Today The Express is running a story that Moussa Dembele is “ready to leave Celtic.”
The Scotsman has already picked that one up and slung it into the Rumour Mill, along with a suggestion that Leigh Griffiths might be ready to do the same.
Know what their basis for that particular rumour is?
A Tweet Leigh sent, quite obviously joking, suggesting he might go back to Hibs.
This is sports “journalism” in Scotland; trying to make a news story out of a joke.
It would be funny if there weren’t real, honest-to-God stories to cover instead.
But the Dembele story is worse, further proof of the appalling standard of the profession in this country. There is no basis to this claim at all. Not one on the record quote. It’s not even based on a quote given off the record, and I know that because I did what the lazy sods who have published it already and will rush to do so over the course of the day, never bothered to.
The article in the Express is shameless, the “writer” quite clearly bone idle and looking for an easy life.
It says that “according to reports” Dembele is preparing to leave. So the writer has done no actual homework of his own. He’s done no actual investigating of his own. He’s read something somewhere else and changed the words around a wee bit.
Let’s start with “according to reports.”
Are these reports in noteworthy media outlets? Did they appear in Marca? The Guardian? Le Monde?
No, the “reports” appeared on a number of the usual clickbait websites; HTC, Football Rumours etc. and originated with a single report, which appeared on the website Goal. The article itself contains not one direct quote. In fact, it flatly contradicts itself in the final couple of paragraphs when it repeats what Moussa’s agent said just last week, and what he’s been saying for months and months.
“Moussa Dembele is intent on leaving Celtic this summer, Goal understands …” is how this article starts, and offers not one word of supporting evidence.
But it ends with this;
“Dembele’s agent Mamadi Fofana told the Daily Record recently that he believes the speculation around his client proves that things are looking up for all parties at Celtic Park. ‘If he has to leave, that will happen at the right time, but it’s not in Moussa’s head or my head,” he said. ‘In January, there was speculation, but there will always be speculation if he does well. It’s good, it means we are all doing well. The boy is doing well, Celtic is doing well and we as agents are doing the right things for everyone.”
Goal “has been told” the opposite.
By who? A guy in a pub? It doesn’t say and the writer in The Express – Stuart Ballard, who seems to be new as there’s not another published story by him on their website – doesn’t seem particularly bothered about finding any.
This is a non-story, a total piece of clickbait garbage.
But watch how many “serious” outlets pop something up about over the course of the day.