As a football fan, it can be pretty overwhelming to read news about your favourite club. There are reliability guides, indexes, a tier system and a reliable few journalists whose tweets we wait for with bated breath (Fabrizio Romano's 'here we go' is a transfer window classic).
However, when you support Manchester United, it's a whole new level. Every single day, media outlets bombard you with stories to get their views and it gets tough to navigate in the cruel clickbait world.
The common notion among most Red Devils fans is that Duncan Castles is a sh*t source and so are The Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star, to name a few. That isn't wrong but believe us when we say there is a science behind it.
Why Castles is important
It all started with monkeys.
When asked how he got into journalism, Duncan Castles revealed in an interview: "I was working in science, in academics, did a Ph.D. in monkey behaviour, did my research in Africa for that. I was looking for more funding and ended up going to Japan to study Japanese and study Japanese monkeys over there and I spent three years over there, working at Tokyo University.
"I was supposed to go back to the UK but the World Cup was coming up in Japan and I wanted to stay and was losing my enthusiasm for scientific research. There were adverts in one of the English-language papers I read looking for sub-editors, one of them in sport. I applied for that job and got it."
After moving back to England, Duncan started off as a journalist for the Daily Mail, followed by The Times. He also features on The Transfer Window podcast.
When you check the tier-based reliability guide, Castles is listed in the fourth tier - which is mostly unreliable. But there is a catch - he's the ultimate source for all things Jose Mourinho and anything to do with Jorge Mendes' clients.
Castles is close friends with super-agent Mendes, meaning if he's reporting something about Cristiano Ronaldo, it's probably true. However, run a mile away if you see him talk about anything else.
A list of things Castles got absolutely right
- Castles broke the Diogo Dalot to United story.
- Also, he was one of the first to report Ander Herrera's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain on 1 April 2018. It took other publications a month to catch up.
- Spot on about United's interest in Paulo Dybala back in summer 2019. Even though others did not pick it up, the Argentine striker was actually in the club's office in London at the time.
Why we post The Sun
Now, The Sun has arguably one of the poorest reputations among all media outlets. It's often referred to as a 'rag' and the following examples will show you why:
- Paul Pogba blasted the publication for sharing fake news about his retirement from France.
- Last summer, they claimed Kasper Schmeichel was being considered by United to replace David De Gea. Well, we're still waiting on that one.
But there is another side to it: While they may not be reliable for transfer stories, The Sun's 'sources' in clubs are not always wrong. Consider the following:
- The Sun reported that Eric Bailly and Edinson Cavani are 'demanding' answers about their future. Assuming that did happen, it got people talking and a few days later, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed in a press conference that the club have opened contract talks with Bailly.
- Bruno Fernandes is reportedly unwilling to sign a new contract unless he receives 'assurances' about the club's ambition.
Both these cases may not be 100% accurate but it's enough to give us an idea of what's happening behind the scenes. And it always gets people talking, so we'll give them that.
The Sun also have Neil Custis, who attends key media conferences and is a good source for contract extensions (he was accurate while reporting a new contract for Ashley Young in the past and Luke Shaw's previous extension).
And there have been similar instances with other publications. For example, the Manchester Evening News is not a tier-one source but they're very reliable when it comes to squad news and injury-related stuff - their journalist Samuel Luckhurst, in particular, has a great track record.
Dark side of football reporting
Despite all the guides (and your own knowledge and research), chances are you may fall prey to a fake story.
In my own experience, this story I posted about Bruno and Pogba picking up training ground injuries was shared by the Daily Mirror last year. It was later deemed fake - and it's a great example to show why you should always take their content with a pinch of salt.
Even the most reliable reporters are human too
As we mentioned earlier, Luckhurst has proven to be a great source over the years but he's also had his share of mix-ups.
Feast your eyes on the following: Luckhurst reported that Sander Berge had arrived at Carrington for his medical ahead of a 'shock move'. Turns out, that it wasn't Berge and someone else entirely!
Luckhurst issues apology
Tribuna.com's reliability guide
We have implemented a star-based rating system to depict how reliable sources are (especially in transfer stories). Another thing worth remembering is that the name of a publication isn't the only thing that matters in sports reporting.
For example, the BBC's Simon Stone is five stars for United but David Ornstein (a top source for other clubs) isn't the most reliable for Red Devils' news - despite being from The Athletic.
Five stars: Fabrizio Romano, The Athletic, BBC (all top-tier sources)
Four stars: The Independent, Sky Sports, Samuel Luckhurst (tier-two sources)
Three stars: Daily Mail, The Sun, ESPN, Evening Standard (tier-three sources)
As a rule, we do not post anything below three stars while reporting transfer news or contract extensions.
