Not calling for Sky to bring Gray back or anything, but definitely has been missed on co-comms, Listened in after the 1st goal onwards. He has been good!
Yeah obviously this isn't going to start as a 'bring back Gray campaign' but like you say, he was good tonight. At times, he was almost forcing Matterface to interact with him and step away from the traditional radio commentary for the dull parts in play. Laughed at when Matterface brought up it being 3-0 and asking Gray if it was over, thinking of Istanbul. I think it really showed what Sky miss tonight, his analysis of the second goal stood out.
Not sure if it's worth a mention, but on the TSKeysandgray twitter, when a few people have tweeted to them to say about missing them presenting football, Keys has insisted it isn't the last of them. A return on the cards for them both then? Is talkSPORT just one step at a time.
Matt Smith presented from the San Siro alongside Andy Townsend and Gareth Southgate
AC Milan v Arsenal - Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, with Gabriel Clarke conducting post-match interviews Zenit St Petersburg v SL Benfica - Jim Proudfoot Bayer 04 Leverkusen v FC Barcelona (Tuesday) - Joe Speight Olympique Lyon v APOEL Nicosia (Tuesday) - Jim Proudfoot
45 minutes on the AC Milan v Arsenal game, 15 minutes on the other three; although to be fair each of those games received a decent length edit so I can't really grumble. It meant I got to watch the bulk of Kevin Bridges: What's the Story on BBC One without missing the action I hadn't already watched so I'm happy!
Were Matterface and Gray actually in the stadium tonight, or were they just commentating from London?
They were at the San Siro. Their producer tonight, talkSPORT's outside broadcast manager Matt Smith, has been tweeting pictures from Milan over the past two days including this one of Andy in the commentary box. Sam, Andy and Matt will be at the Amsterdam ArenA tomorrow as well.
Not sure if it's worth a mention, but on the TSKeysandgray twitter, when a few people have tweeted to them to say about missing them presenting football, Keys has insisted it isn't the last of them. A return on the cards for them both then? Is talkSPORT just one step at a time.
I think Richard may be alluding to them having a role in talkSPORT's Euro 2012 coverage. Richard and Andy were mentioned in the station's press release announcing how they'd secured commentary rights to the tournament (full non-exclusive rights to broadcast every game) and it's expected that they'll be on-site to be involved in their live coverage as well as for their mid-morning show.
To me, there seems to be an obvious way for talkSPORT to enable them both to return to live football presenting on a weekly basis - their coverage of the 1.30pm Sunday Premier League games. talkSPORT broadcast these games under the Sunday Exclusive banner, a programme that airs between 12noon-4pm most weeks, so usually has 90 minutes of studio build-up and around 30 minutes of post-match reaction.
Last season, their first one after winning rights, their studio team for these games was Alan Brazil and Neil Warnock, but this changed upon QPR's promotion and now there doesn't seem to be either a regular host or pundit (ex-Sky Sports News host Georgie Bingham presents some weeks, Brazil on other occasions). This would seem to me to be a blatantly obvious opportunity for talkSPORT to incorporate Keys & Gray (should they want to commit to it, of course) into their live Premier League coverage, with this being something that wouldn't compromise their mid-morning programme or Andy's new co-commentary work on European nights.
They seem happy to be on talkSPORT from what I've heard of their show so if they're keen to return to live games, then it would seem to suit all parties for them to be involved in their current employers coverage (with them having a share of the matches they were doing on television for Sky Sports) rather than having to look for TV work that might not be so forthcoming or as good in terms of games and regularity as talkSPORT can offer. It would also be a good way of giving Keys & Gray a role on their Premier League coverage without this conflicting with Stan Collymore's existing workload (at least part of which is bound by his contract, which runs through until summer 2013) which will be a consideration for the station's bosses.
+ The 'smash it' phrase was started by Jamie Redknapp and the video released from the Stamford Bridge studio isn't full length - he was set up.
+ We will soon know more regarding their departures from Sky, i.e their version of events.
Of course they were set up, but if Keys and Gray weren't the kind of people they were behind the scenes, there would've been no desire for anyone to set them up.
They're great, because they usually end with a picture of the commentator, which is always good. I find them quite likable. And ITV ripped it off the other week too.
Ahh, I've never noticed the commentator on those. Too busy sticking sharp objects in my eyes. I must look out for them next time.
It makes it even more ridiculous that the commentary wasn't done on site.
Well, it sort of makes sense because I guess it's easier to send a camera and one presenter along to give a sense of occasion than it would be to set up a commentary box. They did the same kind of thing with the Diamond League athletics on BBC3 last summer, they used the international feed commentary but sent Jonathan Edwards and Colin Jackson there with one camera so they could grab people for interviews and the like.
