Ian Wright (and TV pundits in general)

[Roadend]

That's him, Haven't heard him but I hope he doesn't "Welcome welcome welcome" us to Germany each game.

[Pauro 76]

That's him, Haven't heard him but I hope he doesn't "Welcome welcome welcome" us to Germany each game.

or 'havin it large'.... the Irish version of Tim Westwood he was...

[Jerry The Saint]

didnt he used to work for TV3? and isnt he ex 2FM DJ Michael MacNamara's (Mickey Mac) young fella? fair play to him...

And he used a similar fake accent as his da's when working on TV3 - "Danny Mehhphy with the ball etc." so he's been preparing for the BBC gig for a while. The comical part is that his real-life voice is very thickly Limerick-accented. At least Craig Doyle went to Blackrock College so he has an excuse for sounding the way he does.:)

Mini-Mickey-Mac is guaranteed his place in commentary history for both his "Cunny Kenningham" gaffe and the legendary post-9/11 moment when he was surprised at the amount of injury time being played "The trainers weren't on the pitch at all… but of course the referee does have to take into account the minute's silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in America..."


By the by, what's the deal with cricketers taking on the punditry gig - Phil Tufnell on that crappy UK Gold station and Warney doing the Brazil game:confused: RTE need to get Ed Joyce in there to put manners on the rest of the panel.

[OwlsFan]

I heard that. He also said that it was disgusting that the Scotland fan interviewed wasnt supporting England and if he ever was to meet him he would have some very serious words to say. He's also one of the worst offenders for bias towards England. Basically,a right plonker and as you say it must have been a very sheltered life in Ulster.

Yep, he was going to have some very harsh words with the man from Scotland if he ever met him. My money would be on the Scotsman :D

[OwlsFan]

A couple of things
1) This harping on about Bill and the fact he doesn't contradict the lads, would you mind explaining to me how this essentially non-football background person is supposed to contradict panelsists who have been years in the game? What utter nonsese. He's not there to give his opinion and I wouldn't want it either, this is why I don't like Linekar as a presenter, granted he knows his stuff, but he doesn't ask questions that lead to debate, because he can't. .

What is "essentially a non football man" doing chairing the programme then. In any walk of life a chair person usually knows and understands the topic the meeting is about. Otherwise the chair person is a waste of time. And after Sven's comments about hoping to beat Sweden he mutters "I don't think you'll beat them this time anyway". Very professional.


2) The scoffing at the England post match interviews, I scoffed at them myself. They were blatantly ignoring the fact they were absoultely awful, did not have the guts to admit it, but instead spoke about sticking to their gameplan. Why on earth shouldn't the panel cut to the chase and call these interviews for what they were, a load of tosh.

You may well have scoffed at them. However, you are not on the national broadcaster's football panel. Jeering and scoffing are all very well for a supporter but hardly for so-called analysts. Laughing Bill's only interest seems to be to create a bit of controversy and have the viewers tuning in - and this seems to be working. It's probably like a feeding frenzy when you have Laughing Bill and the sharks together - they just want to add more and more nonsense and unprofessionalism to get the biggest reaction. Any insult will do.....

[Schumi]

I've taken to turning the sound off on RTE and listening to the Radio 5 commentary instead, much better.

[Roadend]

What is "essentially a non football man" doing chairing the programme then. In any walk of life a chair person usually knows and understands the topic the meeting is about. ..

Errr.... Look at every station we see covering the World Cup, of all 4 stations, Linekar is the only presenter to have been involved in Football. Why is it any sort of surprise when someone who hasn't been involved in football is a presenter, Bill included.

[OwlsFan]

Gabby Yorath UTV. Brought up in the game with her father a Welsh international and a former manager of Sheffield Wednesday :D

Laughing Bill O'Herlihy - a marketing executive who has allowed Drunkphy to vent his prejudices against Charlton, McCarthy, English soccer, League of Ireland soccer and incorrect predictions for 18 years almost without contradiction, and indeed mostly support, to the entertainment of the great unwashed. I would say O'H is similar to Richard Keys (SKY) who might perhaps be even worse when it comes to having his head up Andy Gray's nether reaches.

