It's been mooted for some time that Danny Murphy is the Secret Footballer who writes/blogs for the Guardian.
My suspicions have been confirmed today as he's posted the following:-
"Listen, nobody hates The Sun more than me but the headline today was clever. Why do you think I chose The Guardian for TSF?"
With the history of Liverpool fans not buying The Sun after Hillsborough this confirms to me it's a Liverpool fan. We all know Danny's a lifelong Liverpool fan. I guess the other alternative could be David James who's been suggested as the secret player as he was at Liverpool but I'm pretty sure it's Danny after he started writing for Yahoo last year and then stopped when the Guardian started this blog.
The Secret Footballer also tweeted about his first run of pre-season... on the day we returned to training!
Definitely Murphy - almost every clue points fits.
I must have missed something- how long has this secret footballer been writing for the guardian? Is he keeping his identity secret because it's controversial stuff he writes?
Quote from: Fulham_Adam on July 05, 2011, 08:38:27 PM
I must have missed something- how long has this secret footballer been writing for the guardian? Is he keeping his identity secret because it's controversial stuff he writes?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/the-secret-footballer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/the-secret-footballer)
For about a season (the TSF started writing just as Danny Murphy stopped writing for Yahoo...). Not particularly controversial - but the idea is that he can be more honest.
Quote from: ImperialWhite on July 05, 2011, 08:43:22 PM
Quote from: Fulham_Adam on July 05, 2011, 08:38:27 PM
I must have missed something- how long has this secret footballer been writing for the guardian? Is he keeping his identity secret because it's controversial stuff he writes?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/the-secret-footballer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/the-secret-footballer)
For about a season (the TSF started writing just as Danny Murphy stopped writing for Yahoo...). Not particularly controversial - but the idea is that he can be more honest.
Okay, thanks for that. Will have to follow it now, wouldn't surprise me if it was Murphy as he's probably one of the few footballers who can actually write. :022:
Quote from: Fulham_Adam on July 05, 2011, 08:52:09 PM
Quote from: ImperialWhite on July 05, 2011, 08:43:22 PM
Quote from: Fulham_Adam on July 05, 2011, 08:38:27 PM
I must have missed something- how long has this secret footballer been writing for the guardian? Is he keeping his identity secret because it's controversial stuff he writes?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/the-secret-footballer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/the-secret-footballer)
For about a season (the TSF started writing just as Danny Murphy stopped writing for Yahoo...). Not particularly controversial - but the idea is that he can be more honest.
Okay, thanks for that. Will have to follow it now, wouldn't surprise me if it was Murphy as he's probably one of the few footballers who can actually write. :022:
Definitely worth reading, last season he wrote some really interesting stuff. There's also a website > http://www.whoisthesecretfootballer.co.uk/ (http://www.whoisthesecretfootballer.co.uk/) < that was trying to uncover who TSF was. They came to the same conclusion.
Might be worth bringing this back up. There's a video interview (actor's voice, hoodie and tights...) with TSF. Anyone think it's still likely to be Danny? Quite a small stature (although it's hard to tell with the angles), so I think it's more likely to be him than my friend's favourite which is Kevin Davies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2012/aug/22/i-am-the-secret-footballer-video?CMP=twt_gu (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2012/aug/22/i-am-the-secret-footballer-video?CMP=twt_gu)
However, reading this piece: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/aug/10/secret-footballer-undercover-premier-league (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/aug/10/secret-footballer-undercover-premier-league)
Record transfer? Davies was at Southampton wasn't he?... I hope one day we find out!
When I met Danny last year my Dad asked him whether he was the Secret Footballer. He said that he wasn't and that if he was going to write anything, he'd always want to do it in his own name. Plus, he has a contract with Sky which complicates the situation.
I honestly believe his word and don't think it's him.
There's been endless speculation but no one player seems to fit ALL of the information contained in the articles.
It's either a fiction in whole or in part or a composite.
Quote from: Oiseau on August 22, 2012, 07:15:18 PM
When I met Danny last year my Dad asked him whether he was the Secret Footballer. He said that he wasn't and that if he was going to write anything, he'd always want to do it in his own name. Plus, he has a contract with Sky which complicates the situation.
I honestly believe his word and don't think it's him.
Quite. His wife has also told me, via Twitter, that it is definitely not him.
