Some people let into a commentary box who really shouldn't be today - judging by Shearer being on that match for the world feed (didn't listen but I'd have thought it's a fair assumption to make that he wouldn't be much good in that role) and Owen being on the Arsenal match for BT (and Phil Neville on the same match on commentary for NBC). It does feel at times like any ex-player can get into the commentary box - even if totally unsuited to the role in any way.
Pleasantly surprised to see Thierry Henry getting some praise on here.
And on the subjects of pundits, I really enjoyed Ruud Gullit as an MOTD pundit last night - as ever a very cool, charming pundit and makes good points and he even made Shearer watchable last night. BBC have some strong pundits in Murphy, Kilbane and Gullit for me - it's a shame one or two others are front and centre instead of those two.
Have to say too surely it's time for Sky to phase Redknapp out of the big games soon?
I thought he was OK yesterday (unlike usual) but honestly he does talk over other pundits so much and really doesn't add a lot at all. I'd say all the other pundits Sky have used today on their star games are better than him and should be on big games ahead of him (Neville, Smith, Sounness, Carragher, Hoddle, Henry and even Quinn - who I find pretty good when just in the studio).
There's a genuine question over who Sky will use in the Champions League final too as pundits. I think it's safe to say Stelling will present and that Neville and Tyler will commentate but then you've still got Carragher, Sounness, Henry or Redknapp as pundits who Sky could realistically use - and one would have to miss out.
I'm sure most on here, myself included, would hope it's Redknapp (especially with all the other pundits being CL winners as well as better pundits) but could see Sky not using Sounness sadly.
But Sky clearly think he has a lot to offer, much like BT and Michael Owen on that front.
These 2 guys have come in for so much criticism on here, social media papers etc but they are still where they are and to be honest I doubt their relative employers will bow down to public pressure at this stage.
But Sky clearly think he has a lot to offer, much like BT and Michael Owen on that front.
These 2 guys have come in for so much criticism on here, social media papers etc but they are still where they are and to be honest I doubt their relative employers will bow down to public pressure at this stage.
Though Owen is a good analyst if used as a pundit rather than co-commentator.
But Sky clearly think he has a lot to offer, much like BT and Michael Owen on that front.
These 2 guys have come in for so much criticism on here, social media papers etc but they are still where they are and to be honest I doubt their relative employers will bow down to public pressure at this stage.
Even then though surely they can't have him as a pundit for the Champions League Final.
Even with Neville on commentary (removing him as an alternative for pundit - though I'm sure he'll appear in-studio afterwards), how would they justifiably be able pick Redknapp as a pundit over Carragher, Sounness or Henry? All of those three are better pundits and also Champions League winners.
Though to be fair to Sky at least they haven't put Redknapp in the commentary box like BT have with Owen (sorry had to get an Owen dig in there somewhere).
Though I would laugh (for a few seconds at least - before realising how horrible the next 90 minutes would then be) if Sky put Yorke on commentary for one game simply to troll this thread.
Just Watching the Match on Bein Sports and tbh Shearer Commentary is not bad but along the likes of Savage and Phil Neville he comes across as trying too hard and it doesnt sound right or come across good because these lot are not suited for co-commentary, Daniel Mann is fantastic and glad he got it, wish they could have got Chris Waddle or Clive Allen to do Co-Com instead of Shearer, Hopefully Shearer for him it is his last time on Co-Com..
Yes Natalie is clear FL number 2 as of this season with George on highlights only. Similar to Garry Birtles, he's only really used on live games now if there is little other option. His workload has been decreasing for many years, since his operation around 2007 really. Whilst I really enjoy his work I think this is probably about right. He does a great job on the review shows, and likewise Simon & Natalie have shown they are capable on live games too.
Great to see Simon today at a major Wembley final. Of course he's done the play offs for a few years now so he's no stranger to it, but this is more high profile. I believe Natalie will be doing her first Wembley final later this month with the JPT Final which is another step up for her.
I wholeheartedly agree with what you've written. I was always a fan of George Gavin's work, but both Simon Thomas and Natalie Sawyer have proven to be very strong as Sky's live Football League presenters whenever I have caught their coverage this season. As you say it was great to see Simon hosting Sky Sports 1's coverage of the Capital One Cup Final today, from what I saw of the half-time and post-match segments I thought he did very well - I wonder if long-term he might be promoted to their Premier League coverage?
Although I won't be watching their coverage of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final (as I'll be at the game!), I'm glad Sawyer will be hosting it. She has presented all three of the earlier JPT games this season, so it's only right that she gets the chance to host the final.
Just to confirm it was Jonathan Oakes who was Sky Sports 3's reporter at the East Anglian Derby. Not that I stuck around to catch any of the post-match interviews, but I spotted him walking away from the tunnel just before I flicked over to SS1 for the League Cup Final upon the full-time whistle. For those who care about these sort of things, both Norwich v Ipswich nor Arsenal v Everton finished before Chelsea v Tottenham kicked off.
