"I would not trust these people to wa*k my dog"

Two years we've been waiting for him to kick off like this. I hope Sunderland play like drunken fools and get nothing from every referee for the rest of the season.

QUOTE:
They're trying to sell something that's not there. I tell people any time they watch a game to switch the commentators off, don't listen to experts, gather your own opinion

No matter what his motives, this is the most intelligent thing that anyone within the English game has said about the relationship between the media and the Premier League for about as long as I can remember.

well, the one thing you can say about him is that he is very eloquent. You're left with no doubt about what he has to think about things.

They're trying to sell something that's not there. I tell people any time they watch a game to switch the commentators off, don't listen to experts, gather your own opinion

No matter what his motives, this is the most intelligent thing that anyone within the English game has said about the relationship between the media and the Premier League for about as long as I can remember.

It's also a fairly obvious thing to do, yet, yes, there's not that many managers - if any - who come out with that statement and I'm applauding the fact that someone of a high-profile in the game has come out and said it. When I think of Sky, I think of fat-brained wankers on a Saturday afternoon on Sky Sports 1 (Stelling apart) who bring their own allegiances, spite and biases to their commentary. All that's missing is the pints of lager, the cigarettes and the telly with the 5.15 at Sandown on it.

That's just one of the relative hardships you must face when being promoted to the top flight. To those arseholes, you're secondary to requirements, nothing more.

I think a few hours with beer, cigarettes and the racing on the telly on a Saturday afternoon is a lovely idea.

Still, it is good that such a big player within the game who has played with and against some of these "pundits" is willing to address the banality of their contribution.

And no surprise that it is Roy Keane that does so.

ian.64 wrote:

QUOTE:
When I think of Sky, I think of fat-brained wankers on a Saturday afternoon on Sky Sports 1 (Stelling apart) who bring their own allegiances, spite and biases to their commentary.

Try watching this in a pub, it's marvellous. A load of "footy" fans making laddish jokes to one another and sharing their pet football theories gleaned from exhaustive research of the tabloids.

Keane right about the media presentation. There's so much vehement criticism from the pundits and analysers that this has resulted in people speaking from their throat not from their brain.

This is clear in the pub, again. All you seem to hear is criticism and their default setting is "Come on entertain me".

I have played with and against a lot of these people and they're mostly crap, in comparison to pros, consequently I'd say that they're not especially qualified to offer opinions about what's shit or not in football. Unfortunately they don't see it like that. If there are any mistakes it's something like; "That's shit, come on you twat!!"

Keane's doing that typical thing of saying I don't listen to these people in the media but being strangely aware of everything they say.

Has any channel offered just crowd noise, no commentary?

"There's so much vehement criticism from the pundits and analysers"

There is, where? Aren't they more often rather timid, bland and sycophantic, working to a clichéd script of received wisdom rather than what we actually see, and being too cosy and cliquey with not enough outside perspective.

I mainly see MOTD, which is soporific bordering on comatose. For example, when was the last time you saw pundits have a genuine argument? Jimmy Hill I think.

sharon wrote:

QUOTE:
Has any channel offered just crowd noise, no commentary?

During the 2006 World Cup (and I think the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations) the red button on the BBC allowed you to choose between the TV commentator, the Five Live team or just crowd noise.

Having just crowd noise was truly excellent - it really was. I can't remember if it was available during Euro 2008.

sky should just stop showing sunderland matches, that'll soon soften keano's cough for him.

sharon wrote:

QUOTE:
Has any channel offered just crowd noise, no commentary?

When Sky was still an analogue service, there was an unpublicised audio setting where you could just have crowd noise.

garcia wrote:

QUOTE:
sky should just stop showing sunderland matches, that'll soon soften keano's cough for him.

They will (as far as their contract will allow). They don't like being critisised. When David Sheepshanks critisised them, we were on less for the next two seasons than we had been during any of the previous 10 seasons - despite finishing 3rd and 5th.

sharon wrote:

QUOTE:


"There's so much vehement criticism from the pundits and analysers"

There is, where? Aren't they more often rather timid, bland and sycophantic, working to a clichéd script of received wisdom rather than what we actually see, and being too cosy and cliquey with not enough outside perspective.

I always come by the impression that the pundits/analysers are personally offended by any mistakes, maybe it's just my interpretation.

QUOTE:
Has any channel offered just crowd noise, no commentary?

ESPN Latin America have started doing it recently and its been ace.

Either that or my satellite dish is fucked.