(09-11-2013 21:05 )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.