Quote from: TonyGilroy on August 22, 2012, 07:24:39 PM
There's been endless speculation but no one player seems to fit ALL of the information contained in the articles.
It's either a fiction in whole or in part or a composite.
I agree totally, sir, although I do have a hard time imagining a world in which a British publication would fabricate anything dealing with sport.
Most of the articles cry out out Danny Murphy but it needn't be him alone. He's not the only bright spark. Jason Roberts and Clark Carlisle are bright.
I just need to point you to one article
"With five minutes to go of the last game of the season, I knew we were relegated. Where we had longed to hear our fans burst into sporadic fits of cheering as a welcome goal went in at the opposite end of the country, we had instead heard the unmistakable sound of collective groaning".
When has Danny Murphy been in that situation? He's never been relegated on the last day of the season
Quote from: The Moose on August 22, 2012, 09:07:45 PM
Most of the articles cry out out Danny Murphy but it needn't be him alone. He's not the only bright spark. Jason Roberts and Clark Carlisle are bright.
David James and Jody Craddock!
I think it's Kevin Davies though.
Quote from: Mr Fulham on August 22, 2012, 09:54:31 PM
Quote from: The Moose on August 22, 2012, 09:07:45 PM
Most of the articles cry out out Danny Murphy but it needn't be him alone. He's not the only bright spark. Jason Roberts and Clark Carlisle are bright.
David James and Jody Craddock!
I think it's Kevin Davies though.
David James is a shout and a half. Already has newspaper writing experience, and got relegated with West Ham back in 2003
I spent a few hours the other week researching this and came to the conclusion that it cannot specifically be one person.
The Secret Footballer talks about being relegated, being promoted, moving from a lower league club to the Premier League, being a Premier League club's record signing, winning back to back player of the year awards, playing against Antonio Valencia and refers to England as us. It's also not a goalkeeper.
There could only be a handful of players that fits this but the one that gives it away is that he talks about his wife and daughter a lot, whilst in other articles he talks about a long term girlfriend. It's conceivable that he might have a girlfriend and an ex wife, but the choice of language doesn't indicate that.
The nearest matches I could find were Kevin Davies, Dave Kitson, Kevin Phillips and Jimmy Bullard. Doesn't really sound like Bullard though :011:
It's Rohan Ricketts, I thought that was common knowledge.
No it's not
Sorry, you're all wrong. The answer is Stewart Downing. Of course he's a secret footballer. Any idiot can see he can't ACTUALLY play the game.
Quote from: ClarksOriginal on August 22, 2012, 07:43:39 PM
Quote from: Oiseau on August 22, 2012, 07:15:18 PM
When I met Danny last year my Dad asked him whether he was the Secret Footballer. He said that he wasn't and that if he was going to write anything, he'd always want to do it in his own name. Plus, he has a contract with Sky which complicates the situation.
I honestly believe his word and don't think it's him.
Quite. His wife has also told me, via Twitter, that it is definitely not him.
Not being funny but she would say that wouldn't she, as he would in the other instance where he has said it's not him.
There were a lot of instances last season where there seemed to be a lot of connection to things he wrote about that had a Fulham slant, but then again Fulham's the only club I know a lot about, so lots of other fans of other clubs may have thought the same thing.
It could well be him, equally it could be a few players, each of whom contribute once a month (editing would mean you couldn't notice any difference in idiolect). Not sure we'll ever know but there were plenty of times last season I was convinced it was Murph.
Quote from: Rhys Lightning 63 on August 22, 2012, 10:00:57 PM
Quote from: Mr Fulham on August 22, 2012, 09:54:31 PM
Quote from: The Moose on August 22, 2012, 09:07:45 PM
Most of the articles cry out out Danny Murphy but it needn't be him alone. He's not the only bright spark. Jason Roberts and Clark Carlisle are bright.
David James and Jody Craddock!
I think it's Kevin Davies though.
David James is a shout and a half. Already has newspaper writing experience, and got relegated with West Ham back in 2003
Think there was inference that the player (last season this is) was still plying his trade in the Prem, when Calamity hasn't played Prem for a good few years. May once have been him - not sure how long it's been going on.
It's obviously a few players, imo. If it was just one, they wouldn't leave in such glaring evidence which could trace back to them. With numerous players, they get to write genuine things about themselves, safe in the knowledge that the previous guy may have written something which contradicts that it's you.
