Is it just me or is the BBC studio the other way around? I could have swore Linekar was previously sat in the right and now he's on the left.
Yes it is. I don't know why.
Jonathan Pearce is getting some stinkers at this World Cup, he had Belgium vs Russia (with his brilliant "Come on, this is the World Cup Finals!" line), Japan vs Greece and now this.
I cannot take any more of Mark Lawrenson at this WC - by far the worst co-comm at this WC. Sick of his complacent attitude. It seems like he just turns up to commentate without doing any research, and all he does is complain and be negative. You'd think he was being dragged through a hospital rather than commentating at a WC in Brazil.
It's a shame as I far prefer the BBC coverage to ITV's but if he is on the final - then I may have to contemplate Andy Townsend....
I cannot take any more of Mark Lawrenson at this WC - by far the worst co-comm at this WC. Sick of his complacent attitude. It seems like he just turns up to commentate without doing any research, and all he does is complain and be negative. You'd think he was being dragged through a hospital rather than commentating at a WC in Brazil.
It's a shame as I far prefer the BBC coverage to ITV's but if he is on the final - then I may have to contemplate Andy Townsend....
Totally agree regarding Lawrenson, so negative it's untrue.
Does he ever get out of his monotone voice? don't think ive ever heard him get excited about anything.
Not enjoying Steve Wilson's commentary so far. Inane waffle for the first 15 minutes and then hyping up the game despite it being poor quality so far. Totally over the top.
I cannot take any more of Mark Lawrenson at this WC - by far the worst co-comm at this WC. Sick of his complacent attitude. It seems like he just turns up to commentate without doing any research, and all he does is complain and be negative. You'd think he was being dragged through a hospital rather than commentating at a WC in Brazil.
He's been doing it for years, and it's still as boring now as it was back then. How on earth he still gets gigs like this is beyond me.
He reminds me of Jonathan Davies commentating on Rugby League.....always seeing the negative, never seeing the positive.
Whenever a pundit/commentator gets criticized regularly on forums and in the media ( Alan Green, Mark Lawrenson, Andy Townsend to name just 3) I am always tempted to take the view that BBC/ITV are deliberately ignoring the viewpoints of the majority of listeners/viewers.
However that cant be right surely unhappy listeners/ viewers is bad for business? Thus me thinking the silent majority are always right?
Ian Darke needs to pick a pronunciation of "De Bruyne" and stick with it. He's said "De Broin", "De Browner," "De Broyn-a", "De Brine", it's making me think there are different similarly named players on the squad.
Whenever a pundit/commentator gets criticized regularly on forums and in the media ( Alan Green, Mark Lawrenson, Andy Townsend to name just 3) I am always tempted to take the view that BBC/ITV are deliberately ignoring the viewpoints of the majority of listeners/viewers.
However that cant be right surely unhappy listeners/ viewers is bad for business? Thus me thinking the silent majority are always right?
Good point. We can all become rather self-important at times and presume that we reflect the views of the majority - but we really don't! For the BBC or ITV to remove Lawrenson or Townsend would surely require large and consistent numbers of people complaining, as well as clear and obvious replacements....
Think Wilson and Murphy messed up the offside chance at the end and thus the studio punditry. I suspect the assistant flagged for a goal kick rather than an offside...
Think Wilson and Murphy messed up the offside chance at the end and thus the studio punditry. I suspect the assistant flagged for a goal kick rather than an offside...
BBC graphic for QF coverage showed Holland v Costa Rica on BBC1 and France v Germany as being on BBC TV, suggesting it maybe on BBC2 if Andy Murray is playing at Wimbledon at the same time?
That's why I love football, brilliant match, brilliant commentary, both on 5live and BBC TV, what drama! Shame most people probably went to sleep after the 2nd Belgium goal!
I'm sure a few of you will be curious as to how Darke called USA/Belgium. Here are the highlights (including a brief glimpse of his struggle to get De Bruyne's name correct).