Someday, when Drunkphy contradicts himself yet again, I pray that O'H will say: "but you predicted on your radio show this morning that England would be a good bet for the World cup because they have class players (D's words) like Gerrard and Lampard".

The thing is McCoist and Wright are the UK's versions of Dumpy but I am not paying a licence fee to watch them.

[NeilMcD]

Owls fan there is more than you paying a licence fee. The majority of people seem to prefer RTEs coverage and enjoy it so tough luck is what I say. If you dont like him watching something else or dont pay your licence fee and get rid of your TV. The majority of people on here and on various vox pops etc dont agree with Dunphy but enjoy how he stirs up debate.

[beautifulrock]

As well as the great coverage, RTE has also got Apres Match pure class. See here http://www.rte.ie/sport/worldcup/apresmatch.html and click on Football Focus one for a fantastic parody of Gary and Lawro. The Your on Sky sports is worth watching for a fine example of how Terry Venners comes across

[Roadend]

Gabby Yorath UTV. Brought up in the game with her father a Welsh international and a former manager of Sheffield Wednesday :D

.

She replaced her dolls with subbutteo men

I certainly don't take Dumpy with anything more than a pinch of salt as I know he's a bitter bitter man who loves controversy.

[osgood was good]

Bill o H is an absolute shambles . Bill and football are not even on nodding terms and how RTE can leave him there is a disgrace . He knows nothing about the game , has no passion for it , he's not qualified in the art of talking anything remotely intelligent regarding any incidents , has his questions prepared for him by the panel [ thats official ] , struggles to pay attention to whats going on , and his constant use of the following phrases ''Talk us through this one John '' or ''lets have a look at it now '' or You made the point Eamon '' .
So who do you replace him with ? Peter [ not a clue ] Collins , Ger Canning [ actually forget Canning , im takin the **** ] , so Who ?? Answers on a postcard to Patsy Mcgowan .

[eirebhoy]

It would be nothing without Bill. I had a great time last night laughing at him. :)

[NeilMcD]

She replaced her dolls with subbutteo men

I certainly don't take Dumpy with anything more than a pinch of salt as I know he's a bitter bitter man who loves controversy.


Not sure he is bitter the guy is a millionaire, lucky ****er.

[OwlsFan]

It's a pity that Collins is such a plank as he does know about football. I met him at a party once and I had a good chat about soccer, Drunkphy etc etc

What about the guy who does Setanta and Today FM in the evening (name eludes me) ?

Last night the panel was on their best behaviour although they were all geared up to have a laugh at Sven's interview and there was only time for 1 sentence. The disappointment was palpable.

Bill predicted that England would stuff Sweden (I don't think he believed it for a minute) and Drunkphy predicted an England win because of "the class of player they have". The last programme he scoffed at the class of English player and said they were over hyped so plus ca change there. Brady predicted a no contest and Giles used his favourite phrase "a poor Premiership game".

The interesting part was when Giles and Souness had a discussion about England's lack of a creative midfield player and how Lampard and Gerrard liked to play off the forwards rather than the other way round - Drunkphy looked all at sea that there was a reall football discussion going on and could only utter the truism "Rooney is important to England". Wow, as Laughing Bill would say, thanks for that "insightful" comment.

Then we closed with Brady telling us it would be a "huge story" Rooney's petulance at being taken off (a brief scan of the papers hasn't shown any headline to that effect). Giles and Souness said no doubt Sven had promised him a full 90 minutes and managers shouldn't make such promises - however, this was only conjecture on their part that they used as a stick (an appropriate word for Sven) to beat the English manager.

UTV was good with Pearce and Allardyce but alas they also had Venables - how some Irish people wanted him as our manager I'll never know. Apres Match have killed him like poor old Frank S (is he getting a gig any where for the WC ?).

Thanks as ever for the "insightful" comments.

[Roadend]

Neil, I refer you to his outburst against Quinn and that journo.

[NeilMcD]

That journo is a **** and a lot of his article verge on racism and anti irish so fair play to Dunphy for having a go at him and it was great TV, I have never laughed so much. I also think Quinn is a **** also.

