I listen to PubTalkSport far less often than I used to and so haven't been on this forum for a while, but seeing the discussion about the attitude of certain presenters towards Moyes I felt I just had to post.
I happened to listen to The WUM Show yesterday and almost fell off my chair listenting to the world-class hypocrisy being spouted by the Ginger one and his Yorkshire sidekick. From the very same Chuckle Brothers who routinely and spitefully deride Wenger at every turn - a man who in the past has won numerous trophies and arguably revolutionised an entire football club in the way few managers have ever done - we had increasingly desperate and risible arguments trotted out in favour of Moyles and that media darling, the hugely overrated lovable cheeky-chappie Harry Redknapp. I don't think I need tell anyone how many trophies those two have won between them in what must be approaching a combined 40 years of football management.
Apparently it's no fault of "Our 'Arry" that having spent the riches of Croesus on a squad that could reasonably be expected to walk automatic promotion, QPR may well miss out. We simply have to get it through our thick skulls that the poor little genius is valiantly battling against the millstone of feckless players (who he bought) that are letting him down and failing to give him the support he deserves. Most laughable was the contention that it's perfectly understandable that Redknapp hasn't pulled up trees at QPR and that their poor form can in no way be taken as a reflection on his peerless coaching ability. We must all understand that it's sooooooo difficult for a visionary who has reached the heights that Redknapp has to descend to the depths of managing one of the elite clubs of the second tier.
What complete and utter buffoons.
Couldn't agree more about the dreadful Drivetime show both presenters need to be shown the door quickly, frankly I can't fathom out the people who actually sit through it and listen to it every day and regarding the poor fools that pay to ring in and join in with it well I pity them that they are so easily entertained.
I'm now long past the stage of thinking Durham should be kept on for all his better work on Saturdays there would be a host of good people who could anchor 'Around The Grounds' and Durham should pay the price for all his years of wasting listeners time playing the wind-up-merchant and so too should that northern born and bred but prefers to pretend he's southern know-it-all who sits across from him.
"The most frustrating thing about this pro-British manager agenda I find is that British managers who are doing praiseworthy jobs at less attractive clubs and/or clubs outside of the Premier League are so often overlooked by certain personalities on the station..............................................."
Top post.
You are of course bang on about the job Sean Dyche is doing at Burnley I really hope they go up I'd love them back in the top flight again after all these years. It's such a shame talkSPORT are stuck in a constant loop of premier league concentration discussing the same managers and the same players over and over I'm sure it's great for the supporters of these so-called top English clubs but for the rest of it's a complete turn-off.
If ever the Premier League goes tits up and bankrupt which I think is entirely possible in the future the amount of debt most clubs are in (it would only take SKY and BT to pull out or greatly reduce what they now pay) and this station then turns to the Football League for permission to broadcast their live games it would just serve them right if the FL told them to go and get stuffed in retaliation for the total lack of coverage they have bothered giving them for these last 14 years.
He's even brought the best out of Andy Jacobs. I'm a huge fan of Paul Hawkesby but the current partnership is working fantastically well.
Its criminal that Danny Kelly doesnt get a regular/permenant live spot on TS - but unfortunately, he doesnt fit into the kind of presenter that the hierachy wants - you know, the Darren Gough/Dominic Cork/Ronnie Irani thick spud role!
Danny knows a few long words. Dont want to confuse their view of the average listener!
I agree that this is a great post.
I hardly post here anymore as I rarely listen to TS now, it used to be my companion during the day (I'm a community nurse and listen in the car between visits all day). Now it's just gone to "hell in a hand cart" as Parry used to say. I feel that I have given the changes long enough now to review them:
Breakfast is a shambles with most of the co-hosts just fawning to Brazil all the time. Cork is a joke and I find Ginola hard to listen to, he's just not suited to radio IMO as he pauses for too long.
I cannot stand Murray not matter who the guests are, he just comes across as so very pleased with himself.
Still love H&J and loving Danny Kelly in that slot as well.
Have finally had enough of Drivetime although I do like MDL on Saturdays so would keep Durham for that.
As for the weekend......:o total drivel in the mornings. Quinn needs to lose his voice permanently, seems the only way to get rid of him
Loathe Johnny Vaughan - I repeat my Murray comment and include raging smugness and supreme dislikeability.
Not keen on Max thingy either, so uninterested I cannot remember his surname
I would like them to go back to some topical/current affairs in the mornings - relentless Premier league talk is boring.
Sorry for long post, just needed a rant as I am almost in mourning for what was my daily friend/working companion
Top post. You are of course bang on about the job Sean Dyche is doing at Burnley I really hope they go up I'd love them back in the top flight again after all these years. It's such a shame talkSPORT are stuck in a constant loop of premier league concentration discussing the same managers and the same players over and over I'm sure it's great for the supporters of these so-called top English clubs but for the rest of it's a complete turn-off.
