Ian Wright (and TV pundits in general)

[NeilMcD]

I was in Germany over the last few days so did not see the England game on RTE so cant say anything about their response. Also I would love if Brish TV hated our team and were Anti Irish. I hate their support of us and I dont want their patronising compliments. Sport is about rivalry and most teams in this neck of the woods would consider themselves rivals of England. I take pleasure in the Engish failures in tournaments esp. as they are so deluded that they think they may win it.

In my view Austrialia were ok against Brazil but ITV were over the top in their praise. It was more to do with failures on the Brazilan side in my view.

[Soko]

Did you actually see the clip where Wright breaks out in uncontrolable laughter? The fact Dunphy lives with a smug grin at Englands misery doesn't hide the fact that that was appaling behaviour.

[OwlsFan]

Also I would love if Brish TV hated our team and were Anti Irish.

What a strange statement. Why would you want anyone to hate us ?

Sport is about rivalry and most teams in this neck of the woods would consider themselves rivals of England. I take pleasure in the Engish failures in tournaments esp. as they are so deluded that they think they may win it.

Time and time again the RTE Tabloid Panel has told us they are not supporters and are professional analyists. Their reaction to the English game was that of the anti English Irish supporter. I don't want England to win like many Irish people but I was embarrassed by our national broadcaster's reaction to the game. Critical analysis is valid, sneering and jeering is not. We ourselves are frequently unfair and biased in our comments (often going beyond criticism based of the underlying footballing perfformance). It is not unreasonable to expect other people including panelists and commentators to have similar leanings. But in their case their professional ethos requires them to express those views only in private. Clearly Dunphy and Co have lost their professional judgments (if he ever had one in the first place) maybe because of jealousy and spite at Engerland being at the World Cup and the (out of all proportion) hype in Engerland about their chances.

It's probably like a feeding frenzy when you have Laughing Bill and the four sharks together -they just want to add more and more nonsense and unprofessionalism to get the biggest reaction. Any insult will do.....

In my view Austrialia were ok against Brazil but ITV were over the top in their praise. It was more to do with failures on the Brazilan side in my view.

That's the Dunphy ethos. Hype a team up, say they'll win and when they put in a shoddy performance, blame the team and not credit the opposition for putting in a great display. Why not give credit when credit is due ? As least Giles said he loved the Koreans' attitude. I was also very impressed by the latter's support at the game - even when losing they kept going.

[NeilMcD]

As I said I did not see the RTE coverage of the England game so I cant comment. As I said I dont think its strange to prefer a healthy rivalry with the English rather than their patronsising support. They dont support Germany Argentina etc why cause they have rivalry with them. I wish it was the same for us.

[shakermaker1982]

The only guys I'll listen to (i.e. full attention) is Gordon 'Velocity', O'Neill and Beglin. They just call it as they see it and have no pre hidden agenda. McCarthy is a right feckin moaner, Ronaldo the other day being an example when he tried a few tricks against Iran.

Hansen, Shearer and co sit on the fence and don't wanna upset the team nor their public. I'm surprised Lampard is spitting his dummy out over ex players making some observations about the England performances.......... they could have said an awful lot more.

Lastly, if John Motson retires this year I will celebrate. I don't wanna hear any more pointless statistics I just wanna enjoy the game!!!!

[micls]

As I said I did not see the RTE coverage of the England game so I cant comment. As I said I dont think its strange to prefer a healthy rivalry with the English rather than their patronsising support. They dont support Germany Argentina etc why cause they have rivalry with them. I wish it was the same for us.

Why would the english see us as rivals?? They don't see us as being anywhere near their standard so have no reason not to support us. As well as that a lot of English have Irish relatives which obviously influences it as well

[OwlsFan]

Did you actually see the clip where Wright breaks out in uncontrolable laughter? The fact Dunphy lives with a smug grin at Englands misery doesn't hide the fact that that was appaling behaviour.

