I have a bit of a bugbear, and it is transfer rumours online. Anyone who is a Patreon and in our Discord knows this, with certain journalists really twisting my melon.
It’s hypocritical. I’ll report what they report, because they’re putting something out and often it is report-worthy. My barometer is News Now: if a journalist is considered to be an authority by News Now, I’ll report their stuff. I try to temper that with a bit of opinion, like the John McAtee reports yesterday, but I’d be doing myself a disservice as an independent news outlet if I ignored a lot of what these social media journalists put out.
Not to name any, but you know who I am talking about. They drop a mix of the random ‘rule of three’ reports, linking multiple clubs and a player, or they have a very specific news piece 24 hours before it happens. Me banging the drum in our Discord is one thing, but a handful of respected journalists covered it in the recent Guardian Football Weekly Podcast.
I really like this pod. I have listened on and off for a while, but it was my daily World Cup companion, with Max, Barry and their guests doing a wonderful job of supplementing my enjoyment of the summer’s event. Now, they’ve rubber-stamped their place among my favourite outlets by giving a comprehensive view of how the agent-driven rumour market tends to work.
Commentator Seb Hutchinson, a guest on the show, explained how agents drive a lot of what you see online.
“Agents are responsible for a high proportion of it nowadays because I think what’s changed is because people can set their agendas online, they like to use that as a space.”
Journalist John Brewin stops short of naming those who are agent-led, but anyone in football knows the main two or three. They’re the preferred outlet for certain agents, and indeed some clubs, but it does lead to animosity among reputable journalists, particularly those working under embargoes or respecting their inside knowledge.
“There are certain operators out there that I don’t have to name to the listeners who certain clubs and agents prefer to have the story first. That’s what I’m told by those who operate in it,” adds Brewin.
“My sources are telling me, yeah. And so there is a certain amount of cachet to have that news broken by those particular journalists. That’s often how it works.”
“Those who have operated in that space at a slightly, I’m not going to say lesser quality, lesser prominence, find themselves a bit annoyed by this at times.”
Jonathan Wilson is a man I have a huge amount of respect for, not only for popping up on the Guardian Football Weekly, but also for hosting It Was What It Was, a superb football history podcast. He compares ‘good people’ working in the industry with those who just scratch agents’ backs, and vice versa.
“There’s clearly very good people who work in that area. I mean, there’s other people who I think do a lot of quid pro quos where they’ll do an agent a favour, say, by discussing the possibility of a player moving to a club to try and drum up interest, or suggesting the player’s unsettled to try and drum up interest.”
“Their fee, if you like, for doing that is to, you know, have the wink tipped when an actual transfer is going through.”
Catch Part Two of our series on Graham Taylor and his decline as England Manager between 1990-94 following the link below:https://t.co/pJu5l30nvs pic.twitter.com/NltaHcL1sa
— It Was What It Was (@ItWasPod) April 14, 2026
Finally, Guardian Football Weekly host Max Rushden goes as far as to question what the journalists in question actually know about the game, beyond the furore caused by rumours.
“What’s interesting about some of them is when you occasionally talk to them, it does sound like they’ve never seen a football match, and the transfer is the end of the thing. That is the end of the thing. That is not a means to an end to build a football team.”
“It’s sort of human transaction obsession. It’s quite strange.”
Indeed, when I have dropped some names around people in the game, there isn’t a huge amount of respect. The main two never take the time to check a story with a club, so one minute Harry Boyes is going to Notts County, done deal; then an hour later it is York City, or Michael Skubala is going to Bristol City, then he isn’t, then he is.
Sadly, those looking for the quick fix of a rumour are satiated by the Twitter presence of said journalists, and the nature of their arrangement means they also do get stories out ahead of other journalists; often those stories are known behind the scenes, but people can’t actually publish them.
A classic example of this is Matt Smith. Local media were briefed on his presence in our squad for the Grismby Town game, something we could report once the teamsheet landed, and the whole ‘trialist A’ thing was abandoned. We could then prep our reports and get ready for the reveal, only for an agent to tip off an online transfer reporter 15 minutes before the game.
What that does is lead to accusations that The Stacey West or the BBC are behind the curve, and certain journalists know better, when what has actually happened is your local outlets have run a fair race, and then, as we enter the final straight, a nomark has jumped the fence, broken the tape and taken the glory.
I’m just happy a proper reputable outlet has covered it. I’d recommend going back to the episode here and giving it a listen.
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