National News Joey Barton

[Sheik djibouti]

Comment yes. Commentate no. Two different things.

Agreed, which is why I specifically mentioned both. Commentating well on a live game is an art and one that requires clear concise and descriptive communication skills, which is why those of a journalistic bent make up the vast majority of them - communicaton is kinda their bread and butter!

Much as they are OUFC institutions, I don't think PRB and Nick add a great deal that anyone else couldn't say. Rosie in particular is a little hamstrung in what he can say on air, being a club employee and all . . . .

That said, doesn't Nick Harris commentate on motorsport (or used to) . . . .can't say I've ever listened but the boring processional nature must make it much easier for him, even if the names don't

 

[foghorn]

Agreed, which is why I specifically mentioned both. Commentating well on a live game is an art and one that requires clear concise and descriptive communication skills, which is why those of a journalistic bent make up the vast majority of them - communicaton is kinda their bread and butter!

Much as they are OUFC institutions, I don't think PRB and Nick add a great deal that anyone else couldn't say. Rosie in particular is a little hamstrung in what he can say on air, being a club employee and all . . . .

That said, doesn't Nick Harris commentate on motorsport (or used to) . . . .can't say I've ever listened but the boring processional nature must make it much easier for him, even if the names don't

I know Rosie and Nick aren't perfect, but I cut them a lot of slack just because of who they are ("And Jeremy Charles has brought the Milk Cup to Oxford", etc). And while their delivery may not be Premier League standard, I actually think they do make some incisive comments sometimes (NH's post-Coventry comments were very on the money, from recollection). But, like anyone else, I'm probably guilty of hearing what I want to hear. Jerome and Nathan both top notch, of course. Especially Nathan's puns.

 

[Marked Ox]

Agreed, which is why I specifically mentioned both. Commentating well on a live game is an art and one that requires clear concise and descriptive communication skills, which is why those of a journalistic bent make up the vast majority of them - communicaton is kinda their bread and butter!

Much as they are OUFC institutions, I don't think PRB and Nick add a great deal that anyone else couldn't say. Rosie in particular is a little hamstrung in what he can say on air, being a club employee and all . . . .

That said, doesn't Nick Harris commentate on motorsport (or used to) . . . .can't say I've ever listened but the boring processional nature must make it much easier for him, even if the names don't

Nick Harris did. Worked on MotoGP and was excellent. Understood the paddock, the off track and on track situations. Also, ironically had no trouble with tricky names.

Definitely not processional when you have Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi actually squabbling whilst racing. Or Romano Fenati leaning across and putting another rider's brakes on when they are at full speed.

 

[SteMerritt]

Nick Harris did. Worked on MotoGP and was excellent. Understood the paddock, the off track and on track situations. Also, ironically had no trouble with tricky names.

And he did all of this without ever having having competed at elite MotoGP level? Surely that's not possible...

 

[Marston Road yellow]

Get the feeling this guy thinks his work skill set and everything is better than any woman, and that he doesn’t want to share the men’s price of the pie with the women……

 

[unification]

The simple answer is audience relatability. As good as Hargreaves, McAnuff etc may be as pundits, they will be a very long way down the list compared to more recognisable/relatable faces and former "club legends"/Panini sticker album icons, who can actually string a couple of sentences together.

That is why better pundits will not get those gigs. The TV bosses have to make sure that there is something that draws a proportion of their target audience in and there's nothing better than an, icon watched from the terraces whilst supporting said club 20 years ago, to achieve that. The fact that they may be utter dogshit as a pundit is largely glossed over.

I would suggest that female pundits and commentators are being increasingly used because that also chimes with a significant and growing demographic of the viewing audience and the biggest growth area in the sport.

It is the same in many, many sports and it's not going to change, no matter how much some wish Saint and Greavsie were still ruling the roost

Regarding audience relatability, I would also add in that how Sky and other PL broadcasters wish to present their coverage of the PL.

That said, not every broadcaster wishes to stay in their lane in who they choose to cover matches at different levels. Switch on the BBC and you have Martin Keown* covering Cray Valley Paper Mills v Charlton in the FA Cup. He never sullied his career my playing below the second tier and yet here he was covering football at levels far below where he would have played. Also, Setanta's (RIP) coverage of the Conference had Paul 'the Party Animal' Parker as their Conference 'expert'. He played no more than a few months outside of the PL/EFL.

Broadcasters get who they can get or get someone relatable to the audience who is watching and to expand that audience. Thierry Henry offering punditry on Bromley v Maidenhead may be interesting but he wouldn't be relatable to those opting to watch NL football.

*I watched his dog have a s**t in Summertown the other day. Martin Keown did clean up after it so no issues there.

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

It is the same in many, many sports and it's not going to change, no matter how much some wish Saint and Greavsie were still ruling the roost

There was no need to drag Saint and Greavsie into this.

If you have to lay into anyone, surely Andy Townsends tactics truck would make more sense

 

[holdsteady]

Watched a compilation of Saint and Greavsie on ITV 4 just before Xmas, loved every minute of it.

 

[OUFCGav]

Which ones are these then? Not on the channels I have watched, so thats Sky, BT, ITV, BBC and Amazon, must be on a channel I don't watch. The one who did the BBC scores coverage on Saturday afternoon seemed like she had never heard of half the lower league teams playing in it let alone the players.

People involved in production for BBC and BTSport.

 

[Eric Blair]

Regarding audience relatability, I would also add in that how Sky and other PL broadcasters wish to present their coverage of the PL.

That said, not every broadcaster wishes to stay in their lane in who they choose to cover matches at different levels. Switch on the BBC and you have Martin Keown* covering Cray Valley Paper Mills v Charlton in the FA Cup. He never sullied his career my playing below the second tier and yet here he was covering football at levels far below where he would have played. Also, Setanta's (RIP) coverage of the Conference had Paul 'the Party Animal' Parker as their Conference 'expert'. He played no more than a few months outside of the PL/EFL.

Broadcasters get who they can get or get someone relatable to the audience who is watching and to expand that audience. Thierry Henry offering punditry on Bromley v Maidenhead may be interesting but he wouldn't be relatable to those opting to watch NL football.

*I watched his dog have a s**t in Summertown the other day. Martin Keown did clean up after it so no issues there.

I've got my own Martin Keown story. As a stupid, immature tw*t of a 13 year old I was watching Palace v Everton when MK played for Everton. He came to collect a ball for a corner and I kept shouting "you're ugly, ugleeee" at him. He looked up at me and bared his teeth. I absolutely pooed myself (metaphorically although I would have forgiven myself if it was literally as well) and I swear I have never abused a player of any side since. I grew up about ten years that day. I can still remember that glare. And if I was standing next to my younger self that day I would have given that 13 year old lad a clip round the ear.

 

[Grumpy Git]

Barton is a thick scouse thug. He disgustingly compares two prominent female pundits to two of England's most famous serial killers, Fred and Rosemary West in his original tweet. But fails to remember his own brother was jailed for life alongside his cousin Paul Taylor for the racist murder of 18-year-old Anthony Walker with an ice axe in Huyton in 2005.
What a family!

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

Barton is a thick scouse thug. He disgustingly compares two prominent female pundits to two of England's most famous serial killers, Fred and Rosemary West in his original tweet. But fails to remember his own brother was jailed for life alongside his cousin Paul Taylor for the racist murder of 18-year-old Anthony Walker with an ice axe in Huyton in 2005.
What a family!

Am I being slow with a simile or metaphor…but why did he compare them to the wests?

 

[Grumpy Git]

Am I being slow with a simile or metaphor…but why did he compare them to the wests?

I think he was attempting to suggest they were murdering the commentary.