Yeah, it's hard get that Moore and Motson quality alright - Jimmy Magee for another M. Nesta's point about using local stringers might sound plausible but with no offence to, say, Sligo v Finn Harps, the pace of the game and the production values (stats, research, size of the OB team) is far below international commentary standards so what sounds good on Highland FM or Ocean FM soon gets found out on a national broadcaster.
I think the RTE sports department generally speaking is dreadfully weak, bar a few stand-outs. I don't know what kind of training - if any - they get once they're inside, but being a brilliant sports journalist does not automatically make you a decent commentator, and if you're only competent to begin with, well... One of RTE's big failings over the years has been keeping square pegs in round holes instead of acting like a talent generator -find them cheap, train them up, lose them to Sky, rinse and repeat. It keeps the the line-up fresh and encourages people to up their game instead of mouldering away as a staffer till retirement. When was the last time, for instance, you heard of any RTE star leaving to join a bigger broadcaster?
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
Oh I agreee EG, I was thinking along the lines of your latter point, its a sort of apprenticeship and then pinch the better ones to broaden the panel especially for when there are major tournaments and Olympics on and all the top commentators are deployed there. Leaving us with the best of the rest and GAA people to cover the home front. Commentators that have started out on radio, manage to give a 'picture' of the game and keep people interested, well its the best sort of training. Let co-commentators do the stats, insights, analysis, though you do need sense of a connection between them too. Jonathan Pearce is a bit marmite in the UK, I like him and his enthusiasm and he started off with radio, then Channel 5 games, Womens' coverage and is now mainstream along with the less high profile stuff. He commentated a few hockey games during the 2012 Olympics and basically said live he needed the expertise beside him and it worked. There are go to commentators for everything at RTE so a bit like a football team they need some more strength in depth...
No wonder Eamon Dunphy went mad at RTE when he was asked about his former employers last week at Paddy Power event in Carlisle. He said that the match day analysis is very poor. I have switched over to the BBC in protest.
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
I wouldn't take heed of much that Dunphy says to be honest.
BBC analysis is generally very bland.
Des Curran is doing a good job tonight. I always thought he was decent.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Its changed just a bit now with Dunphy, Brady, Giles, gone but a few times in bars in England BBC coverage was on the box but at HT and FT the channel was switched to RTE analysis. Not totally sure if that was for entertainment reasons of for analysis value.
Stephen Kelly doesnt work as a co-commentator imo yet gets plenty of work. Duff, Cunningham and Sadlier do a good job and yup better than Ferdinand or the wannabe comedian Ian Wright on respective channels. BBC punditry is very stiff upper lipped British.
Last edited by Nesta99; 14/06/2021 at 10:10 PM.
She's not there because she's female. She's there because she's an RTE employee and they don't have a million commentators. There are better female commentators around in my opinion but she's a staffer so will obviously get the bigger gigs.
And, like Ger Canning, football is not her sport. Take issue with RTE assigning GAA commentators to football by all means, but I think it's a bit disrespectful to suggest she or any other woman has her job due to box-ticking.
Last edited by Charlie Darwin; 15/06/2021 at 1:12 AM.
Dunphy is some pup to be criticizing the analysis. He was lazy and traded on the laud the manager and then blame the manager shtick over and over again while often being very unprepared (and on occasion at least literally drunk). When Noel King was in charge for about 48 hours it was hilarious to watch him cram the whole process into that time. There was a time when Giles, Dunphy and Brady was a decent combo (O Herlihy was brilliant at orchestrating them too for what it's worth) but it got very tired a long long time before they finished.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
Of course I should also add that when I commentated for Finn Harps radio I was generally unprepared, regularly somewhat tanked, started chants, howled at officials and opposition players (on one occasion my mum rang me after to see what he had done) and when things were going badly would descend into extended periods of sullen silence. And the language was reprehensible. The tagline was "Turning the Air Blue" and by jeepers we delivered.
Damn I miss it all the same.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
I strongly disagree. They're like some boorish half-wits down the pub who think Mrs Brown's Boys is the funniest thing on television. Micah Richards seems to have been employed by the BBC soley because he will laugh uproariously at literally anything. The last thing I want to see from ex-footballers on TV is 'banter'.
RTE analyst - 'Deep insights into the lad's psychology there.'
BBC analyst - 'Richard the Fird? So that's what gave 'im the 'ump. Wa-ha-ha.'
Even though it's taken a while for me to warm to the new generation of RTE panellists, they're invariably light years ahead of the Beeb.
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
What's the story with duff though?
He appears to be desperate to push an agenda no matter what or who he's talking about.
To paraphrase The Smiths it would seem "He holds more grudges than lonely high court judges"..
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
Bookmarks