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur - Steve Wilson and Kevin Kilbane, with Mark Clemmit conducting interviews
I was going to say that it was good to see Manish Bhasin presenting the League Cup Final highlights from Wembley, as we saw him doing links from Wembley Way and from pitchside prior to the edit, yet for the analysis we had him and Leroy back in the usual Football League Show studio, where they've hosted this show for a couple of recent finals. I personally prefer the presentation of such shows to come from Wembley, but I suppose they see this set-up as being the best of both worlds.
Presented by Jonathan Sutherland, with Willie Miller and Pat Bonner.
Scottish Premiership Celtic v Aberdeen (Sun) - Liam McLeod Motherwell v Inverness CT - Rob Maclean St Mirren v Hamilton Accies - John Barnes Ross County v Dundee - Alasdair Lamont Dundee Utd v Partick Thistle - Paul Mitchell St Johnstone v Kilmarnock - Brian McLaughlin
Scottish Championship Hearts v Cowdenbeath - Paul Mitchell (reporting)
Highlights of Hibernian v Alloa Athletic and Falkirk v The Rangers were described "live" by Sutherland, Miller and Bonner.
And, in case anyone is interested, if a team reaches double-figures the font in the BBC score graphic simply narrows to accommodate it.
I have to echo what others are saying about Alan Parry. He was excellent today and delivered a brilliant commentary- one of the best I've heard from him in a long time. As pointed out, it helped to have Neville alongside him. I find Parry sometimes loses his way when he has to instigate the discussion on certain moments and maybe doesn't read the game correctly but as we know, GNev is excellent at this so Parry could concentrate on describing the action and I thought his goal calls were outstanding.
The line-up at Anfield was much better than at Wembley IMO. Souness and Carragher were excellent as always and I'm liking the quick iPad bits Jamie does. Also, Quinn gets a bad rep for his co-commentary work but I think he's a really engaging and interesting pundit. Ed cut him off because they ran out of time but he was going to make a point about Financial Fair Play at the end- I've heard him explain it before and it's interesting to hear those angles which you don't usually get. For all the hype Sky gave to the League Cup Final, they had their #1 football presenter, #1 reporter and Top 3 pundits (Neville, Souness and Carragher) all at Anfield.
As for who will do the Champions League Final for Sky, they'll want to go out with a bang so they'll probably have everyone involved. Stelling, Tyler and Neville are nailed on and I'd say Henry, Souness and Carragher will be the studio guests with maybe Redknapp doing touchscreen analysis only.
Gray kept Tyler in check, Gary struggles so far with Tyler. Yesterday proved a combination of Parry/Neville is the best they have. No point having a co-comm with Tyler anymore, he is either wittering on with meaningless stats, or his own agenda.
I have to echo what others are saying about Alan Parry. He was excellent today and delivered a brilliant commentary- one of the best I've heard from him in a long time. As pointed out, it helped to have Neville alongside him. I find Parry sometimes loses his way when he has to instigate the discussion on certain moments and maybe doesn't read the game correctly but as we know, GNev is excellent at this so Parry could concentrate on describing the action and I thought his goal calls were outstanding.
The line-up at Anfield was much better than at Wembley IMO. Souness and Carragher were excellent as always and I'm liking the quick iPad bits Jamie does. Also, Quinn gets a bad rep for his co-commentary work but I think he's a really engaging and interesting pundit. Ed cut him off because they ran out of time but he was going to make a point about Financial Fair Play at the end- I've heard him explain it before and it's interesting to hear those angles which you don't usually get. For all the hype Sky gave to the League Cup Final, they had their #1 football presenter, #1 reporter and Top 3 pundits (Neville, Souness and Carragher) all at Anfield.
As for who will do the Champions League Final for Sky, they'll want to go out with a bang so they'll probably have everyone involved. Stelling, Tyler and Neville are nailed on and I'd say Henry, Souness and Carragher will be the studio guests with maybe Redknapp doing touchscreen analysis only.
Agree apart from Quinn, he is a shocking choice wherever. A dud for sure but SKY are bound to get some wrong, mostly though they get it right, certainly compared to BBC they get most right. Time for the lovely Natalie who did the Norwich game yesterday to get some PL action, as a number 2 to Stelling on presentation she is the best long term bet, certainly more than the Blue Peter guy.
Some people let into a commentary box who really shouldn't be today - judging by Shearer being on that match for the world feed (didn't listen but I'd have thought it's a fair assumption to make that he wouldn't be much good in that role) and Owen being on the Arsenal match for BT (and Phil Neville on the same match on commentary for NBC). It does feel at times like any ex-player can get into the commentary box - even if totally unsuited to the role in any way.