Initially it wasn't linked live from the stadium, was it, Kenneth Wolstenholme did it all out of vision. The best Football Italia moment was of course when that Juventus match on the last day of the season was interrupted by a monsoon and Brackers had to fill in for ages, and they lost the line to James Richardson, although they eventually found him, looking like a drowned rat.
Initially it wasn't linked live from the stadium, was it, Kenneth Wolstenholme did it all out of vision. The best Football Italia moment was of course when that Juventus match on the last day of the season was interrupted by a monsoon and Brackers had to fill in for ages, and they lost the line to James Richardson, although they eventually found him, looking like a drowned rat.
Then the next season they cut off Roma's title win a few minutes early, which must have annoyed people. But I was just satisfied to see live Italian football every Sunday, as there was no live matches at all the following season. It's a shame that there isn't a list of C4's live matches anywhere.
Initially it wasn't linked live from the stadium, was it, Kenneth Wolstenholme did it all out of vision.
Does anyone know how long this was the case? I remember that by the mid 90s James Richardson was presenting the majority of their live matches from the stadiums, often alongside a pundit - or in this case, from April 1995, Elvis Costello. I've always assumed that having live games linked into by Kenneth Wolstenholme would have only been the case during the first season or two of their ten years, wouldn't mind a definitive answer here though.
The best Football Italia moment was of course when that Juventus match on the last day of the season was interrupted by a monsoon and Brackers had to fill in for ages, and they lost the line to James Richardson, although they eventually found him, looking like a drowned rat.
To put some more flesh on the bones, all of this madness occurred on the final day of the 1999/2000 Serie A season, with Juventus and Lazio battling it out for the Scudetto with a game to go.
Football Italia's live game that day was Perugia v Juventus, with Juve going into the afternoon leading the title race and the monsoon you mention delaying the game for over an hour. Pierluigi Colina was the referee and called a halt to proceedings, during which time whoever the host broadcaster was (they must have had full rights to Serie A in Italy - or at least to the two matches that mattered to the title race) switched focus to the second half of Lazio v Reggina, so Channel 4 showed that while they were waiting for a development at their original match. Upon its conclusion, the decision was taken to play the second half of the game at Perugia, which Juve duly lost, handing Lazio the title. A memory of mine was the host broadcaster keeping one eye on the Stadio Olmpico during that second half, with the Lazio fans having invaded and settled on the pitch after the game there had ended in order to watch the second half of Perugia v Juventus on the big screen.
Peter Brackley did a marvellous job of both commentating on a match he'd not prepared for and filling during the breaks, and after 135 minutes of action I remember him concluding with "I'm off for a lie down". Anyone remember who his co-commentator was on that afternoon? At a guess it would have been one of Ray Wilkins or Paul Elliott, who were the regular Football Italia co-commentators at the time if memory serves me. I'd forgotten James Richardson was on-site at Perugia in all of the madness, so thanks for reminding me of that image.
Incidentally that fantastic afternoon of television (full credit to Channel 4's management of the time for being prepared to overrun for so long, which as mentioned wouldn't be the case a year later) gave me something of an awakening towards the concept of off-tube commentary - upon crossing over to the Stadio Olmpico something clicked in my mind to tell me that Peter mustn't actually be at the Stadio Renato Curi - and probably kick started my interest in sports broadcasting.
ESPNHD
Ray Stubbs With Steve McManaman And Martin Keown
Lazio vs Atl Madrid--Comms: Jim Proudfoot And David Pleat
Then Stoke Vs Valencia Channel 5HD
Jim Rosenthal With Stan Collymore on A Corner Studio In Ajax
Ajax Vs Man Utd--Comms: Dave Woods And Graham Taylor ITV4HD
Matt Smith With Peter Reid And Gareth Southgate
Legia Warsaw Vs Sporting--Comms: Steve Bower And Andy Townsend ITV1HD
Adrian Childs With Peter Reid And Gareth Southgate
FC Porto Vs Man City
17:00 Lokomotiv Moscow vs Athletic Bilbao - John Bradley
18:00 Ajax vs Man Utd - Mark Scott AZ Alkmaar vs Anderlecht - John Anderson Lazio vs Atletico Madrid - Rob Hatch Legia Warsaw vs Sporting - Richard Kaufman Viktoria Plzen vs Schalke - Adam Summerton SV Red Bull Salzburg vs FC Metalist Kharkiv - Chris Sharples
20:05 FC Porto vs Manchester City - Phil Blacker Hannover 96 vs Club Brugge - Richard Kaufman Steaua Bucuresti vs FC Twente - John Bradley Stoke vs Valencia - Rob Hatch Trabzonspor vs PSV - John Anderson Udinese vs PAOK Salonika - Adam Summerton Wisla Krakow vs Standard Liege - Chris Sharples
Does anyone know how long this was the case? I remember that by the mid 90s James Richardson was presenting the majority of their live matches from the stadiums, often alongside a pundit - or in this case, from April 1995, Elvis Costello. I've always assumed that having live games linked into by Kenneth Wolstenholme would have only been the case during the first season or two of their ten years, wouldn't mind a definitive answer here though.