If ever the Premier League goes tits up and bankrupt which I think is entirely possible in the future the amount of debt most clubs are in (it would only take SKY and BT to pull out or greatly reduce what they now pay) and this station then turns to the Football League for permission to broadcast their live games it would just serve them right if the FL told them to go and get stuffed in retaliation for the total lack of coverage they have bothered giving them for these last 14 years.
Crikey your right I had forgotten they got promoted about 4 years back and spent a season in the top flight before coming straight back down again well I hope this time if they go up they last longer but it's doubtful as promoted clubs these days simply can't live in that league for long (in the main anyway) such is the massive gulf between the divisions financially.
I’ve read bits of this thread with amusement. I love H & J and always listen on at least Monday and Friday, the rest of TS is almost without exception truly awful. Hopefully TS management won’t be stupid enough to ever take H & J off the air, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
However, I particularly felt compelled to mention the following.
On Monday, I heard the ‘Monday Night Club’ on 5Live. Because Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game as Arsenal manager is coming up, they did a big feature on him, spoke about the extent to which he’s transformed Arsenal, spoke about the trophyless period and gave some constructive criticism, but also mentioned all of the obvious mitigating financial circumstances which we all know about. It was a really interesting and worthwhile discussion.
I listened to H & J on Tuesday, and heard the preview to ‘Drive Time’ (it goes without saying that I didn’t listen to it). What was the highlight of ‘Drive Time’? Adrian Durham telling you how Arsene Wenger has failed in Europe. Part of a week of ‘special programmes’ focusing on the ‘Daily Arsenal’.
It is absolutely pathetic that Durham persists with this nonsense. I could understand it for a while; it was an obvious wind up tactic. But it’s got to the stage now where he’s just continuing with it because he can’t admit that he’s wrong. He can’t admit that Arsene Wenger is one of the great modern football managers, he’s done great things for Arsenal, and the first season they’ve had serious money to spend after a very testing period in which he’s balanced the books and kept them in the top four, they are probably going to win a trophy and are competing on a level footing with clubs that have spent obscene amounts of money.
When I have had the misfortune to hear Durham, and his witless sidekick who would be much better advised to try to get an IPL contract than talk an absolute cartload of manure on a subject he evidently knows nothing about, their entire footballing philosophy seems to be...if you don’t win the league or the Champions League, you’ve failed. All teams should spend money every opportunity they get. And if you don’t win a trophy every season, you should sack your manager.
Arsenal have no divine right to win the league, the only reason this is expected is because Wenger won it for them three times and raised expectations! In the first season of the Premier League, Arsenal finished tenth. They lost 16 games, more than they won, and scored the least number of goals in the division! Imagine the ‘Daily Arsenal’ back in those days! They weren’t even remotely close to winning the Premier League until Wenger won it in his first full season (in which he also won the FA Cup).
The thing that particularly amuses me is that they put this crap out on a daily basis, yet expect people to take them seriously as a source of sports news. By no stretch of the imagination am I an uncritical fan of the BBC, the complete opposite would be the case. But they actually think they’re going to compete with the BBC with this sub-gutter press tripe. It is staggering to me that this guy is broadcasting with a national radio station, although many of the other criticisms of the station in this thread are equally valid.
I’ve actually thought about phoning up and pretending to be an Arsenal fan, and saying “Wenger’s got to go. Arsenal should have let Wenger retire last year. What they should have done is appointed one of the most highly regarded managers in the Premier League instead. Maybe someone who had guided an unfancied and low budgeted side such as Everton to respectable league finishes for over a decade. I'm sure by now they'd have wiped the floor with Chelsea and Manchester City and have won the title all but mathematically, don’t you reckon, Adrian?”
But I can’t be arsed, and am disinclined to pay for the phone call.
I’ve read bits of this thread with amusement. I love H & J and always listen on at least Monday and Friday, the rest of TS is almost without exception truly awful. Hopefully TS management won’t be stupid enough to ever take H & J off the air, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
However, I particularly felt compelled to mention the following.
On Monday, I heard the ‘Monday Night Club’ on 5Live. Because Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game as Arsenal manager is coming up, they did a big feature on him, spoke about the extent to which he’s transformed Arsenal, spoke about the trophyless period and gave some constructive criticism, but also mentioned all of the obvious mitigating financial circumstances which we all know about. It was a really interesting and worthwhile discussion.
I listened to H & J on Tuesday, and heard the preview to ‘Drive Time’ (it goes without saying that I didn’t listen to it). What was the highlight of ‘Drive Time’? Adrian Durham telling you how Arsene Wenger has failed in Europe. Part of a week of ‘special programmes’ focusing on the ‘Daily Arsenal’.
