Champions league 2013/2014 - Dicsussion & Banter

Glad I paid the extra 2 quid to get bt sport then

I hate BT sport, it's shit, the pundits are terrible, Jake Humphreys knows next to nothing about sport and the commentators are terrible too.

(09-11-2013 22:05 )Fernandez Esperenda Wrote:  I hate BT sport, it's shit, the pundits are terrible, Jake Humphreys knows next to nothing about sport and the commentators are terrible too.

With so many games to cover nowadays the problem all channels have now is that they need to have commentary strength in depth and there just aren't enough top-notch people to go around. BT's number 1, Ian Darke, is an hugely experienced and respected commentator and if Derek Rae wasn't Scottish he'd be up there with the best of them (note that I'm not making this point, but it's a fact that Scots/Welsh/Irish voices are still regarded as somehow being second-rate and rarely move out of regional coverage no matter what their ability).

After that the standard drops sharply....Darren Fletcher is relatively new to television having come from Radio 5 and they have high hopes of him eventually succeeding Darke (who is 69 remember). Simon Brotherton and Steve Bower are competent journeymen who are fine for third match highlights but not to regularly cover a full 90 minutes, and there are a couple of others on there that I wouldn't recognise if I fell over them.

BT will need to strengthen their commentary roster but the choice of who they could get is limited, even with more top games on offer.

At SKY Martin Tyler and Alan Parry are also already past retirement age and coming towards the end of their careers. SKY usually promote from within so presumably when they call it a day Rob Hawthorne and Bill Leslie will move up into the top seats with Daniel Mann and Gary Weaver becoming the understudies.

Clive Tyldesley at ITV isn't going anywhere and Guy Mowbray has the number 1 slot sewn up at the BBC for the foreseeable future, but if one of the bigger names were to move it could possibly be from the Beeb. Jonathan Pearce would bring too much baggage with him but Steve Wilson might be interested if an approach were to be forthcoming as he's not going to get the big finals otherwise.

Another possibility is Talksport's Sam Matterface, but ITV have been using him for Europa League games and considering that Clive Tyldesley is 59 he might prefer to play a waiting game with one eye on taking the crown there in a few years time.

Porto we are loosing 1-0 at home to Austria Vienna what is this!!! Seriously need to sharpen up, if we loose we need to beat Atletico in spain Look like it is a Europa League run for us this season, Atleast we stand a good chance of winning that.

I would not mind having a manager for more than 1 season though either.

*edit Equiliser!!!! Jackson "cha cha cha" Maaaaaaaarrrrrtiiiiineeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz

Europa League it is then

Easy monies! will not need to work for a few months atleast

Napoli can count themselves unlucky to go out of the champions league with 12 points, Zenit St Petersburg qualified with only 6 points, it's a funny old game

Neymar v Celtic was great!! He destroyed them, move over Messi!

^^^shame he feels the need to cheat constantly. messi he is not!

(12-12-2013 19:16 )terence Wrote:  ^^^shame he feels the need to cheat constantly. messi he is not!

Sadly it is the way that the game has gone. I remember years ago being gobsmacked by a players deftness, skill on the ball and ability to score almost impossible goals. These days all we get are over-hyped, overpaid players doing their rendition of a dying swan. It needs to be rooted out and players given harsh penalty's. They can start with my team and get rid of the unrepentant Ashley Young