The Celtic rumour mill can be an exciting and interesting thing to observe and ultimately be a part of. Sometimes though, it can be frustrating.
There was a rush of reports last night and into this morning on the Vasilis Barkas situation at Celtic, with some suggesting that the club were about to ‘rip up’ his contract so he could leave as a free agent and pursue opportunities elsewhere.
This was carried by Scottish outlets as reports in Greece and subsequently covered by other websites as if the report originated in Scotland.
Quickly, through social media, it suddenly became an observed fact that Barkas was leaving on a free. Ultimately, there’s no suggestion this is accurate.
At 67 Hail Hail we always cite and attribute the original source of a story with a direct link to its origin if we are re-reporting and giving our opinion on it. If there’s no online source and it comes from a broadcast medium, we will try our best to give the platform, date and time. Always. I’m a stickler for it, sometimes to the frustration of our team of writers! Trust me, this gig is much easier if you don’t try to live up to this standard.
We would never, for example, say The Daily Record had reported something if in turn they were carrying a story from a foreign outlet. It’s not pedantry or anything against the Scottish media either, there’s a very good reason.
First of all, it’s a basic standard and courtesy in online media publishing and indeed a requirement for many distributors and aggregators who carry our content to a wider audience.
More importantly, unless we’ve seen the original source of where a story has come from, it’s not worth sharing. We wouldn’t be able to guarantee the context of it all, or whether or not something had been misconstrued or mistranslated.
The Barkas situation is a good example, because when we went looking for the original story in Greece based off the Scottish re-reporting, it wasn’t quite as described, to say the least.
The Greek outlet Sportdog never presented Celtic nulling Barkas’ contract as a report, it was part of an interview conducted days ago with an analyst who was giving his opinion on the goalkeeper’s situation at the Bhoys.
It certainly wasn’t the kind of thing we would present to you as news without providing that context – which was missing from all of the subsequent reports.
Vasilis Barkas exit from Celtic is still likely
Eventually, it has shaken up a bit of original reporting on the goalkeeper’s situation at the Bhoys.
Notably, Sportime editor-in-chief Giannis Chorianopoulos stated on Twitter: “As it stands, Celtic have no plans to let Vasilis Barkas leave as a free agent. They will wait and see for any offers.”
Meanwhile, journalist Stephen McGowan reported on the back page of today’s Scottish Daily Mail that FC Utrecht were keen on the Celtic man.
It seems inevitable at this point that Barkas will be leaving Celtic this summer – but in what manner and style is currently unknown beyond the common-sense conclusion that it’s far too early in the window for the Bhoys to be considering tearing up his contract.
Plans can change, so watch this space!
In other news, Celtic hero Josip Juranovic returns from injury with Croatia after 5-game absence.
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