It is absolutely pathetic that Durham persists with this nonsense. I could understand it for a while; it was an obvious wind up tactic. But it’s got to the stage now where he’s just continuing with it because he can’t admit that he’s wrong. He can’t admit that Arsene Wenger is one of the great modern football managers, he’s done great things for Arsenal, and the first season they’ve had serious money to spend after a very testing period in which he’s balanced the books and kept them in the top four, they are probably going to win a trophy and are competing on a level footing with clubs that have spent obscene amounts of money.
When I have had the misfortune to hear Durham, and his witless sidekick who would be much better advised to try to get an IPL contract than talk an absolute cartload of manure on a subject he evidently knows nothing about, their entire footballing philosophy seems to be...if you don’t win the league or the Champions League, you’ve failed. All teams should spend money every opportunity they get. And if you don’t win a trophy every season, you should sack your manager.
Arsenal have no divine right to win the league, the only reason this is expected is because Wenger won it for them three times and raised expectations! In the first season of the Premier League, Arsenal finished tenth. They lost 16 games, more than they won, and scored the least number of goals in the division! Imagine the ‘Daily Arsenal’ back in those days! They weren’t even remotely close to winning the Premier League until Wenger won it in his first full season (in which he also won the FA Cup).
The thing that particularly amuses me is that they put this crap out on a daily basis, yet expect people to take them seriously as a source of sports news. By no stretch of the imagination am I an uncritical fan of the BBC, the complete opposite would be the case. But they actually think they’re going to compete with the BBC with this sub-gutter press tripe. It is staggering to me that this guy is broadcasting with a national radio station, although many of the other criticisms of the station in this thread are equally valid.
I’ve actually thought about phoning up and pretending to be an Arsenal fan, and saying “Wenger’s got to go. Arsenal should have let Wenger retire last year. What they should have done is appointed one of the most highly regarded managers in the Premier League instead. Maybe someone who had guided an unfancied and low budgeted side such as Everton to respectable league finishes for over a decade. I'm sure by now they'd have wiped the floor with Chelsea and Manchester City and have won the title all but mathematically, don’t you reckon, Adrian?”
But I can’t be arsed, and am disinclined to pay for the phone call.
I know it's generally true that more people with negative views on something will go to the bother of engaging in social media to complain about it rather than those who might want to be complimentary but that being said you are just yet another of the hundreds of posters we have had on here over the last couple of years that are saying you are sick to death of Durham and his pathetic anti Arsene Wenger wind-ups, great post Handjfan you are so spot on as are/were all the many many others.
It's high time they got rid of the Arsenal/Wenger guttersnipe Durham. >:(
I've just bought a new Pure Evoke Mio digital radio and am in the process of setting up all the pre-sets, as a consequence I was setting up talkSPORT and just a while ago I caught the ginger whinger saying "Harry Redknapp left Spurs in a better shaper after 2 years I hope Arsene Wenger will do the same when he leaves Arsenal" .... what is up with the guy?, can't he ever give it a rest?.
I've just bought a new Pure Evoke Mio digital radio and am in the process of setting up all the pre-sets, as a consequence I was setting up talkSPORT and just a while ago I caught the ginger whinger saying "Harry Redknapp left Spurs in a better shaper after 2 years I hope Arsene Wenger will do the same when he leaves Arsenal" .... what is up with the guy?, can't he ever give it a rest?.
Someone needs to ring in (with the patience I don't have) and tell Durham that in the same period that Redknapp took Spurs to amazing new heights apparently, Wenger won the Double with Arsenal.
TBF, HandJ fan, the show you love is not exactly pro-Arsene, Jacobs seems to hate him, and he is with a Spurs fan, who through he maybe more reasonable doesn't actually put a counter-argument. Same with Kelly today, who in the intro to the show aid "we pay tribute to Wengers 1000 games in charge, 500 of which he hasn't won anything", and they had Stewart fecking Robson on to talk about it. Amazing that such an average player gets so much airtime on TS, as their Arsenal correspondent almost. Wonder why?
Wouldn't it be good to team up Durham or Jacobs with an hardcore Arsenal supporter, bring back Tom Watt for a spell.
Also when I last looked at the site saw Calderon's comments about Arsenal and Wenger as a headline, WTF. Do they take much notice of what Calderon says on anything else.
Again it brings me back to Moyes, his time at Everton, he balanced the books just like Arsene, great. Yet he won nothing throughout, did his team move into a spanking new stadium either, did his team play great football. No. Everton had won trophies in the preceding couple of decades before Moyes took over, so why was he considered a success at Everton, and Wenger ridiculed at Arsenal?