[NeilMcD]

I thought RTEs coverage last night was top class, their analylsis of the game was informative and it was a good healthy debate on various issues. Owls fan you really need to stop watching RTE as you seem to hate it so much. Why do you put yourself through so much pain. I dont watch ITV cause I think their coverage is rubbish. Are you a sado masochist.

[OwlsFan]

I thought RTEs coverage last night was top class, their analylsis of the game was informative and it was a good healthy debate on various issues.

The only interesting "debate" was Giles and Souness on England's lack of a creative midfielder which left Drunkphy all at sea. That was excellent. The rest was incorrect predictions and obvious stuff about Rooney and Beckam's being ineffectual.


I dont watch ITV cause I think their coverage is rubbish.

Very strange statement. How do you know it's rubbish if you don't watch it :p



Are you a sado masochist.

I follow Sheffield Wednesday - does that answer your question ?

[Roadend]

Just on your point about predictions Owls, I suppose all the ITV sages went for a draw?

[joeSoap]

I feel sorry for Souness at times...here he is, like him or loathe him, a legendary footballer sitting there with other legends such as Giles and Brady offering good constructive analysis and opinion when out of nowhere this skeletal like figure beside him starts roaring absolute muck. Souness was probably muttering under his breath "Who the hell let the janitor in here??"

[Roadend]

You see Dumpy on occassion seeking acceptence from Souness for his comments, which does make me laugh.

[CraftyToePoke]

"Who the hell let the janitor in here??"

pity isnt something Souness inspires in me to be honest joe, he's far more likely to have been muttering ''dont kill him, dont kill Dunphy on live tv Greame'' while his feet twitched uncontrollably off camera;)

[Jerry The Saint]

Billo praising Cambiasso's goal: "That was some goal wasn't it John, 24 players involved...":D

The obvious solution to improve RTE's coverage - get rid of Bill and bring in Pat Dolan as Anchorman! He knows the game, he's learnt the trade at Setanta and he won't be afraid to put the lads back in their box.

"Would it be fair to say, Eamon, that you're talking out of your arse?"

[Roadend]

I find it funny that Bill gets blamed for the analysts take on a game. "Would it be fair........" Open ended question that leads to the pundit saying yes/no because yadda yadda... Hardly Bill's fault if they give an answer you don't like.

[superfrank]

The obvious solution to improve RTE's coverage - get rid of Bill and bring in Pat Dolan as Anchorman! He knows the game, he's learnt the trade at Setanta and he won't be afraid to put the lads back in their box.
No way, Dolan's place is as a pundit not as the anchorman. He just can't do it.

[eirebhoy]

The interesting part was when Giles and Souness had a discussion about England's lack of a creative midfield player and how Lampard and Gerrard liked to play off the forwards rather than the other way round - Drunkphy looked all at sea that there was a reall football discussion going on and could only utter the truism "Rooney is important to England". Wow, as Laughing Bill would say, thanks for that "insightful" comment.

I don't agree with that at all. Dunphy seems to be doing more research than any of the lads on RTE and has actually impressed me. For example, Souness said the German central defence is very young and Dunphy was able to tell him the ages of the 2 players. It was Dunphy who actually started the debate about England needing an Alonso type playmaker last week and Souness agreed.

[tetsujin1979]

I dont watch ITV cause I think their coverage is rubbish
I flicked over to ITV when RTE went for a break last night. Allardyce and Pearce were both pretty good, pointing out where Sweden had let space for Cole's goal, etc. Then it came to Venables. My God, the man never uses one sentence when 7 will do. It took him about 5 minutes to say that Gerrard obviously wanted to get on the pitch (a top class player wanting to play in the world cup?? Never!!) that his interception on the line was vital at the time (every interception on the line is vital) and that his goal was well taken. Flicking back over to RTE Brady disected the move, showed how Cole had taken a step back to give Gerrard and himself more time, how he timed the pass, and got it over the defence, but down for Gerrard to head. Made Venables look an amateur

how some Irish people wanted him as our manager I'll never know
I wasn't aware anyone wanted him as Ireland boss, there was outcry on the board when he was linked with the post

[joeSoap]

So....getting back to punditry. Wht would your ideal panel be. Mix up the channels.

