Enjoyed Sky's coverage of Spurs vs. Liverpool today. Simon Thomas has settled quite quickly into his new role and worked well with Graeme and Jamie in the studio both engaged very well with him.
Part of me was wondering if they might put Jamie C on this one after his debut on the 3pm last week, I thought he was excellent for a first go and clearly has potential to grow in the role, wouldn't complain if he was used on some games. That said, I'd never complain about Alan Smith on co-commentary excellent as always and I think is one of the best co-commentators out there at the minute. Tyler also for some reason sounds quite refreshed this season and produced another great commentary this afternoon, he doesn't seem to drone on like he did a bit at times last season.
I actually quite like 'three-up-top' feature they seem to be utilizing on the bigger games. It is far more nuanced and better deployed than the through-fare or awkward moment where non of the three knows whose talking you sometimes get on BT. On Sky, where it is only occasionally and the person is invited in at a appropriate moment I actually think it adds something to the commentary and helps create a big game feel. Jamie Redknapp actually was quite good, I thought his analysis of Tottenham's goal was quite well-developed and considered. He does get a lot of stick on here at times and while I wouldn't want him as the co-commentator or alone/with a weak pundit on a game, he can make a meaningful contribution, especially if part of a strong panel where the pressure is not him to keep him going or like today where his contributions are only are so often and he doesn't won out of things to say. I hope Sky do this, but save it for the big games only so the novelty doesn't ware off. Over time, it would be nice to see Henry and Souness have a go too. I mentioned the other week, I think it'd work well it not always being Cara if this role is used as it allows them to use their best pundits in the studio at times too.