I also have turned Durham off, but if he's seriously saying that Arsenal, with that massive new stadium won't be in better shape, than what a joke. Also 'arry well known for leaving clubs in great shape, :pand QPR doing spiffingly financially.
At least they've brought in the measured, calm and articulate Matt Holland to play off Durham's winding up, instead of Goffeh getting more wound up, shouty and Yarkshire than normal.
I know it's generally true that more people with negative views on something will go to the bother of engaging in social media to complain about it rather than those who might want to be complimentary but that being said you are just yet another of the hundreds of posters we have had on here over the last couple of years that are saying you are sick to death of Durham and his pathetic anti Arsene Wenger wind-ups, great post Handjfan you are so spot on as are/were all the many many others.
It's high time they got rid of the Arsenal/Wenger guttersnipe Durham. >:(
I've just bought a new Pure Evoke Mio digital radio and am in the process of setting up all the pre-sets, as a consequence I was setting up talkSPORT and just a while ago I caught the ginger whinger saying "Harry Redknapp left Spurs in a better shaper after 2 years I hope Arsene Wenger will do the same when he leaves Arsenal" .... what is up with the guy?, can't he ever give it a rest?.
As far as I can see, the only reason that he does it is that he can't admit that he's wrong. It would be too much of a climb down now to admit that actually Wenger has done a very good, if not flawless, job in testing circumstances, and has now built a very competitive and young squad.
It's so obvious to anyone with half a brain cell that Arsenal's trophyless period has coincided with Chelsea and Manchester City probably spending a combined total of £2 billion on players, signing on fees, etc. Wenger has done a fine job to keep the Gunners competitive. Where have Tottenham been? Or Newcastle? Or Everton? Or Villa? Or Liverpool until this season? And look where Man United are now.
By the logic of Durham's argument, Portsmouth have been a success because they won the FA Cup, although there is the minor issue that they virtually folded and are near the bottom of the bottom division now!
It just amazes me that the station let him sit there talking such abject nonsense because if I listen to H & J my radio goes off immediately when 4pm comes round. I can't be the only one.
Danny Kelly really outdid himself this morning, I tuned in to hear the Europa League draw ( it would have taken about ten seconds to read it out) and the little fat man said nobody was interested as there were no English teams left in the competition. I despair.
TBF, HandJ fan, the show you love is not exactly pro-Arsene, Jacobs seems to hate him, and he is with a Spurs fan, who through he maybe more reasonable doesn't actually put a counter-argument. Same with Kelly today, who in the intro to the show aid "we pay tribute to Wengers 1000 games in charge, 500 of which he hasn't won anything", and they had Stewart fecking Robson on to talk about it. Amazing that such an average player gets so much airtime on TS, as their Arsenal correspondent almost. Wonder why?
Yes, well Jacobs can be biased because of his Chelsea affiliation. I'm sure when it comes down to it, and I'm pretty sure I've heard him doing this, he would concede that Chelsea have won what they've won purely because of the massive financial injection from Abramovich. I have heard people in the past, when I've had the misfortune to hear 'Drive Time', make this point to Durham and he has refused to accept that this is a valid point.
Everton had won trophies in the preceding couple of decades before Moyes took over, so why was he considered a success at Everton, and Wenger ridiculed at Arsenal?
As I say, I think it is simply because Wenger has raised expectations. In the Premier League years before Wenger took over:
They finished 10th, 4th, 12th(!) and 5th. Then 3rd in Wenger's first season, then 1st in his first full season. Then they were not out of the top two until the first full season of Mourinho at Chelsea when they spent vast amounts of money, and they've been hovering around 3rd and 4th ever since. Which given the presence of City, Chelsea and Man United in the division is pretty much the best they could have hoped for. I think they've also made the CL knockout stages in 14 consecutive seasons, and have lost to Bayern Munich (x3), Barcelona (x3), AC Milan, Chelsea and Man United among their exits.
So if that's failure, there are many similar sized clubs to Arsenal who would accept failure.
He's even brought the best out of Andy Jacobs. I'm a huge fan of Paul Hawkesby but the current partnership is working fantastically well.
Its criminal that Danny Kelly doesnt get a regular/permenant live spot on TS - but unfortunately, he doesnt fit into the kind of presenter that the hierachy wants - you know, the Darren Gough/Dominic Cork/Ronnie Irani thick spud role!
Danny knows a few long words. Dont want to confuse their view of the average listener!
You are 100% correct.
Danny Kelly is also one of my favourite TS presenters.
Alvin Martin is another one who I rate highly & like Kelly, he doesn't appear to have a regular gig on the station.
It's almost as if TS have a policy of, if a presenter is articulate, knowlegdeable & popular, then don't give them a regular slot on the station.
