Being a journalist these days must be reasonably simple at times especially working for national dailys and completing their football gossip columns.
There seems to be little criteria that is needed to create the gossip but it usually goes something like this.
Club fights relegation battle automatically meaning that a change in management is imminent. No quotes needed from Chairman of said club, the relegation battle must surely be proof that something is about to change.
Step two is to look down one division and look at club going well – maybe better than expected – and link manager of second club with vacant job – that is not yet vacant – at struggling club. Add in a comment from the manager a few weeks back about a lack of resources money wise and you have a story.
Feel free at this stage to totally ignore any similar money restraints at current struggling club as well as the likelihood being in same – or worse – division than linked manager next season.
Bingo, you have a story. Throw in a "unnamed other Premier League club" as well and the story sounds more credible to anybody reading it. And you don't even need to worry about the grain of truth that may or may not be in there.
And thus we have Paulo today being linked with a move to Hull City and one more unnamed Premier League club – my money is on Portsmouth, Burnley or West Ham.
Repeat the process ten times and call it a football gossip column maybe throwing in a "Football Spy" as the author and you have tomorrow's fish and chip wrappers.
This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.