Originally Posted by Jeffmister:
“I highly doubt that in October of the year before a package which begins August/early September the following year that BT has set in stone any presenters or plans for that matter for how they plan to cover the Champions/Europa Leagues. As we know, plenty things can change in the broadcasting world in that time-span.
Sure if this time next year Richardson isn't part of BT's coverage then they deserve to be roundly criticized for not using one of their best presenters. Although I think there are some here (not saying popeye your sources are right or wrong) who are jumping the gun on assuming what or how the coverage will be like without seeing it...”
I would totally agree with this. They've got plenty of time to hire pundits and presenters. They've been able to set up a whole channel from scratch within twelve months so they've certainly got plenty of time to find pundits, work out an editorial direction and so on. I recall people in this thread suggesting BT would never be able to show every game because they don't have a red button. Now they do. They might want to try a different direction with their Champions League coverage - they already have a range of programming on the channel from serious debate like the European Football Show to comedy with Baker and Kelly. But there's absolutely ages to go.
Originally Posted by BFGArmy:
“Yesterday for me summed up how far Sky's best are ahead of BT's "best" - Sky had Ed Chamberlin, Gary Neville, Graeme Sounness, Martin Tyler and Alan Smith - BT instead had Jake Humphrey, Steve McManaman, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher and Michael Owen.
It'll be a real decline going from Martin Tyler, Jeff Stelling, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville to the likes of Jake, Savage and Michael Owen on big CL nights.”
I think this is cherrypicking a bit, that is a decent line-up for Sky but they certainly don't have that for every match. You could say it would be a real bonus going from Alan Parry (who I don't mind, but he gets lots of criticism), Jamie Redknapp, Paul Merson and Dwight Yorke.
Yes, Paul Scholes has been a bit boring on BT but that's the price you pay when trying to blood new pundits. He could have been absolutely brilliant like Neville and Carragher, certainly when he appeared on Sky last season he looked a good bet to be an interesting pundit. That might still be the case if he improves (and he still has a year to improve). Darren Fletcher isn't BT's senior commentator, either, you should be comparing Martin Tyler to Ian Darke which I don't think is that great a step down. Savage may be an irritant but to me, rather him than Paul Merson.
And while the post of suggested presenters up there is a bit daft, the fact Hayley McQueen is doing the Champions League on Sky suggests you hardly need to be a grizzled veteran to do it (especially as Daniel Mann and Bill Leslie are regularly commentating on English teams' matches, which they don't in the Premier League). I think the importance of the Champions League is being overstated a bit. If Jake and the current BT personnel are considered suitable to present Liverpool vs Arsenal, why on earth are they not suitable to present Liverpool vs Ludogorets?