The last time I listened regularly - and certainly the last time I actually looked forward to a Talksport show - was when Danny Kelly had an evening slot. Hawksbee and Jacobs are great, but their style does rely on a fair bit of lightweight banter and comedy. A lot of it is not particularly substatial to be fair.
No-one on TS has the mix of depth, playfulness and quirkiness of Kelly. He is probably the first presenter on the station since Tommy Boyd who can make my ears prick up with some unusual angle, or some weird fact that I've never come across before. I'm probably alone in this but I've always preferred him to his buddy Danny Baker. While the latter also has that left-field quirkiness and flashes of inspiration, I always get the impression that he's incredibly self-satisfied with a giant ego and that he loves to preen in an imaginary mirror while revelling in just how witty and quirky he is.
You're not alone, as personally I prefer Danny Kelly to Danny Baker too. We might be in a minority of two though.
While I wouldn't go along with your criticisms of Baker, I personally think that Kelly has a bit more depth to him and is more well-rounded as a broadcaster. The sensitive manner in which he handles My Sporting Life shows what he is capable of away from the enthusiastic, excitable persona we hear when he is on live shows or with Baker. Kelly is clearly far more in touch with modern football than Baker is and seems more knowledgeable and passionate about the game. I always preferred Kelly's writing about football to Baker's when the two of them used to alternate a column in Monday's The Game supplement in The Times. Nothing against Baker, but speaking as a football I just find Kelly that bit more easy to relate to than him. I don't imagine I'd be alone in that.
That's because most of the station's output is adverts !
And that's why despite this country being full of football mad people and them being a 24 hour dedicated sports station they only have 3M listeners and half of them only tuning in for a few minutes here and there throughout the day before turning back off disillusioned and disgusted because it's that cr@p.
Danny Kelly really outdid himself this morning, I tuned in to hear the Europa League draw ( it would have taken about ten seconds to read it out) and the little fat man said nobody was interested as there were no English teams left in the competition. I despair.
I really like Kelly but totally agree with you about the attitude towards the Europa League, not just on the station but in general. My club should get promoted this year, hopefully survive then improve and in time I'd love to play in the Europa League.
While I have to disagree about Kelly being better than Baker on the radio especially if Baker would go back to talking about football matters like he used to do instead of the bunkum tittle-tattle he prefers to waste his two hours on I do have to concede Carnivalist is right about Baker's giant sized ego it is massive and when I listened to his appearance on Desert Island Discs it was there for all to hear.
I kinda like Danny Kelly but I don't worship him like so many on here, his faults for me are he gabbles too much and too quickly at times, he's too easily excitable on match nights and his Spurs bias pours out all over the floor whenever Spurs are discussed but compared to most of the rest of that motley crew who broadcast from that station I guess he's David Coleman and Harry Carpenter rolled into one on that perspective.
It sounds harsh to criticise him I know when there are the likes of Quinn, Gough, Durham, Cork, Goldstein etc but I just wanted to say truthfully how I feel about him.
I just think he's alright. [when I win the Euro lottery and buyout UTV i WILL keep him on I promise]
Love Kelly much of the time. Loved him on that Channel4 show with Lisa Rogers (wouldn't mind her on Talksport tbh).
Funny hearing him on H&Js show though, because one of the criticisms I've heard constantly of Hawkbee and Jacobs, is it's a rip-off of Baker and kelly.
mind you I preferred Friday Afternoon on the Old radio five with Inverdale and Danh#ny Kelly, which was the first type of this irreverent football show, using skewed topics, and just looking for humour that I'd heard. Clare Balding did the news and sport on that, and played a big part, wonder what happened to her.....
I wonder how Danny Kelly will deal with the subject of Sol Campbell moving to Arsenal from his beloved Spurs.
Suspect he will be very professional and all that but must be hard to bring up!
The guy does seem much more reasoned and level headed that most.
I agree its a shame that teams complain about the Europa league - there are some very good sides in it still if you are interested in European football.
Even the manager at Southampton said he didn't want to be in it which I thought was a little sad given where the Saints were not so long ago.
All very well but they do disappear each Pre-season to Asia/USA etc which can hardly help to keep players fresh and fit but boosts the marketing and bank balances...
I know recently some of you have been talking about how talkSPORT have been too advert happy recently, but this morning during Geoff Peters superb 'UP THE LEAGUE' show, i think they went one step too far!!
During a piece where they were interviewing Nigel Clough, they actually played an advert over the top of Nigel for about 10 seconds.
They then cut out Nigel and carried on with the adverts!!
I know recently some of you have been talking about how talkSPORT have been too advert happy recently, but this morning during Geoff Peters superb 'UP THE LEAGUE' show, i think they went one step too far!!
During a piece where they were interviewing Nigel Clough, they actually played an advert over the top of Nigel for about 10 seconds.