Pleasantly surprised to see Thierry Henry getting some praise on here.
And on the subjects of pundits, I really enjoyed Ruud Gullit as an MOTD pundit last night - as ever a very cool, charming pundit and makes good points and he even made Shearer watchable last night. BBC have some strong pundits in Murphy, Kilbane and Gullit for me - it's a shame one or two others are front and centre instead of those two.
Gullitt is good, not a huge Shearer fan but he is head and shoulders above Kilbane, who clearly struggles with the rules and Murphy who is incapable of original thought.
That is the best graphic geekdom post ever to be posted on this thread.
I remember a game on Sky with Tyler and Gray a few years ago which had lots of stoppage time and they were speculating over whether the Sky scorebar could cope if it reached 100 minutes. Of course the font narrowed and it did .
I remember a game on Sky with Tyler and Gray a few years ago which had lots of stoppage time and they were speculating over whether the Sky scorebar could cope if it reached 100 minutes. Of course the font narrowed and it did .
I think that was Stoke v Spurs. Either way, it seems to be a fairly regular occurrence now.
Lynsey Hipgrave presenting Football Tonight alongside James Horncastle and Gabriele Marcotti
Commentators: Derek Rae and Matt Holland
That is some stint for Rae, Thursday night in Milan, then back to Scotland For a Game on Friday then he did a game last night and now tonight!!
Is there a commentator used more than what he is? Has to be close to being the most used by the end of the season.
Comments
Some people let into a commentary box who really shouldn't be today - judging by Shearer being on that match for the world feed (didn't listen but I'd have thought it's a fair assumption to make that he wouldn't be much good in that role) and Owen being on the Arsenal match for BT (and Phil Neville on the same match on commentary for NBC). It does feel at times like any ex-player can get into the commentary box - even if totally unsuited to the role in any way.
Pleasantly surprised to see Thierry Henry getting some praise on here.
And on the subjects of pundits, I really enjoyed Ruud Gullit as an MOTD pundit last night - as ever a very cool, charming pundit and makes good points and he even made Shearer watchable last night. BBC have some strong pundits in Murphy, Kilbane and Gullit for me - it's a shame one or two others are front and centre instead of those two.
I thought he was OK yesterday (unlike usual) but honestly he does talk over other pundits so much and really doesn't add a lot at all. I'd say all the other pundits Sky have used today on their star games are better than him and should be on big games ahead of him (Neville, Smith, Sounness, Carragher, Hoddle, Henry and even Quinn - who I find pretty good when just in the studio).
There's a genuine question over who Sky will use in the Champions League final too as pundits. I think it's safe to say Stelling will present and that Neville and Tyler will commentate but then you've still got Carragher, Sounness, Henry or Redknapp as pundits who Sky could realistically use - and one would have to miss out.
I'm sure most on here, myself included, would hope it's Redknapp (especially with all the other pundits being CL winners as well as better pundits) but could see Sky not using Sounness sadly.
These 2 guys have come in for so much criticism on here, social media papers etc but they are still where they are and to be honest I doubt their relative employers will bow down to public pressure at this stage.
Though Owen is a good analyst if used as a pundit rather than co-commentator.
BT Sport Extra - Richard Whittle
Even then though surely they can't have him as a pundit for the Champions League Final.
Even with Neville on commentary (removing him as an alternative for pundit - though I'm sure he'll appear in-studio afterwards), how would they justifiably be able pick Redknapp as a pundit over Carragher, Sounness or Henry? All of those three are better pundits and also Champions League winners.
Though to be fair to Sky at least they haven't put Redknapp in the commentary box like BT have with Owen (sorry had to get an Owen dig in there somewhere).
Though I would laugh (for a few seconds at least - before realising how horrible the next 90 minutes would then be) if Sky put Yorke on commentary for one game simply to troll this thread.
James Richardson with the usual trio.
Monaco v PSG (BTS 1): Derek Rae and Stewart Robson
FC Porto v Sporting Lisbon (ESPN): Dave Farrar and Efan Ekoku
Just Watching the Match on Bein Sports and tbh Shearer Commentary is not bad but along the likes of Savage and Phil Neville he comes across as trying too hard and it doesnt sound right or come across good because these lot are not suited for co-commentary, Daniel Mann is fantastic and glad he got it, wish they could have got Chris Waddle or Clive Allen to do Co-Com instead of Shearer, Hopefully Shearer for him it is his last time on Co-Com..
I wholeheartedly agree with what you've written. I was always a fan of George Gavin's work, but both Simon Thomas and Natalie Sawyer have proven to be very strong as Sky's live Football League presenters whenever I have caught their coverage this season. As you say it was great to see Simon hosting Sky Sports 1's coverage of the Capital One Cup Final today, from what I saw of the half-time and post-match segments I thought he did very well - I wonder if long-term he might be promoted to their Premier League coverage?
