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David Moyes has continued where his predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson left off - by banning reporters for telling the truth.

In his final season in charge at Manchester United, Ferguson banned a reporter for correctly reporting Rio Ferdinand would miss United's first game of last term, a 1-0 defeat at Everton.

Another colleague was also excluded from one of Ferguson's weekly press briefings last season for revealing that the Reds' winger Antonio Valencia had been ruled out of action with an injury.

Again, the fact the story was correct did not matter.

Ferguson, the ultimate control freak, did not want the information out in the public domain, so his only recourse was to ban those reporters who had the temerity to do their job and find a story.

Moyes went down the Ferguson route today by banning me from the newspaper section of his press conference, for revealing his selected team for recent games before it had officially been made public, one hour before kick-off, in accordance with current regulations.

On match-days, prior to the official announcement of the United line-up, I have received team information and given details of what I believe the starting XI will be on this website as well as to my followers on Twitter.

Of course, it's a manager's prerogative to keep their team selection a closely-guarded secret for as long as they can, to ensure the opposing team does not gain a potential advantage by being privy to that information.

Just as it is a reporter's prerogative to elicit that information from sources.

Newspapers and websites produce probable team line-ups before games, based on the information at their disposal with regard to injuries, form and suspensions.

Everybody wants to know who's playing, whether it's Manchester United or Macclesfield Town. Finding out who's in or out or on the bench is part of the fabric of match-day.

When Ferguson dropped Wayne Rooney for the second leg of United's last 16 Champions League tie against Real Madrid at Old Trafford last season, it was huge news.

There were whispers about Rooney's omission from the starting line-up, but it was not confirmed until an hour before kick-off.

Had any newspaper or news outlet known he wasn't in the XI, you can be sure they would have run with it. It's why they exist - to break stories.

Leaks happen, details of who is or isn't playing have a habit of creeping out, and the job of any self-respecting reporter, in a competitive media industry, is to uncover that information and bring it to the attention of their readers.

In Ferguson's recent autobiography, the two themes running throughout are power and control, something the former United boss identified as one of the biggest factors behind his sustained success over three decades at Old Trafford.

Such was the level of control Ferguson exerted at United, dressing-room leaks were few and far between. But this is the start of a new era under Moyes and information that was once suppressed has been allowed to come out.

Whether that trend continues remains to be seen.