Mine would be:

Host(s): Tim Lovejoy & Helen Chmberlain. Both know their footie, nd Helens easy on the eye.;)

Panellists: John Giles (when objective, he is the best round). Gordon Strachan(Humourous) and Alan Hansen.

Although, an alterntive to Tim & Helen would be Podge & Rodge:D

[OwlsFan]

The panel was good last night without the presence of the malevolent influence. Enjoyed the chat about what constituted a "great player". Giles still couldn't resist though having a dig at the English game. For someone who makes his living out of it, it is strange. He said the Hol vs Arg game was the worst he's seen so far but still preferred it to the Eng vs Swe game :confused:

Pearce on ITV said the Dutch had gone full throttle to hold the Argies who were at half pace and the 4 bookings would support that theory. The RTE panel thought the Dutch were also at half pace. I am not so sure. Van Nettlesoup might have been - the rest were putting in the effort.

[NeilMcD]

So Owls fan are you saying that because he earns his money from commenting on the English game he is then obliged not to be critical of it. Surely he is there to express his informed opinion. Whether you or I agree with that is meaningless. I would hate if pundits started changing their view due to the fact of how and where they earn their money.

[Reality Bites]

I thought Brady and Souness exposed Gile's Old-school views as being out-dated and not relevant to the Modern game, perhaps at 65 Giles is getting on a bit and his views of "things weren't like that in my day when i played for Leeds" can not be taken too seriously these days.. His view on Riqueleme were ridiculous.. The Argie No.10 is a class act a playmaker who is there to get the ball hold possession and make things happen which he does beautifully at time.. Mascherano is there to break up play and tackle do the dirty stuff not Riqueleme, Giles failed to see this as blatant as it was,, Brady and Souness were bang on in correcting this short-sighted view!

[Reality Bites]

I thought Brady and Souness exposed Gile's Old-school views as being out-dated and not relevant to the Modern game, perhaps at 65 Giles is getting on a bit and his views of "things weren't like that in my day when i played for Leeds" can not be taken too seriously these days.. His view on Riqueleme were ridiculous.. The Argie No.10 is a class act a playmaker who is there to get the ball hold possession and make things happen which he does beautifully at time.. Mascherano is there to break up play and tackle do the dirty stuff not Riqueleme, Giles failed to see this as blatant as it was,, Brady and Souness were bang on in correcting this short-sighted view!

[NeilMcD]

Not so sure its as simple as that If you look at the Leeds team of the 60s and 70s you could argue that Bremner is there to break up the play and Giles to create. But Giles had a great work ethic also. If you bring it to more modern times Keane at Utd was there to break up the play and scholes to create. However Scholes had a great work ethic also. My understanding is that Giles was arguing that just because you are the flair player, does not mean you cannot put in the hard graft also. The 2 issues are not contradictory and in Giles view you can do both if you want to be a world class player. Maradone was a classic example of this. I think its rather simplistic to say one player takckles and works hard while the other creates and passess the ball but does not work to get it back.

[superfrank]

Dunphy seems to be doing more research than any of the lads on RTE and has actually impressed me.
Some of Dunphy's research is thorough but other is just crap. Anytime Bill asks him what such and such a league is like i.e. USA last week, he says "Ah it's terrible Bill." He gives no explanation. Also I'm thoroughly convinced he hasn't watch Serie A in a good few years because he always comes out with this "too defensive" drivel.

[OwlsFan]

So Owls fan are you saying that because he earns his money from commenting on the English game he is then obliged not to be critical of it. Surely he is there to express his informed opinion. Whether you or I agree with that is meaningless. I would hate if pundits started changing their view due to the fact of how and where they earn their money.

There is an old adage which says you don't bite the hand that feeds you. He never resists an opportunity to have a go at the Premiership. In fact he has a go even when no one else mentions it. I suspect he resents the huge amount of money which average players, far less talented than him, make in the game today. I don't expect him not to express his opinion - I just don't understand why in a game between Hol vs Arg, he feels he once again has to have a dig at the English game and make a contradictory statement that the "worst game in the tournament so far" was better than the English game the previous night.

It is interesting the way he explains things to Laughing Bill as if he was a schoolboy - probably necessary though.