They then cut out Nigel and carried on with the adverts!!
I'm glad you've brought the subject up of Geoff Peters Up The League show I was going to do it anyway, I heard the bit when they abruptly cut off Nigel Clough's interview with an advert straight over the top of it but that didn't necessarily concern me too much as these things happen from time to time. What did concern me is I tune into this very early show to catch up on all the day's fixtures in the Championship league, I want to hear who's playing who and a little team news about the teams, (not just the top 2 clubs) if any injuries, any stand out statistics we might be interested in you know this sort of thing.
Instead what I heard for the whole hour was people being interviewed from the week's Football League Awards, interviews with players from Derby County and Nottingham Forest, more news about Derby v Nottingham Forest who play today and a couple of other clubs who are currently sitting around the top of the table. Finally at [highlight]6.49[/highlight] Geoff Peters quickly garbled out as fast as he could Moose style a few of the other fixtures from the other end of the table then cut to more adverts, then come back talk more irrelevance for 3 minutes and then introduce Liverpool's comic genius Quinn and Bingham who followed at 7.00. Not what it said on the tin.
Comments
Couldn't agree more about the dreadful Drivetime show both presenters need to be shown the door quickly, frankly I can't fathom out the people who actually sit through it and listen to it every day and regarding the poor fools that pay to ring in and join in with it well I pity them that they are so easily entertained.
I'm now long past the stage of thinking Durham should be kept on for all his better work on Saturdays there would be a host of good people who could anchor 'Around The Grounds' and Durham should pay the price for all his years of wasting listeners time playing the wind-up-merchant and so too should that northern born and bred but prefers to pretend he's southern know-it-all who sits across from him.
Top post.
You are of course bang on about the job Sean Dyche is doing at Burnley I really hope they go up I'd love them back in the top flight again after all these years. It's such a shame talkSPORT are stuck in a constant loop of premier league concentration discussing the same managers and the same players over and over I'm sure it's great for the supporters of these so-called top English clubs but for the rest of it's a complete turn-off.
If ever the Premier League goes tits up and bankrupt which I think is entirely possible in the future the amount of debt most clubs are in (it would only take SKY and BT to pull out or greatly reduce what they now pay) and this station then turns to the Football League for permission to broadcast their live games it would just serve them right if the FL told them to go and get stuffed in retaliation for the total lack of coverage they have bothered giving them for these last 14 years.
I agree that this is a great post.
I hardly post here anymore as I rarely listen to TS now, it used to be my companion during the day (I'm a community nurse and listen in the car between visits all day). Now it's just gone to "hell in a hand cart" as Parry used to say. I feel that I have given the changes long enough now to review them:
Breakfast is a shambles with most of the co-hosts just fawning to Brazil all the time. Cork is a joke and I find Ginola hard to listen to, he's just not suited to radio IMO as he pauses for too long.
I cannot stand Murray not matter who the guests are, he just comes across as so very pleased with himself.
Still love H&J and loving Danny Kelly in that slot as well.
Have finally had enough of Drivetime although I do like MDL on Saturdays so would keep Durham for that.
As for the weekend......:o total drivel in the mornings. Quinn needs to lose his voice permanently, seems the only way to get rid of him
Loathe Johnny Vaughan - I repeat my Murray comment and include raging smugness and supreme dislikeability.
Not keen on Max thingy either, so uninterested I cannot remember his surname
I would like them to go back to some topical/current affairs in the mornings - relentless Premier league talk is boring.
Sorry for long post, just needed a rant as I am almost in mourning for what was my daily friend/working companion
They've only been away for four years
Crikey your right I had forgotten they got promoted about 4 years back and spent a season in the top flight before coming straight back down again well I hope this time if they go up they last longer but it's doubtful as promoted clubs these days simply can't live in that league for long (in the main anyway) such is the massive gulf between the divisions financially.
However, I particularly felt compelled to mention the following.
On Monday, I heard the ‘Monday Night Club’ on 5Live. Because Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game as Arsenal manager is coming up, they did a big feature on him, spoke about the extent to which he’s transformed Arsenal, spoke about the trophyless period and gave some constructive criticism, but also mentioned all of the obvious mitigating financial circumstances which we all know about. It was a really interesting and worthwhile discussion.
I listened to H & J on Tuesday, and heard the preview to ‘Drive Time’ (it goes without saying that I didn’t listen to it). What was the highlight of ‘Drive Time’? Adrian Durham telling you how Arsene Wenger has failed in Europe. Part of a week of ‘special programmes’ focusing on the ‘Daily Arsenal’.