They are perennial World Cup underdogs. When it comes down to it, in the final rounds you’d rather watch the truly world-class performers than them. But there’s no doubt that the persistent efforts of this valiant bunch illuminate the tournament. Short though they are on talent, destined though they are to defeat, you have to admire their bloody-mindedness: even though their efforts rarely meet with success, they show up every four years and take another crack. There’s only one word for them, really: plucky. I am referring, of course, to ITV Sport. They’re bound to lose out to the BBC in the ratings war when we get to the semis and the final, but it’s always entertaining to watch their efforts in the meantime.
BTW if it rains in Rio today I'm sure Danny Murphy will some how blame Fellaini .
Clive Tyldesley has written something on the issue of the pronunciation of foreign names during commentary (and, in the process, confirmed he'll be covering Brazil v Colombia on Friday).
Nothing that I do or say on air creates more Twitter traffic than pronunciations. On Friday night, James Rodriguez will again take to centre stage at this wonderful World Cup. I will call him ‘Jaimz’, others will call him ‘Hamez’. By now, I think we all know who he is.
Clive Tyldesley has written something on the issue of the pronunciation of foreign names during commentary (and, in the process, confirmed he'll be covering Brazil v Colombia on Friday).
Awful article. Shows Clive to be totally insular and ignorant.
The player himself reportedly doesn't even acknowledge someone if they call him by the English pronunciation yet Clive still feels it's okay to call him that on commentary, when it's not actually how you say the name? That's a terrible attitude from someone with his experience.
Of course it also means there's a terrible lack of continuity as Colombia matches switch from BBC to ITV. Of course there's nothing he can do about the BBC choosing to pronounce it correctly though. Such a shame from a man who I think is having a decent tournament and I do enjoy listening to.
There is, actually, an interesting debate to be had here about pronunciation. I'm old enough to remember when Glenn Hysen, the Swedish defender, joined Liverpool in 1989. Soon after he arrived, he played in a couple of games in a pre-season tournament at Wembley, which was covered by ITV. All the way through the first game, Brian Moore referred to him as 'Hee-son'. During the season game, Moore called him 'Hussain', saying that Martin Tyler had corrected him by pointing out that a 'y' in Scandinavian languages generally sounds closer to an 'u'.
Moore than added that this caused some confusion, as Tyler had added that commentators had been mispronouncing Jan Molby's surname for years - because strictly speaking, it should be 'Molbu'. Moore suggested it was probably too late to change the way English commentators say Molby.
I'm not sure I agree with Tyldesley on the James Rodriguez pronunciation - especially if the player himself has made it clear how he prefers his name to be said. But I can see how he got there, given the stick he seems to have received over Eden Hazard.
Or to put it another way "I will insist on mispronouncing his name 'Jaimz', everyone else, including the man himself, will call him 'Hamez', because that's his name."
Steve Wilson's twitter account suggests he'll be doing highlights of Brazil V Columbia in the quarter-finals. Will be very disappointed if he doesn't have another live game - he's been the standout commentator of the tournament for me. I think Danny Murphy has been the standout co-commentator.
Steve Wilson's twitter account suggests he'll be doing highlights of Brazil V Columbia in the quarter-finals. Will be very disappointed if he doesn't have another live game - he's been the standout commentator of the tournament for me. I think Danny Murphy has been the standout co-commentator.
In a way will this be a saving grace for the BBC? With Lawrenson's fast decline coupled with the disappointment of Phil Neville, could Murphy's performances propel him to the number one slot that needs filling?
Martin Keown is still there of course but I'm not convinced he's number one material.
If England had reached the Last 16 I wonder if Murphy would have had a chance of doing that commentary? Whilst I liked Phil Neville, I do think Danny Murphy is at a higher level (at least currently.) Of course Murphy also offers the fact he doesn't have club commitments so could potentially become the BBC's number 1 co-commentator for their FA Cup coverage too if that's the direction the BBC are looking to move into. With Kilbane and Murphy coming through, and Lawrenson's role gradually declining in other areas and to the extent he was moved off England's commentaries this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a new number 1 by the next Euros/World Cup. Lawrenson didn't even do the BBC's first pick from the Last 16 which I can't imagine has happened in the last decade (I suppose Euro 2004 would be the last equivalent as Joe Royle was doing England games.)