Not sure, but I do know that Richardson only got the job at the very last minute because they wanted someone who knw about football and could speak Italian. Of course in the first season, Gazetta was "presented" by Paul Gascoigne, with Richardson one of the reporters.
Peter Brackley did a marvellous job of both commentating on a match he'd not prepared for and filling during the breaks, and after 135 minutes of action I remember him concluding with "I'm off for a lie down". Anyone remember who his co-commentator was on that afternoon? At a guess it would have been one of Ray Wilkins or Paul Elliott, who were the regular Football Italia co-commentators at the time if memory serves me. I'd forgotten James Richardson was on-site at Perugia in all of the madness, so thanks for reminding me of that image.
I do know this because I had a bit of the half-time sequence on an old VHS. Don Howe was the co-commentator, a bit livelier than he was on ITV in the 1994 World Cup. The best bit was when Collina went out under an umbrella to pointlessly kick a ball about to prove the pitch was unplayable, and Brackers said, "No, there is no way that ball will roll", and with perfect timing, Howe said, "No... it'll float", and they had a good chuckle. And the pundit getting drenched with Richardson in Perugia was Joe Jordan, the pair of them looking like they were dressed in binbags. Can't put it on YouTube, I'm afraid, I dunno if I've still got it.
I guess the reason C4 stopped showing live games in 2001 is because there was a bit more football on terrestrial TV on Sunday afternoons that season with ITV bringing back the regional Football League games and the Beeb having more FA Cup matches, and there were two Premier League matches on a Sunday afternoon now as well.
Of course for a while they also did live games on ITV2 in 1999/2000, on a Sunday night, which I think was actually the first choice match for Italian telly. Guy Mowbray used to commentate, and they used to repeat them overnight on C4.
Sam Matterface sounds a lot like Mike Ingham at times, doesn't he?
You know, you're not the first person I've heard to have likened the voices of those two commentators to one another. I think you are right, there is more than a touch of "a young Mike Ingham" to Sam Matterface.
Thanks for the feedback regarding Andy Gray's co-commentary last night - I presume it was more of the same this evening? Thanks also to Steve for those Football Italia details.
Comments
(Competition) Don't ITV know that Barcelona is in Spain and not France? :rolleyes:
Ouch, not good at all for clubs in Scotland money wise then if Rangers dropped out entirely.
Yeah obviously this isn't going to start as a 'bring back Gray campaign' but like you say, he was good tonight. At times, he was almost forcing Matterface to interact with him and step away from the traditional radio commentary for the dull parts in play. Laughed at when Matterface brought up it being 3-0 and asking Gray if it was over, thinking of Istanbul. I think it really showed what Sky miss tonight, his analysis of the second goal stood out.
Not sure if it's worth a mention, but on the TSKeysandgray twitter, when a few people have tweeted to them to say about missing them presenting football, Keys has insisted it isn't the last of them. A return on the cards for them both then? Is talkSPORT just one step at a time.
UEFA Champions League Extra Time
Matt Smith presented from the San Siro alongside Andy Townsend and Gareth Southgate
AC Milan v Arsenal - Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, with Gabriel Clarke conducting post-match interviews
Zenit St Petersburg v SL Benfica - Jim Proudfoot
Bayer 04 Leverkusen v FC Barcelona (Tuesday) - Joe Speight
Olympique Lyon v APOEL Nicosia (Tuesday) - Jim Proudfoot
45 minutes on the AC Milan v Arsenal game, 15 minutes on the other three; although to be fair each of those games received a decent length edit so I can't really grumble. It meant I got to watch the bulk of Kevin Bridges: What's the Story on BBC One without missing the action I hadn't already watched so I'm happy!
UEFA Champions League Live
RTE Sport
Presenter
Bill O'Herlihy
With
John Giles, Ronnie Whelan & Eamon Dunphy
Commentators:
AC Milan v Arsenal – George Hamilton & Ray Houghton
Con Murphy with a round up of Tuesday and tonights other game
They were at the San Siro. Their producer tonight, talkSPORT's outside broadcast manager Matt Smith, has been tweeting pictures from Milan over the past two days including this one of Andy in the commentary box. Sam, Andy and Matt will be at the Amsterdam ArenA tomorrow as well.