It is absolutely pathetic that Durham persists with this nonsense. I could understand it for a while; it was an obvious wind up tactic. But it’s got to the stage now where he’s just continuing with it because he can’t admit that he’s wrong. He can’t admit that Arsene Wenger is one of the great modern football managers, he’s done great things for Arsenal, and the first season they’ve had serious money to spend after a very testing period in which he’s balanced the books and kept them in the top four, they are probably going to win a trophy and are competing on a level footing with clubs that have spent obscene amounts of money.
When I have had the misfortune to hear Durham, and his witless sidekick who would be much better advised to try to get an IPL contract than talk an absolute cartload of manure on a subject he evidently knows nothing about, their entire footballing philosophy seems to be...if you don’t win the league or the Champions League, you’ve failed. All teams should spend money every opportunity they get. And if you don’t win a trophy every season, you should sack your manager.
Arsenal have no divine right to win the league, the only reason this is expected is because Wenger won it for them three times and raised expectations! In the first season of the Premier League, Arsenal finished tenth. They lost 16 games, more than they won, and scored the least number of goals in the division! Imagine the ‘Daily Arsenal’ back in those days! They weren’t even remotely close to winning the Premier League until Wenger won it in his first full season (in which he also won the FA Cup).
The thing that particularly amuses me is that they put this crap out on a daily basis, yet expect people to take them seriously as a source of sports news. By no stretch of the imagination am I an uncritical fan of the BBC, the complete opposite would be the case. But they actually think they’re going to compete with the BBC with this sub-gutter press tripe. It is staggering to me that this guy is broadcasting with a national radio station, although many of the other criticisms of the station in this thread are equally valid.
I’ve actually thought about phoning up and pretending to be an Arsenal fan, and saying “Wenger’s got to go. Arsenal should have let Wenger retire last year. What they should have done is appointed one of the most highly regarded managers in the Premier League instead. Maybe someone who had guided an unfancied and low budgeted side such as Everton to respectable league finishes for over a decade. I'm sure by now they'd have wiped the floor with Chelsea and Manchester City and have won the title all but mathematically, don’t you reckon, Adrian?”
But I can’t be arsed, and am disinclined to pay for the phone call.
That's because most of the station's output is beyond parody!
I know it's generally true that more people with negative views on something will go to the bother of engaging in social media to complain about it rather than those who might want to be complimentary but that being said you are just yet another of the hundreds of posters we have had on here over the last couple of years that are saying you are sick to death of Durham and his pathetic anti Arsene Wenger wind-ups, great post Handjfan you are so spot on as are/were all the many many others.
It's high time they got rid of the Arsenal/Wenger guttersnipe Durham. >:(
I've just bought a new Pure Evoke Mio digital radio and am in the process of setting up all the pre-sets, as a consequence I was setting up talkSPORT and just a while ago I caught the ginger whinger saying "Harry Redknapp left Spurs in a better shaper after 2 years I hope Arsene Wenger will do the same when he leaves Arsenal" .... what is up with the guy?, can't he ever give it a rest?.
Someone needs to ring in (with the patience I don't have) and tell Durham that in the same period that Redknapp took Spurs to amazing new heights apparently, Wenger won the Double with Arsenal.
Wouldn't it be good to team up Durham or Jacobs with an hardcore Arsenal supporter, bring back Tom Watt for a spell.
Also when I last looked at the site saw Calderon's comments about Arsenal and Wenger as a headline, WTF. Do they take much notice of what Calderon says on anything else.
Again it brings me back to Moyes, his time at Everton, he balanced the books just like Arsene, great. Yet he won nothing throughout, did his team move into a spanking new stadium either, did his team play great football. No. Everton had won trophies in the preceding couple of decades before Moyes took over, so why was he considered a success at Everton, and Wenger ridiculed at Arsenal?
I also have turned Durham off, but if he's seriously saying that Arsenal, with that massive new stadium won't be in better shape, than what a joke. Also 'arry well known for leaving clubs in great shape, :pand QPR doing spiffingly financially.
It's so obvious to anyone with half a brain cell that Arsenal's trophyless period has coincided with Chelsea and Manchester City probably spending a combined total of £2 billion on players, signing on fees, etc. Wenger has done a fine job to keep the Gunners competitive. Where have Tottenham been? Or Newcastle? Or Everton? Or Villa? Or Liverpool until this season? And look where Man United are now.
By the logic of Durham's argument, Portsmouth have been a success because they won the FA Cup, although there is the minor issue that they virtually folded and are near the bottom of the bottom division now!
It just amazes me that the station let him sit there talking such abject nonsense because if I listen to H & J my radio goes off immediately when 4pm comes round. I can't be the only one.