Although I won't be watching their coverage of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final (as I'll be at the game!), I'm glad Sawyer will be hosting it. She has presented all three of the earlier JPT games this season, so it's only right that she gets the chance to host the final.
Just to confirm it was Jonathan Oakes who was Sky Sports 3's reporter at the East Anglian Derby. Not that I stuck around to catch any of the post-match interviews, but I spotted him walking away from the tunnel just before I flicked over to SS1 for the League Cup Final upon the full-time whistle. For those who care about these sort of things, both Norwich v Ipswich nor Arsenal v Everton finished before Chelsea v Tottenham kicked off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woTE4DOOyaQ
The League Cup Show
Manish Bhasin presented alongside Leroy Rosenior
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur - Steve Wilson and Kevin Kilbane, with Mark Clemmit conducting interviews
I was going to say that it was good to see Manish Bhasin presenting the League Cup Final highlights from Wembley, as we saw him doing links from Wembley Way and from pitchside prior to the edit, yet for the analysis we had him and Leroy back in the usual Football League Show studio, where they've hosted this show for a couple of recent finals. I personally prefer the presentation of such shows to come from Wembley, but I suppose they see this set-up as being the best of both worlds.
Presented by Jonathan Sutherland, with Willie Miller and Pat Bonner.
Scottish Premiership
Celtic v Aberdeen (Sun) - Liam McLeod
Motherwell v Inverness CT - Rob Maclean
St Mirren v Hamilton Accies - John Barnes
Ross County v Dundee - Alasdair Lamont
Dundee Utd v Partick Thistle - Paul Mitchell
St Johnstone v Kilmarnock - Brian McLaughlin
Scottish Championship
Hearts v Cowdenbeath - Paul Mitchell (reporting)
Highlights of Hibernian v Alloa Athletic and Falkirk v The Rangers were described "live" by Sutherland, Miller and Bonner.
And, in case anyone is interested, if a team reaches double-figures the font in the BBC score graphic simply narrows to accommodate it.
The line-up at Anfield was much better than at Wembley IMO. Souness and Carragher were excellent as always and I'm liking the quick iPad bits Jamie does. Also, Quinn gets a bad rep for his co-commentary work but I think he's a really engaging and interesting pundit. Ed cut him off because they ran out of time but he was going to make a point about Financial Fair Play at the end- I've heard him explain it before and it's interesting to hear those angles which you don't usually get. For all the hype Sky gave to the League Cup Final, they had their #1 football presenter, #1 reporter and Top 3 pundits (Neville, Souness and Carragher) all at Anfield.
As for who will do the Champions League Final for Sky, they'll want to go out with a bang so they'll probably have everyone involved. Stelling, Tyler and Neville are nailed on and I'd say Henry, Souness and Carragher will be the studio guests with maybe Redknapp doing touchscreen analysis only.
Gray kept Tyler in check, Gary struggles so far with Tyler. Yesterday proved a combination of Parry/Neville is the best they have. No point having a co-comm with Tyler anymore, he is either wittering on with meaningless stats, or his own agenda.
Agree apart from Quinn, he is a shocking choice wherever. A dud for sure but SKY are bound to get some wrong, mostly though they get it right, certainly compared to BBC they get most right. Time for the lovely Natalie who did the Norwich game yesterday to get some PL action, as a number 2 to Stelling on presentation she is the best long term bet, certainly more than the Blue Peter guy.
That is the best graphic geekdom post ever to be posted on this thread.
Gullitt is good, not a huge Shearer fan but he is head and shoulders above Kilbane, who clearly struggles with the rules and Murphy who is incapable of original thought.
I remember a game on Sky with Tyler and Gray a few years ago which had lots of stoppage time and they were speculating over whether the Sky scorebar could cope if it reached 100 minutes. Of course the font narrowed and it did
I think that was Stoke v Spurs. Either way, it seems to be a fairly regular occurrence now.
Darren Fletcher doing the Bradford Reading game on Saturday.
Hull v Sunderland- Conor McNamara
Soton v Palace- Martin Fisher
Live Serie A: AS Roma v Juventus
Lynsey Hipgrave presenting Football Tonight alongside James Horncastle and Gabriele Marcotti
Commentators: Derek Rae and Matt Holland
That is some stint for Rae, Thursday night in Milan, then back to Scotland For a Game on Friday then he did a game last night and now tonight!!
Is there a commentator used more than what he is? Has to be close to being the most used by the end of the season.
John Fendley (Fenners) presenting from the Exacta Stadium in Chester, with Jamie Carragher.
Commentators: Gary Weaver and Neil Mellor
Eredivisie:
PSV Eindhoven v Ajax - Phil Blacker and Alan Curbishley