I think Richard may be alluding to them having a role in talkSPORT's Euro 2012 coverage. Richard and Andy were mentioned in the station's press release announcing how they'd secured commentary rights to the tournament (full non-exclusive rights to broadcast every game) and it's expected that they'll be on-site to be involved in their live coverage as well as for their mid-morning show.
To me, there seems to be an obvious way for talkSPORT to enable them both to return to live football presenting on a weekly basis - their coverage of the 1.30pm Sunday Premier League games. talkSPORT broadcast these games under the Sunday Exclusive banner, a programme that airs between 12noon-4pm most weeks, so usually has 90 minutes of studio build-up and around 30 minutes of post-match reaction.
Last season, their first one after winning rights, their studio team for these games was Alan Brazil and Neil Warnock, but this changed upon QPR's promotion and now there doesn't seem to be either a regular host or pundit (ex-Sky Sports News host Georgie Bingham presents some weeks, Brazil on other occasions). This would seem to me to be a blatantly obvious opportunity for talkSPORT to incorporate Keys & Gray (should they want to commit to it, of course) into their live Premier League coverage, with this being something that wouldn't compromise their mid-morning programme or Andy's new co-commentary work on European nights.
They seem happy to be on talkSPORT from what I've heard of their show so if they're keen to return to live games, then it would seem to suit all parties for them to be involved in their current employers coverage (with them having a share of the matches they were doing on television for Sky Sports) rather than having to look for TV work that might not be so forthcoming or as good in terms of games and regularity as talkSPORT can offer. It would also be a good way of giving Keys & Gray a role on their Premier League coverage without this conflicting with Stan Collymore's existing workload (at least part of which is bound by his contract, which runs through until summer 2013) which will be a consideration for the station's bosses.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Barcelona - Adrian Healey and Robbie Mustoe
Olympique Lyonnais vs Apoel - Dan Thomas and Tommy Smyth
Zenit St Petersburg vs Benfica - Mark Donaldson and Shaka Hislop
AC Milan vs Arsenal - Andrew Orsatti and Jaunusz Michallik
Of course they were set up, but if Keys and Gray weren't the kind of people they were behind the scenes, there would've been no desire for anyone to set them up.
Adelaide v Persipura Jayapura
commentary from Robbie Thomson and Jamie Harnwell with Adam Peacock reporting
It makes it even more ridiculous that the commentary wasn't done on site.
Well, it sort of makes sense because I guess it's easier to send a camera and one presenter along to give a sense of occasion than it would be to set up a commentary box. They did the same kind of thing with the Diamond League athletics on BBC3 last summer, they used the international feed commentary but sent Jonathan Edwards and Colin Jackson there with one camera so they could grab people for interviews and the like.
Initially it wasn't linked live from the stadium, was it, Kenneth Wolstenholme did it all out of vision. The best Football Italia moment was of course when that Juventus match on the last day of the season was interrupted by a monsoon and Brackers had to fill in for ages, and they lost the line to James Richardson, although they eventually found him, looking like a drowned rat.
Then the next season they cut off Roma's title win a few minutes early, which must have annoyed people. But I was just satisfied to see live Italian football every Sunday, as there was no live matches at all the following season. It's a shame that there isn't a list of C4's live matches anywhere.
Does anyone know how long this was the case? I remember that by the mid 90s James Richardson was presenting the majority of their live matches from the stadiums, often alongside a pundit - or in this case, from April 1995, Elvis Costello. I've always assumed that having live games linked into by Kenneth Wolstenholme would have only been the case during the first season or two of their ten years, wouldn't mind a definitive answer here though.
To put some more flesh on the bones, all of this madness occurred on the final day of the 1999/2000 Serie A season, with Juventus and Lazio battling it out for the Scudetto with a game to go.
Football Italia's live game that day was Perugia v Juventus, with Juve going into the afternoon leading the title race and the monsoon you mention delaying the game for over an hour. Pierluigi Colina was the referee and called a halt to proceedings, during which time whoever the host broadcaster was (they must have had full rights to Serie A in Italy - or at least to the two matches that mattered to the title race) switched focus to the second half of Lazio v Reggina, so Channel 4 showed that while they were waiting for a development at their original match. Upon its conclusion, the decision was taken to play the second half of the game at Perugia, which Juve duly lost, handing Lazio the title. A memory of mine was the host broadcaster keeping one eye on the Stadio Olmpico during that second half, with the Lazio fans having invaded and settled on the pitch after the game there had ended in order to watch the second half of Perugia v Juventus on the big screen.