[Roadend]

On the point of Riquelme, they are all about Ronaldinho who never tracks back, yet for Riquelme to do the same makes him less of a player.:confused:

Owls fan, again The EPL is Giles only frame of reference, its the only reason he is always drawing comparisons between WC and EPL matches.

[NeilMcD]

Giles had a go at Ronaldinhio for not tracking back also so I think he is consistant there.

In relation to not biting the hand that feeds you. Well lets say a journalist goes to the Iraqi War and is kept safe by the American Army but while in Iraq sees the American Army comit some terrible crimes. Should they report it or not bite the hand that feeds them.

I think Giles job is to express his opinion, Whether you or I agree with it is not the point. As Roadend says the Premiership is his only frame of reference along with Champions League. Here he sees a failure by the Premiership player, esp the English one to keep a hold of the ball and retain posession. This will cost England the tournament in my view.


Also I have heard Giles speak about money and he is totally in support of the players on this one. In fact he spoke at length about this and how he despied a lot of Premiership Chairman and Old 1st Division Chairman and that the players are correct to get their value and worth. That does not mean they should not try and put the effort in for their clubs.

[OwlsFan]

The point I made about biting the hand that feeds you, and your analogy with the war in Iraq is ridiculous, is why keep biting when no one else is mentioning the hand and the hand isn't even on the menu :eek: It's like your journalist in Iraq reporting on the war in Afghanistan rather than what's going on in front of his eyes in Bagdad .

England vs Sweden is not the Premiership so why mention that game ? He said the Arg vs Hol game was the worst yet and still says it was better than the Eng vs Hol game. Contradictory nonsense and just another unnecessary slap at England.

[NeilMcD]

I was responding to your general point which you have made a few times in that Giles is been critical of the Premiership despite earning his money from it. I was disagreeing with you and I think thats a flawed ideology that one must be in support of something that funds you financially. I think the journalists inbedded in the American invasion of Iraq is a good analogy but on a different level and much more serious.

Of Course Giles makes mistakes the guy is on the TV every day. I am sure you and I go through are whole day making mistakes when talking. But we dont have millions of people watching our every word. THe point I was argue is that the general points that Giles makes are pretty good. He does make the odd gaff like calling Costa Rica, Costa Rico and Puerto Rico and so on. This happens and no big deal. It could be worse, he coudl do a Kelly Daglish and say that Ghana are about to become the 1st African team to qualify for the 2nd Round in the World Cup.


I do think its a bub bear with Giles of the lack of passing qualify in the Premiership, he does harp on about it too much I would agree. However I dont agree that he should not bite the hand that feeds you. In fact I think life is far more interesting if you do bite the hand that feeds you. That is how unions are formed it is how dissent is formed and it is how a true democracy works.

[tetsujin1979]

Just back to Ian Wright for a second, himself, Leonardo and one of the studio pundits, think it was Adrian Chiles were having a kickabout on one of the pitches. Leonardo flicks the ball up, does a few keepy-uppy style tricks and flicks it to Chiles. He does about 2 keep-uppys and flicks it to Wright. Who promptly yells "'Ave it" and wellies the ball down the pitch. Leonardo looked like he thought Wright was nuts!

[LeixlipRed]

Just back to Ian Wright for a second, himself, Leonardo and one of the studio pundits, think it was Adrian Chiles were having a kickabout on one of the pitches. Leonardo flicks the ball up, does a few keepy-uppy style tricks and flicks it to Chiles. He does about 2 keep-uppys and ficks it to Wright. Who promptly yells "'Ave it" and wellies the ball down the pitch. Leonardo looked like he thought Wright was nuts!

The man's like that big fat kid who always just wellied the ball over the neighbours wall when you were a kid. You hated him for it too. The guy's a fool

[joeSoap]

Ok he is a fool, an idiot, and possibly the most annoying pundit of all time....BUT....You can't take away from his record on the pitch. He was one hell of a striker. A dirty c**t, but fairly lethal around the goalmouth..

[OwlsFan]

Ok he is a fool, an idiot, and possibly the most annoying pundit of all time....BUT....You can't take away from his record on the pitch. He was one hell of a striker. A dirty c**t, but fairly lethal around the goalmouth..

