Originally Posted by shaun_d:
“On the first point talkSPORT could have a very good Super Sunday on League Cup Final day if Chelsea go through. That would give them a triple bill of Liverpool v City, Arsenal v Everton then the final. In that scenario I'd guess Sam at Anfield as the main PL commentator and Jim at Wembley.”
Thanks for the information about the Premier League games scheduled for League Cup Final day. I'd agree with your guesses, given that Jim Proudfoot has done all four of talkSPORT's League Cup commentaries prior to the semi-finals, it would be harsh not to give him the final, and with Sam Matterface being the station's main Premier League commentator you'd expect him to do every big PL game he's able to do - even if Liverpool make the final, Arsenal v Everton is a big enough game to compensate him for not doing the final.
Given how talkSPORT seem to be equally dividing out their domestic cup ties between Jim and Sam at the moment, if Jim was to get the League Cup Final then I could see Sam getting the FA Cup Final, given that there's no guarantee they'll be doing either the Champions League or Europa League Final. It'll also be interesting to see which co-commentators they use on League Cup Final day - Stan Collymore hasn't done a single League Cup commentary so far this season, but in past years I'm sure he's co-commentated on the final despite having no involvement in their coverage of the competition prior to then.
Originally Posted by shaun_d:
“On the second point is there obvious reason for them not to do commentary on Blackburn v Swansea? On paper it fits the favoured Cup criteria of lower league team at home to Premier League and the fact its not on TV surely makes it more attractive.”
I just think it's a case of talkSPORT deciding to stick rigidly to their usual Saturday afternoon schedule, with The Warm Up with Johnny Vaughan between 11am-1pm now an established lead-in to Matchday Live. Clearly it's not contractual, it's not as if they are limited to UK-wide TV games as they covered Tottenham v Burnley just last week and from previous seasons it wouldn't appear as if they have restrictions on the number of games they can cover as appears to be the case in the early rounds of the League Cup.
Personally I think it's a poor scheduling call, I would have like to have seen them cover Blackburn v Swansea - like you I think it looks like a very appealing game on paper and that not everyone will be able to watch it on TV gives them that bit more reason for covering it. While I'm all in favour of them doing Around the Grounds rather than a commentary at 3pm tomorrow - it's understandable that they'd want to stick with the format they use on a weekly basis, which is a big USP for them - they could have easily tinkered with their schedule to accommodate commentary on the early game while retaining The Warm Up, maybe by curtailing it by half an hour to end at 12.30pm or moving it forward an hour to 10am-midday by shaving an hour off the Weekend Sports Breakfast.
Originally Posted by shaun_d:
“Finally news today that Mark Pougatch joins ITV to present Champions League and internationals. Jonathan Wall has tweeted that he will continue to host Saturdays for 5 Live but he will need replacing for some midweeks. Hopefully Mark Chapman will take over CL and England. A way off i know but looking forward to Euro 2016 I wonder who 5 Lives main presenter will be if Pougatch is with ITV and Chapman MOTD. Jonathan Overend seems to be the next football host but I don't think he's anywhere near the standard of the 2 Marks. Maybe they look elsewhere, maybe even a direct swap and have Chile's on 5 Live Sport? Or Matt Smith?”
I'd guess it'll be a straight swap between Pougatch and Chapman in Champions League and international weeks, maybe with Chapman yielding either the Monday or Friday edition of 5 Live Sport on those weeks to lighten his workload if it's deemed necessary. Bringing in Adrian Chiles and Matt Smith into 5 Live Sport would be a good move in my opinion, given the lack of early Premier League commentary games their Sunday sports coverage can be a bit uninspiring prior to 4pm on weekends when there isn't something like an F1 Grand Prix or international or European rugby union, so bringing in one of those two to give their studio programme a bit of spark prior to the commentary would be a good move in my opinion.