The Sun? The Observer? Tribalfootball or Goal.com?
By the end of this summer, we should have an answer. Today sees the launch of Premier League Blog’s appropriately named RAG (Rumour Accuracy Generator), which will pull stories from the daily gossip columns and record their accuracy.
How it works
No escape for wild rumour mongers
Our program uses the Richard Norton method of media source evaluation. We simply input the data (in this case the player and the supposed destination club) into SAV, our huge master computer at Premier League Blog towers, and wait. When the transfer window slams shut on September 1st, SAV will digest and evaluate the masses of information, collate it with that from our very own reliable Confirmed Transfers page, and give us a percentage rating for the accuracy of each of the media sources we record.
The sources
As of Day One of the project, May 25th 2010, the below sources (including their Sunday equivalents where appropriate) are being tracked. If other sources accelerate their rumour output, we will include them in the program.
The Daily Mail
The Sun
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Star
The Guardian
The Times
Tribalfootball.com
Imscouting.com
Caughtoffside.com
Footylatest.com
Initial Projections
After just one day, I am already fearful for Caughtoffside.com. While the tabloids, often dismissed as being wildly liberal
De Rossi: Not going to United
with their transfer rumour-mongering, make a slow start with some plausible (but boring) rumours (Robbie Keane and Jermaine Jenas to Aston Villa, Jamie O’Hara to West Ham and some 15-year-old Spaniard to Arsenal), Caughtoffside.com has wildly predicted big money moves for Daniele De Rossi to skint Manchester United, Giuseppe Rossi to skint Liverpool, and Karim Benzema to champions and highest ever Premier League goalscorers Chelsea. If they try to keep that pace up every day, they will find themselves lagging in the league table before long.
The Mirror is the most prolific so far, with more than twice the amount of rumours as The Sun today, but that may lead to its downfall as SAV uses a percentage-based system, rather than sheer volume of correct guesses.
The Sun’s conservative volume of feasible suggestions make them an early favourite. We will update the Rumour Sources League Table when the confirmed transfers begin to gather pace.
