Sky Sports' Isak Agenda is pathetic and we've had enough of it...
Sky Sports has been drawing ire from the Newcastle fanbase for some time now.
From the 12.30pm kickoffs on the South Coast... to the Monday Night Football trips to West Ham... the ever-loyal Toon Army was always shafted by last-minute fixture re-schedulings that spared no thought for the money, travel and accommodation involved.
Then there was the excessive focus on the Super League Six; the media darlings and cash cow of Sky Sports and the Premier League. Increased media focus of the six most lucrative clubs would be acceptable... if it wasn't usually drawing the pre-ramble of a Newcastle game against Fulham or Aston Villa. There is a growing consensus among Toon fans that when you're watching Newcastle on Sky, tune in just at kick-off; and possibly with the commentary muted.
And for a hat-trick of broadcast blunders, there was even the dearth of Newcastle matches being broadcast at all in the final ten weeks of the recently concluded 24-25 season. The title was wrapped up; the relegation spots confirmed, yet every single week without fail, the extraordinarily tight race for Europe was ignored... all in the name of showing Liverpool matches. The same Liverpool that had nothing to play for and started playing the reserves most weeks...
Which brings us onto Liverpool and Isak...
Has there ever been such incessant, biased, media-manifested drivel about a single transfer? Sky Sports are not Anfield Agenda, or the Liverpool Echo, but if you took away the yellow banners and the Sky watermark from their recent coverage of the Isak saga, you'd be forgiven for thinking there was a very obvious Liverpool persuasion in their news.
Let's start off with the obvious one...
This recent post by Sky Sports has been mocked and ridiculed by such a wide net of football fans (let alone Geordies) that I'll be amazed if you haven't seen it already. Liverpool had just agreed a transfer for Hugo Ekitike, at a moment where it suddenly looked like Liverpool had missed the boat for Isak. Keen to hush the Anfield disappointment, Sky uploaded this graphic comparing the two strikers... with one glaring omission...
And as the 'Isak Out' rumours have intensified... Sky Sports have seemingly been camped outside St James' with binoculars, confetti, and a YNWA scarf...
Thanks to the official NUFC app, us Toon fans got the bombshell slightly early that Isak was not on the plane for the Asian Tour. It just about gave us time to mute social media apps, block any friends of a Scouse persuasion, and find the key for the underground bomb shelter.
And lo and behold, I was sent this screenshot by a friend just five minutes after the NUFC app had delivered the news...
The Sky Sports honchos probably had the tour announcement date and time saved on their 'alarm clock apps' with a countdown feature...
The level of speed and precision with which they got wind of this and spammed it out to every Tom, Dick and Harry that uses the Sky Sports app is insane. And it doesn't stop there, they even pinned the news to the top of their newsfeed, in a move that is usually reserved for confirmed transfers or momentous sporting moments.
But alas, got to keep everyone informed of every time Alexander Isak sneezes, don't they?
We can only imagine how long the festivities will last at Anfield and Sky Sports HQ if this transfer comes off...
National Isak to Anfield Day? Yellow ties for all? Would the Isak transfer be pinned to the top of the Sky Sports newsfeed forever? Your guess is as good as mine.
But unfortunately, until that day comes, no one is safe. Delete the app, mute your phones, unplug your televisions... but it might not be enough. Because surely... somehow... Sky will find a way to keep you updated on their Isak to Liverpool propaganda.
Mark my words.
