If I had 10p for every time somebody started a rumour I would be living in Monaco. A mate of mine is an agent to good top end players. He says 90% of what is in the papers is nonsense. Imagine what the % is on forums on the internet.
I've no doubt mate.
I posted a few years back that a journalist friend told me that junior, sometimes senior, sports reporters scour the forums, etc, for rumours then repeat them as there's a chance there's some truth in them. That's bad enough, what's worse is when they join forums, build up a name then start rumours themselves.
We've all seen certain posters appear who never have back stories from years gone by, don't have any other posters who know them and never refer to where they live, games they go to or pubs they drink in. They post lots on certain threads, concerning transfers, finance, etc, but are never seen on match threads or anything that's just for fun.
Once I'd been told I started looking out for them and would ask them questions they couldn't answer so would get shirty with me and arguments would ensue. Most simply vanish then another will appear with a different username but an identical style and 'inside info'.
The one calling himself Kittens, etc springs to mind, Kildare on RTG is another.
These forums can be 90% fake at times
