Liverpool and Newcastle United are seemingly the favourite clubs to ridicule for the established press, with their revelling in the act of attempting to destabilise the two clubs. There runs through the press a consistent stream of thought that all should be done in order to highlight the negatives, no matter how slight, that each respective club may encounter. Liverpool have been the primary target for this lambasting in recent times, with the press devoting lines upon lines of prose that serve to disrupt the club by generating unrest from supporters. Newcastle have also experienced a considerable amount of time that the media have allocated towards them by detracting from all they can.

Liverpool have obviously had a difficult period of transition from Rafa Benitez leaving and Roy Hodgson assuming control, in this period new owners have also been acquired. A tumultuous time you might say, appreciating that this amount of change within a football club would be liable to translate itself onto the pitch in unfavourable results. Yet the media love a story with pessimism, especially one that can be given birth and begin to proceed of its own accord by generating story after story along the same lines.

Newcastle don’t escape the malice of the media either, they had a season of little trouble in the Championship, but as soon as they come back into sight, the alarm bells start to ring and the knifes come out. The fathoming of stories regarding player’s private lives must be given existence in a small darkened room that possesses people huddled in a circle, masterminding cruel and vindicate ideas that bare no truth apart from hearing a tenuous rumour. Why is it that these stories are more often than not, attributable to Newcastle or Liverpool?

You rarely get the same coverage of other players, for example, Jack Wilshere was involved in a street fight and has been issued a caution by police. Yet this example of violence and poor judgement isn’t held up for all to cast their disapproving eyes upon, questioning whether he should play for England. To contrast this, Andy Carroll has been involved in two court hearings and the media paint him as a sordid character that should be treated with caution when playing internationally.

The same is of Liverpool in their current predicament; an incessant flurry of news stories continues to appear questioning the manager, players, staff and ownership. Yet Everton are perched two points above the relegation zone at present, do we observe the same amount of criticism and exposure as we do for Liverpool? Does this translate itself into some form of implicit, subconscious, geographical bias, with both clubs being from the North of England, whilst the media are predominantly centred in the South? Or is it simply because it is a tried and tested formula that continues to persist, gaining credibility as people enjoy seeing these clubs being subjected to scrutiny?

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