Arise, Sir Martin

With every whining, jumped-up keyboard warrior having a blog these days (ahem) you could be forgiven for thinking the role of the newspaper journalist is becoming redundant.  However, there's a link I want to share that provides a timely reminder of the value that great journalism can bring to a chaotic debate.

Yes, it's your friend and mine, Martin Samuel.  Again.  I love Martin Samuel.  Not just because he and I have exactly the same views on FFP but for many other reasons.  He's not afraid to swim against the tide or look beyond the popular rhetoric.  He does genuine research and analysis that, when added to his logical reasoning and witty delivery, slices through the swathes of ill-considered bile from the average football fan.  He has a top beard.

And not only does he write great articles, he's also on hand to deal with the barrage of fans who either haven't read them properly or refuse to open their minds to any form of reasoning.  In the link below, he collates the idiotic responses of the masses and deconstructs them ruthlessly.  Enjoy:

Read it and weep   



Oh - before you go.  Martin is not a City fan.  This, I think, makes his work all the more satisfying. And it means he's also capable of this, for example - a slightly withering view on City's CEO Ferran Soriano and the Pellegrini appointment: Mail.

I don't share his view here (my specs are blue-tinted) but it reassures me that when the Big M writes something positive about City, it's a result of him exercising his brain and then calling it as he sees it.  The basic requirement of a journalist, so sadly lacking among many of his so-called peers.