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Paper TalkThe High Road Herald

Scottish Newspaper Ratings Reach Tottenham Breakfast Table Via Website And Arrive As Grounds For Alarm

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The three marks, four, three and four out of ten, were each supplied by the original outlets and were not revised in transit.

Three sets of player ratings published in Scotland after Scotland's 3-0 defeat to Brazil at the World Cup reached a Tottenham breakfast table on Thursday as a matter of concern, having gained no additional information on the way.

The Scotsman gave Andy Robertson four out of ten. The Daily Record gave him three. TalkSPORT gave him four. All three noted that the Scotland captain had been substituted at half-time, which is a fact, and which was already known to everyone with a television.

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By the time the figures reached a football website, the Scottish media had "slammed" the performance, one rating had become "brutal", and the headline advised that Tottenham should be "so worried". The Herald can confirm that the marks themselves had not moved.

The Herald has traced the escalation within a single article. A defender who "struggled" became one who "seriously struggled", then one who had a "torrid time", then a "questionable signing". At no stage was a new fact introduced to justify the next adjective.

One of the quoted lines, from the Scotsman, describes him as "one of the better defenders" on the night. It appears in the piece under the heading about concern.

It's on three sites now. That's basically confirmed.

Our correspondent observed the man read the same information on his phone three times between the kettle boiling and the toast, each time with visibly greater seriousness. He then forwarded it to a group chat of six, adding the words "not great".

It is understood that the concern is considerable, and that it is sourced to the earlier concern.

He has put the phone down and picked it up again.

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