Drunkphy was lethal around the goalmouth (emphasis on mouth) :eek: ;) ?

[cheifo]

I think Martin O'Neill has fallen in love with Leonardo.Think I am joking? ,watch it you'll see.:eek: :D

[geysir]

England vs Sweden is not the Premiership so why mention that game ? He said the Arg vs Hol game was the worst yet and still says it was better than the Eng vs Hol game. Contradictory nonsense and just another unnecessary slap at England.

Owls, a bit of a Gilesism creeping in there :)

[Dodge]

Migght as well give my tuppence worth

RTE; Giles is brilliant at analysing games as they happen. His knowledge of world football isn't great but he can see everything on the pitch. Brady and Souness are by far the best things on football TV. KNow their ball, can read the game, criticise when neccesary but not OTT IMO. Dunphy's a fool but can be entertaining. Still get the feeling he'll compare anybody to Keane, Brady, Giles or Souness. Cunningham and Irwin are OK but a bot bland. Kudos to Cunningham for saying he'd give out to one of his players if an oppuntunity came up to get a penalty and he didn't take it. Collins isn't great and I hate his midatlantic drawl. O'Herlihy is shocking. All the match commentators are brutal, Hamilton being the worst. Agree with the earlier criticisms of Alkin and his (b)latent racism.

BBC; Commentators are all good. Co-commentators range from the annoying Lawrenson to the surprisingly OK McCarthy. Mark Bright is the blandest man on TV. Apart from Lineker obviously. His attempts at comedy would put RTE 90's attempts in Seinfeld company. Hanson doesn't care, either does Strachan, either does O'Neill. At least you get the feeling that O'Neill knows something about the game. Ian Wright is a joke. Leonardo is good but totally patronised. Desailly looks lost.

ITV; David Pleat is very good. Analyses the game well and doesn't get involved in Tyldesly's hype. Peter Drury is usually OK but has been poor so far. The highlights guy (Matt something or other) is a good presenter. Everyone else shouldn't be allowed near TV, particularly McCoist and Townsend. I think Ruud Guillit is with them but I haven't seen him. He was excellent on Sky's CL coverage so unless McCoist scrambled his brain I'd expect the same. Gabby Yorath (or whatver) has aged badly. I can see make up lines and can't get past them.

My "dream panel" would be; Matt Somethingorother from ITV as presenter. Brady and Souness as pundits (nobody needs 3). Commentator would be Barry Davies (bring him in from his lesser sports hell) and Co Commentator would be David Pleat.

[OwlsFan]

Yes, despite what Pleat did to Wednesday, I think he isn't a bad co-commentator and that's what he should have stayed doing instead of attempting to run Yorkshire's finest ;) in to the ground . Graham Taylor is ok as well.

I think Hamilton must be close to being the worst commentator aided by the moaning Houghton giving out about the ref (these are RTE's premiere selection). Hamilton gets why the free is given wrong about 30% of the time and assumes once a team takes the lead, that's it.

ANyone hear the RTE commentator for the Croat vs Oz game (Gabriel Egan ?), first of all only on the 3rd replay picking up that Kewell's goal might be offside and then questioning whether he (the scorer :eek: ) was "interfering with play". :D Doh!

Stuart Peace on the BBC is good as well if wearing the Union Jack a bit too close to his heart.

Apropos nothing, the closest I ever saw Giles to getting emotional about Ireland was after the Ireland 1 Holland 0 game and the crowd singing the disco version of Fields of Athernry in the back ground.

[tetsujin1979]

Apropos nothing, the closest I ever saw Giles to getting emotional about Ireland was after the Ireland 1 Holland 0 game and the crowd singing the disco version of Fields of Athernry in the back ground.
You ever see the clip of him jumping out of his seat after Robbie Keane equalised against Germany in 2002?? Now that's emotion!

[OwlsFan]

No!! He never :eek: I saw the clip of Andy Townsend on his feet at ITV punching the air and Des Lynam (Irish apparently) sitting looking on with little emotion but never the Giles' one possibily because I was on my knees on the floor wiping all the beer stains off the new carpet before the wife came home. I watched it at home with a few friends and the bottles, tins and glasses went flying :( Any link ?