think that when there is so much content for free on the internet these days that no sports news/media is really worth paying for

That's a great way to ensure journalists lose their jobs.

 

It's always worth paying for quality content. 

[Gamble92]

3 minutes ago, Tanya said:

That's a great way to ensure journalists lose their jobs.

 

It's always worth paying for quality content. 

Its a completely dying profession anyway. Many things have contributed to that. 

[when_you're_smiling]

2 hours ago, Gamble92 said:

Its a completely dying profession anyway. Many things have contributed to that. 

No it’s not. Papers may fall way but there’ll still be a thirst for news so it’ll come out in some medium.

[Dorkingfox]

The problem with the Athletic is not the content but the cost, it was $20 to start with, which was OK, then it went to $50 and I thought OK for another year, then I forgot to cancel the subscription and it went up to $71, so when I go the cancel they offer it for $21 after charging me $71, so I have now cancelled and have nearly a year left.

you can share with others but only for 30 days.

[drumbeat]

25 minutes ago, Dorkingfox said:

The problem with the Athletic is not the content but the cost

Simply that for me. I don't have that kind of dosh to spare - even at the 'cheaper' price.

[FoxesWalk]

Their customer service is honestly appalling.

 

The worst I’ve ever dealt with, ahead of BT 

[Livid]

30 minutes ago, drumbeat said:

Simply that for me. I don't have that kind of dosh to spare - even at the 'cheaper' price.

The problem is I’ve got an O2 contract, Virgin for cable and internet , Prime, Netflix, Audible, Now TV, Kindle Unlimited, Amazon Music. 
 

I know more and more is being read online and they’re not making the money from printed magazines or papers. The articles look great but there comes a point where you have to say no more. 

Edited 11 September 2021 by Livid
Gramma

[drumbeat]

Yep, accepted business models increasingly want to peel a layer off folk each month. No such thing as a free lunch. I even feel guilty for think people could do a 'cut & paste' of subscription walled articles. 

Edited 11 September 2021 by drumbeat

[Ric Flair]

21 hours ago, drumbeat said:

I read that Guardian article ^^^ 

 

It left me wondering what Fabrizio Romano actually did. He seemed to be reliant on what others told him.  Seemed little more than a conduit to me. Bit maybe that's it; who you know.

Out of interest what else could someone like Romano do? He's not an agent arranging deals and he's not a clairvoyant. He's just managed to build up a reputation and buzz around him that means he gets fed constant inside transfer stories, often before the media or other sources reveal it. 

[Ric Flair]

18 hours ago, Sharpe's Fox said:

Would honestly rather listen to a pissed up Paul Merson about football than anyone who writes about football for a living. At least the former has played the game.

Really? Given for years the football punditry was a job for the boys and most of them absolutely clueless I don't think the narrative that at least they played the game holds much weight. Plenty of ex footballers talk absolute bollocks just like plenty of educated journalists do. On the flip side there are a number of ex players that are great pundits and there are a number of sports journalists who write quality content.