Took this off Reddit and it makes the most sense of any theory about TSF I've read:
Dave Kitson. Bet you anything.
EDIT: On reflection, 20p.
EDIT 2: Since this is a fairly pointless comment without it, here is the reasoning, based largely on this article.
I think this has to be a Reading player from 2007/08.
-They were relegated on the last day of the season. Both Fulham (http://www.premierleague.com/content/premierleague/en-gb/matchday/matches/2007-2008/epl.match-report.html/portsmouth-vs-fulham) and Bolton (http://www.premierleague.com/content/premierleague/en-gb/matchday/matches/2007-2008/epl.match-report.html/chelsea-vs-bolton) improved their positions late on (if not, admittedly, with 5 minutes to go), and those were the two that Reading had a chance of finishing above.
-Fulham's crucial goal went in, loosely speaking, "at the opposite end of the country" - they were in Portsmouth, while Reading were away at Derby (http://www.premierleague.com/content/premierleague/en-gb/matchday/matches/2007-2008/epl.match-report.html/derby-vs-reading). The fact that Reading won 4-0 and still went down fits with the comment about knowing they were relegated for the last 10 minutes - it's not as if they could do much to take matters into their own hands.
-A poor kick from Hahnemann led to a late winning goal for Manchester City earlier that season, exactly as described in the article (http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/readingfc/s/2018273_hahneman_my_poor_kick_cost_us).
There are other things, like the reference in a previous article to an African teammate who had played in Russia (Andre Amougou, formerly Bikey), but I really think the Hahnemann thing fits far too well to be coincidental. Nicky Shorey, Dave Kitson, Glen Little, and Ibrahima Sonko all left for other Premier League clubs the summer Reading were relegated. A lot of people have suggested Shorey, but I'm more inclined towards Kitson. He's both well-spoken and outspoken (http://www.thetilehurstend.com/2012/04/09/royal-links-dave-kitson-interview/), and he's very open (in that interview and elsewhere) about not having felt comfortable leaving Reading or moving to Stoke - again, as described in the article. Hints of class-consciousness here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/dec/29/newsstory.reading), which tallies with his concern for the club employees who lost their jobs following relegation.
And if none of that grabs you, this comes from his latest article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/aug/10/secret-footballer-undercover-premier-league):
QuoteAntonio Valencia once blocked a clearance of mine and I swear it was like being hit by a car.
Well, someone found this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejw2n5bv_lo#ws)
Quote from: Mr_Moon on August 23, 2012, 09:26:09 AM
No it's not
It was, he writes very similar pieces for Sabotage times.
Myabe more players are writing it now but Rohan Ricketts was the original author for The Guardian.
Whoever it is I think it's more about the life of a Premier League player rather than strict autobiography.
Quote from: Mr_Moon on August 22, 2012, 11:01:31 PM
I spent a few hours the other week researching this and came to the conclusion that it cannot specifically be one person.
The Secret Footballer talks about being relegated, being promoted, moving from a lower league club to the Premier League, being a Premier League club's record signing, winning back to back player of the year awards, playing against Antonio Valencia and refers to England as us. It's also not a goalkeeper.
There could only be a handful of players that fits this but the one that gives it away is that he talks about his wife and daughter a lot, whilst in other articles he talks about a long term girlfriend. It's conceivable that he might have a girlfriend and an ex wife, but the choice of language doesn't indicate that.
The nearest matches I could find were Kevin Davies, Dave Kitson, Kevin Phillips and Jimmy Bullard. Doesn't really sound like Bullard though :011:
this is the only conclusion i can come to as well.
Quote from: ~lork on August 23, 2012, 10:54:51 AM
this is the only conclusion i can come to as well.
I know it's really sad, but I wrote down all the Premier League clubs of past and present and found their record signings. Not just the record but previous record signings too. From that list, I shortlisted it to the players that could have possibly played against Antonio Valencia, whether it was when he played for Wigan or whether they played for a lower league team against Man Utd in the cup. Then I looked at their club history (TSF talks about how his first club was lower league and had poor medical facilities), so that eliminated a lot of players as most started at reasonable sized teams.
It was then just a case of checking to see who could fill the criteria. At that point my head was hurting and eventually when I came to that conclusion I was annoyed because I wasted hours figuring it out only to be unsatisifed. At least I know (or think I know) the truth.
Next up is why we're so poor away.