On another note, considering Saturday was Phil Neville's last day I think he should have done studio punditry for that one instead of Shearer. Weirdly Phil Neville doesn't seem to have been given the same prominence for studio coverage as he has been for co-commentary even though I'd say he's currently better at the former.
Comments
Yes it is. I don't know why.
Jonathan Pearce is getting some stinkers at this World Cup, he had Belgium vs Russia (with his brilliant "Come on, this is the World Cup Finals!" line), Japan vs Greece and now this.
It's a shame as I far prefer the BBC coverage to ITV's but if he is on the final - then I may have to contemplate Andy Townsend....
Totally agree regarding Lawrenson, so negative it's untrue.
Does he ever get out of his monotone voice? don't think ive ever heard him get excited about anything.
He's been doing it for years, and it's still as boring now as it was back then. How on earth he still gets gigs like this is beyond me.
He reminds me of Jonathan Davies commentating on Rugby League.....always seeing the negative, never seeing the positive.
However that cant be right surely unhappy listeners/ viewers is bad for business? Thus me thinking the silent majority are always right?
Good point. We can all become rather self-important at times and presume that we reflect the views of the majority - but we really don't! For the BBC or ITV to remove Lawrenson or Townsend would surely require large and consistent numbers of people complaining, as well as clear and obvious replacements....
Others at the ground are saying offside too
I'm sure a few of you will be curious as to how Darke called USA/Belgium. Here are the highlights (including a brief glimpse of his struggle to get De Bruyne's name correct).
http://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/07/01/belgium-2-1-usa-match-highlights-video-belgium-beat-usmnt-in-extra-time/
Video not available outside US?
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/worldcup/archie-bland-on-world-cup-2014-you-dont-get-plucky-teams-where-the-pundits-have-heard-of-all-the-players-9577355.html
They are perennial World Cup underdogs. When it comes down to it, in the final rounds you’d rather watch the truly world-class performers than them. But there’s no doubt that the persistent efforts of this valiant bunch illuminate the tournament. Short though they are on talent, destined though they are to defeat, you have to admire their bloody-mindedness: even though their efforts rarely meet with success, they show up every four years and take another crack. There’s only one word for them, really: plucky. I am referring, of course, to ITV Sport. They’re bound to lose out to the BBC in the ratings war when we get to the semis and the final, but it’s always entertaining to watch their efforts in the meantime.
BTW if it rains in Rio today I'm sure Danny Murphy will some how blame Fellaini .
Full article: http://www.kickitout.org/meet-our-2014-fifa-world-cup-bloggers/clive-tyldesley/
Awful article. Shows Clive to be totally insular and ignorant.
The player himself reportedly doesn't even acknowledge someone if they call him by the English pronunciation yet Clive still feels it's okay to call him that on commentary, when it's not actually how you say the name? That's a terrible attitude from someone with his experience.
Of course it also means there's a terrible lack of continuity as Colombia matches switch from BBC to ITV. Of course there's nothing he can do about the BBC choosing to pronounce it correctly though. Such a shame from a man who I think is having a decent tournament and I do enjoy listening to.
Moore than added that this caused some confusion, as Tyler had added that commentators had been mispronouncing Jan Molby's surname for years - because strictly speaking, it should be 'Molbu'. Moore suggested it was probably too late to change the way English commentators say Molby.
I'm not sure I agree with Tyldesley on the James Rodriguez pronunciation - especially if the player himself has made it clear how he prefers his name to be said. But I can see how he got there, given the stick he seems to have received over Eden Hazard.
Or to put it another way "I will insist on mispronouncing his name 'Jaimz', everyone else, including the man himself, will call him 'Hamez', because that's his name."
Ignorant fool.
In a way will this be a saving grace for the BBC? With Lawrenson's fast decline coupled with the disappointment of Phil Neville, could Murphy's performances propel him to the number one slot that needs filling?
Martin Keown is still there of course but I'm not convinced he's number one material.
On another note, considering Saturday was Phil Neville's last day I think he should have done studio punditry for that one instead of Shearer. Weirdly Phil Neville doesn't seem to have been given the same prominence for studio coverage as he has been for co-commentary even though I'd say he's currently better at the former.