Paul HAckford to leave the Torygraph, joins Times

Im sure Martin Johnson will be joining Matt Dawson in wishing him well in whatever the future holds for him

Good riddance u bitter man!

Given that he is one of the worst writers in an otherwise good paper for sport, I won't be too upset.

I would strongly recommend them taking a completely different tack to the one adopted for Ackford and try to hire a rugby columnist that knows something about rugby.

A topic outside the English Premiership and PA was hopelessly lost.

Most journalists have something to offer and a perspective I'm happy to consider. Ackford never wrote an article I found remotely helpful.

George Carlin wrote:I would strongly recommend them taking a completely different tack to the one adopted for Ackford and try to hire a rugby columnist that knows something about rugby.

A topic outside the English Premiership and PA was hopelessly lost.

He wasn't good when talking about English rugby either

Loved the the press conference when Johnson & Ackford had words. Thats the way press conferences should be! I also remember Johnson turning on Graham wotshisface from sky. Johnson asked him what he knew about international scrummaging after a series of tedious leading questions.

What was the Ackford/Dawson thing?

Ackford wrote an article saying he didnt train hard, wasnt professional and didnt care about his club. Dawson responded by getting a job on A Question Of Sport

It seems that players are much more stung by criticism from former players than they are regular hacks. The same has been the case in cricket circles where theres been some serious upset caused by criticism from ex players,Broad and Botham had a big fall out on Twitter recently.

AAhhh right. Well to be fair to Dawson I can see why that may annoy him. Was never really a fan of Ackford, much prefered Dooley.

And I suppose to be fair to Botham, he can point the finger at pretty much anybody.

MotelMoneyMurderMadness wrote:AAhhh right. Well to be fair to Dawson I can see why that may annoy him. Was never really a fan of Ackford, much prefered Dooley. And I suppose to be fair to Botham, he can point the finger at pretty much anybody.

And with the way Broad has played in the last 6 months anyone can point the finger at him. He still managed to throw his toys out the pram though!

It was hilarious ... Broad said something along the lines of "ex players shouldnt critisise us if they havent done better india" to which Botham pointed out he averaged over 60 with the bat and 25 with the ball there
Classic internet fail

an example of what a tool Ackford is.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/paulackford/3567832/England-manager-Martin-Johnson-defends-rubbish-autumn-series-to-Paul-Ackford-Rugby-Union.html

I have vague memories of Ackford doing a reasonable job in his early days, when he still had an inside line with active players. As time passed, he grew into a typical former player. He tried to compensate by talking about the game`s administration but he was never more than a gossip-hound on that front, becoming the mouthpiece for some RFU types with their own agenda.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:It was hilarious ... Broad said something along the lines of "ex players shouldnt critisise us if they havent done better india" to which Botham pointed out he averaged over 60 with the bat and 25 with the ball there
Classic internet fail

Yep that sounds about par for the course with Broad. Kind of embarrassing to think he's captain of the T20 side and vice captain in the other two - Matt Prior must have desecrated one of Andy Flowers decedents graves not to get the test vc job! Prior basically is v.c on the field given his input though.

On the subject of the thread I can't really say I'll miss Ackfords input either tbh. Can't really add anything that others here haven't said already, I just hope he doesn't somehow elbow his way into another job that could be done better really.

nathan wrote:an example of what a tool Ackford is.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/paulackford/3567832/England-manager-Martin-Johnson-defends-rubbish-autumn-series-to-Paul-Ackford-Rugby-Union.html

Wow, just read through that and think Martin Johnson deserves a medal for not hurdling the table and smacking him in the chops! Unbelievably rude, like he's trying to be Paxman but lacks the panache, just comes across as a complete ****.

nathan wrote:an example of what a tool Ackford is.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/paulackford/3567832/England-manager-Martin-Johnson-defends-rubbish-autumn-series-to-Paul-Ackford-Rugby-Union.html

Jesus....

The man is an utter c**t

Clot?

I never liked or rated him, but after reading that interview then I agree 100% with yappysnap.

Plus 1

The Telegraph are losing a lot of staff due to enforced redundancies.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2012/feb/01/telegraphmediagroup-downturn

It's a concern about print media maesteg. The internet is hollowing it out, taking its business model away. The telegraph is the latest to go behind a paywall. The Guardian is under pressure too.

The internet is brilliant for what its offered us in getting access to news and information, especially thanks to organisations like WikiLeaks, but citizen journalism does not equal professional journalism. You don't see bloggers at council meetings. For all it's flaws we need professional journalists.

Albeit the price of that is we have to put up with the unfortunate majority of phone hacking hacks and fools like Ackford.

This morning's Times announced that Ackford is joining them as rugby correspondent.

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:This morning's Times announced that Ackford is joining them as rugby correspondent.

Anything behind that paywall is off my radar. The only way I know what Stephen Jones says these days is if I see a tweet of his, or stop in Tesco's for a quick browse of the paper during a shop.

Rugby Fan wrote:

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:This morning's Times announced that Ackford is joining them as rugby correspondent.

Anything behind that paywall is off my radar. The only way I know what Stephen Jones says these days is if I see a tweet of his, or stop in Tesco's for a quick browse of the paper during a shop.

I buy the weekday (i.e. Stephen-Jones-free) Times most mornings - they have a better selection of logic puzzles than the Guardian, and on Mondays their soccer coverage has its own, easily thrown-away lift out, leaving a sports section full of stuff I actually care about.

Other than Stephen Jones I used to be a fan of the Times online. My mum was recently fishing for birthday ideas and living five thousand miles away I was considering a digital subscription as I find most online free UK newspaper websites now seem to have limited content (those worth reading anyway).

I'm seriously reconsidering my suggestion after reading this.

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:This morning's Times announced that Ackford is joining them as rugby correspondent.

Anything behind that paywall is off my radar. The only way I know what Stephen Jones says these days is if I see a tweet of his, or stop in Tesco's for a quick browse of the paper during a shop.

I buy the weekday (i.e. Stephen-Jones-free) Times most mornings - they have a better selection of logic puzzles than the Guardian, and on Mondays their soccer coverage has its own, easily thrown-away lift out, leaving a sports section full of stuff I actually care about.

Quality priorities there

I have to admit that I winced a little, when reading some of Paul Ackford's articles.  They were a little full-on !

Perhaps it's worth bearing in mind we are judging the publicly-projected persona, not the private, caring man.

I tend not to buy or read the Times, due to its owners' behaviour. Nor the Daily Mail, as it makes my stomach turn.

I would protest, though, that I'm not a stereotypical Guardian reader !