As I say, I think it is simply because Wenger has raised expectations. In the Premier League years before Wenger took over:
http://www.arsenal-world.co.uk/league_history/arsenal/index.shtml
They finished 10th, 4th, 12th(!) and 5th. Then 3rd in Wenger's first season, then 1st in his first full season. Then they were not out of the top two until the first full season of Mourinho at Chelsea when they spent vast amounts of money, and they've been hovering around 3rd and 4th ever since. Which given the presence of City, Chelsea and Man United in the division is pretty much the best they could have hoped for. I think they've also made the CL knockout stages in 14 consecutive seasons, and have lost to Bayern Munich (x3), Barcelona (x3), AC Milan, Chelsea and Man United among their exits.
So if that's failure, there are many similar sized clubs to Arsenal who would accept failure.
You are 100% correct.
Danny Kelly is also one of my favourite TS presenters.
Alvin Martin is another one who I rate highly & like Kelly, he doesn't appear to have a regular gig on the station.
It's almost as if TS have a policy of, if a presenter is articulate, knowlegdeable & popular, then don't give them a regular slot on the station.
Bizarre!
That's because most of the station's output is adverts !
You're not alone, as personally I prefer Danny Kelly to Danny Baker too. We might be in a minority of two though.
While I wouldn't go along with your criticisms of Baker, I personally think that Kelly has a bit more depth to him and is more well-rounded as a broadcaster. The sensitive manner in which he handles My Sporting Life shows what he is capable of away from the enthusiastic, excitable persona we hear when he is on live shows or with Baker. Kelly is clearly far more in touch with modern football than Baker is and seems more knowledgeable and passionate about the game. I always preferred Kelly's writing about football to Baker's when the two of them used to alternate a column in Monday's The Game supplement in The Times. Nothing against Baker, but speaking as a football I just find Kelly that bit more easy to relate to than him. I don't imagine I'd be alone in that.
And that's why despite this country being full of football mad people and them being a 24 hour dedicated sports station they only have 3M listeners and half of them only tuning in for a few minutes here and there throughout the day before turning back off disillusioned and disgusted because it's that cr@p.
I really like Kelly but totally agree with you about the attitude towards the Europa League, not just on the station but in general. My club should get promoted this year, hopefully survive then improve and in time I'd love to play in the Europa League.
I kinda like Danny Kelly but I don't worship him like so many on here, his faults for me are he gabbles too much and too quickly at times, he's too easily excitable on match nights and his Spurs bias pours out all over the floor whenever Spurs are discussed but compared to most of the rest of that motley crew who broadcast from that station I guess he's David Coleman and Harry Carpenter rolled into one on that perspective.
It sounds harsh to criticise him I know when there are the likes of Quinn, Gough, Durham, Cork, Goldstein etc but I just wanted to say truthfully how I feel about him.
I just think he's alright. [when I win the Euro lottery and buyout UTV i WILL keep him on I promise]
Funny hearing him on H&Js show though, because one of the criticisms I've heard constantly of Hawkbee and Jacobs, is it's a rip-off of Baker and kelly.
mind you I preferred Friday Afternoon on the Old radio five with Inverdale and Danh#ny Kelly, which was the first type of this irreverent football show, using skewed topics, and just looking for humour that I'd heard. Clare Balding did the news and sport on that, and played a big part, wonder what happened to her.....
Suspect he will be very professional and all that but must be hard to bring up!
The guy does seem much more reasoned and level headed that most.
I agree its a shame that teams complain about the Europa league - there are some very good sides in it still if you are interested in European football.
Even the manager at Southampton said he didn't want to be in it which I thought was a little sad given where the Saints were not so long ago.
All very well but they do disappear each Pre-season to Asia/USA etc which can hardly help to keep players fresh and fit but boosts the marketing and bank balances...
During a piece where they were interviewing Nigel Clough, they actually played an advert over the top of Nigel for about 10 seconds.
They then cut out Nigel and carried on with the adverts!!
I'm glad you've brought the subject up of Geoff Peters Up The League show I was going to do it anyway, I heard the bit when they abruptly cut off Nigel Clough's interview with an advert straight over the top of it but that didn't necessarily concern me too much as these things happen from time to time. What did concern me is I tune into this very early show to catch up on all the day's fixtures in the Championship league, I want to hear who's playing who and a little team news about the teams, (not just the top 2 clubs) if any injuries, any stand out statistics we might be interested in you know this sort of thing.
Instead what I heard for the whole hour was people being interviewed from the week's Football League Awards, interviews with players from Derby County and Nottingham Forest, more news about Derby v Nottingham Forest who play today and a couple of other clubs who are currently sitting around the top of the table. Finally at [highlight]6.49[/highlight] Geoff Peters quickly garbled out as fast as he could Moose style a few of the other fixtures from the other end of the table then cut to more adverts, then come back talk more irrelevance for 3 minutes and then introduce Liverpool's comic genius Quinn and Bingham who followed at 7.00.
Not what it said on the tin.