Peter Brackley did a marvellous job of both commentating on a match he'd not prepared for and filling during the breaks, and after 135 minutes of action I remember him concluding with "I'm off for a lie down". Anyone remember who his co-commentator was on that afternoon? At a guess it would have been one of Ray Wilkins or Paul Elliott, who were the regular Football Italia co-commentators at the time if memory serves me. I'd forgotten James Richardson was on-site at Perugia in all of the madness, so thanks for reminding me of that image.
Incidentally that fantastic afternoon of television (full credit to Channel 4's management of the time for being prepared to overrun for so long, which as mentioned wouldn't be the case a year later) gave me something of an awakening towards the concept of off-tube commentary - upon crossing over to the Stadio Olmpico something clicked in my mind to tell me that Peter mustn't actually be at the Stadio Renato Curi - and probably kick started my interest in sports broadcasting.
Ray Stubbs With Steve McManaman And Martin Keown
Lazio vs Atl Madrid--Comms: Jim Proudfoot And David Pleat
Then Stoke Vs Valencia
Channel 5HD
Jim Rosenthal With Stan Collymore on A Corner Studio In Ajax
Ajax Vs Man Utd--Comms: Dave Woods And Graham Taylor
ITV4HD
Matt Smith With Peter Reid And Gareth Southgate
Legia Warsaw Vs Sporting--Comms: Steve Bower And Andy Townsend
ITV1HD
Adrian Childs With Peter Reid And Gareth Southgate
FC Porto Vs Man City
Commentators: Jim Proudfoot & David Pleat
Channel 5 Dave Wood & Graham Taylor
Talk Sport Sam Matterface & Andy Gray
17:00
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Athletic Bilbao - John Bradley
18:00
Ajax vs Man Utd - Mark Scott
AZ Alkmaar vs Anderlecht - John Anderson
Lazio vs Atletico Madrid - Rob Hatch
Legia Warsaw vs Sporting - Richard Kaufman
Viktoria Plzen vs Schalke - Adam Summerton
SV Red Bull Salzburg vs FC Metalist Kharkiv - Chris Sharples
20:05
FC Porto vs Manchester City - Phil Blacker
Hannover 96 vs Club Brugge - Richard Kaufman
Steaua Bucuresti vs FC Twente - John Bradley
Stoke vs Valencia - Rob Hatch
Trabzonspor vs PSV - John Anderson
Udinese vs PAOK Salonika - Adam Summerton
Wisla Krakow vs Standard Liege - Chris Sharples
*****************************************************************
Al Jazeera Sport +3 - Rhodri Williams with Alan Curbishley, Ray Houghton & Andy Cole
They showing: Ajax v Manchester Utd & FC Porto v Manchester City
Not sure, but I do know that Richardson only got the job at the very last minute because they wanted someone who knw about football and could speak Italian. Of course in the first season, Gazetta was "presented" by Paul Gascoigne, with Richardson one of the reporters.
I do know this because I had a bit of the half-time sequence on an old VHS. Don Howe was the co-commentator, a bit livelier than he was on ITV in the 1994 World Cup. The best bit was when Collina went out under an umbrella to pointlessly kick a ball about to prove the pitch was unplayable, and Brackers said, "No, there is no way that ball will roll", and with perfect timing, Howe said, "No... it'll float", and they had a good chuckle. And the pundit getting drenched with Richardson in Perugia was Joe Jordan, the pair of them looking like they were dressed in binbags. Can't put it on YouTube, I'm afraid, I dunno if I've still got it.
I guess the reason C4 stopped showing live games in 2001 is because there was a bit more football on terrestrial TV on Sunday afternoons that season with ITV bringing back the regional Football League games and the Beeb having more FA Cup matches, and there were two Premier League matches on a Sunday afternoon now as well.
Of course for a while they also did live games on ITV2 in 1999/2000, on a Sunday night, which I think was actually the first choice match for Italian telly. Guy Mowbray used to commentate, and they used to repeat them overnight on C4.
I just caught the last few minutes of this. Sam Matterface sounds a lot like Mike Ingham at times, doesn't he?
I was thinking that earlier as i was driving home from work. Although i knew it was one of the old BBC Radio guys, i was thinking of Ron Jones!!
Commentators: Derek Rae & Craig Burley
You know, you're not the first person I've heard to have likened the voices of those two commentators to one another. I think you are right, there is more than a touch of "a young Mike Ingham" to Sam Matterface.
Thanks for the feedback regarding Andy Gray's co-commentary last night - I presume it was more of the same this evening? Thanks also to Steve for those Football Italia details.