Wright is a joke - we know that. He even got a job hosting some TV shows The BBC have seen that the RTE's Tabloid Panel over the years has worked so they have followed suit with a buffoon of their own to match ours.

According to our buffoon Spain would beat Brazil 5-0 if they played the same way again and Laughing Bill doesn't dare contradict this sort of nonsense. I wonder have Brazil ever lost 5-0 ?

My ideal panel would be: Souness, Giles, O'Neill & Lawrenson chaired by Barry Davies.

[NeilMcD]

Why would the english see us as rivals?? They don't see us as being anywhere near their standard so have no reason not to support us. As well as that a lot of English have Irish relatives which obviously influences it as well

I know I wish we were up there were we were seen as rivals, basically I wish Ireland were winning world cups.

[NeilMcD]

Wright is a joke - we know that. He even got a job hosting some TV shows The BBC have seen that the RTE's Tabloid Panel over the years has worked so they have followed suit with a buffoon of their own to match ours.

According to our buffoon Spain would beat Brazil 5-0 if they played the same way again and Laughing Bill doesn't dare contradict this sort of nonsense. I wonder have Brazil ever lost 5-0 ?

My ideal panel would be: Souness, Giles, O'Neill & Lawrenson chaired by Barry Davies.

Dunphy is so far over the top its unreal, he cant just criticise Brazil he has to say they are finished or in this case get beaten 5 -0, we all know its not going to happen. It makes for good TV for a lot of people and thats why he is on the panel. Most people I chat to dont agree with many of his views but find him entertaining to watch. You should not let him bother you too much, I am sure he is not thinking too much about yourself.

[OwlsFan]

Dunphy is so far over the top its unreal, he cant just criticise Brazil he has to say they are finished or in this case get beaten 5 -0, we all know its not going to happen. It makes for good TV for a lot of people and thats why he is on the panel. Most people I chat to dont agree with many of his views but find him entertaining to watch. You should not let him bother you too much, I am sure he is not thinking too much about yourself.

Ah, it's all clear to me now. We just get this person who launches into personal and sometime slanderous attacks on people, makes stupid and ridiculous predictions under the guise of being an "expert" and it's all in the name of entertainment for the Irish people. He's great craic sure what more matters Strangely enough when we see an English version in the form of Ian Wright we can't stomach it, although Wright got the substitutions correct for the Spanish game, something Drunkphy is incapable of doing.

I see Souness was questioning Saudi Arabia's right to be at the tournament yesterday evening. At least Tunisia's performance against Spain put him back a bit from that line. And once again we had a manager taking off a forward when leading and playing 5 across the middle. Result: even more pressure and 3 goals for Spain. They just never seem to learn and us at home to Portugal under McCarthy always springs to mind when I see that being done.

[beautifulrock]

[QUOTE=OwlsFan]Ah, it's all clear to me now. We just get this person who launches into personal and sometime slanderous attacks on people, makes stupid and ridiculous predictions under the guise of being an "expert" and it's all in the name of entertainment for the Irish people. He's great craic sure what more matters Strangely enough when we see an English version in the form of Ian Wright we can't stomach it, although Wright got the substitutions correct for the Spanish game, something Drunkphy is incapable of doing

I think it has already been said Owlsfan if you dont like the RTE coverage DO NOT watch it. The general consensus here is that RTE are slightly ahead of the rest but if you cant stomach it, press the red button. TO be clear here I am not advocating any sneering etc of England by Dunph et al.

[NeilMcD]

As I said I did not see the coverage of the England game but Giles and Souness hinted last night after the Spain game that it may have been England bashing and that they were over the top. I would not say Ian Wright is the English version of Dunphy due to the fact that I dont find him entertaining. To be honest Dunphy does not bother me I know when to take him serious and when not too. He annoyed me when he was talking about a serious topic with David Mc Williams on the late late show, but when its football its all just entertainment anyway.

[Jerry The Saint]

Just reading through this whole thread now and noticed this

Don't think it was Tylsdley though. He was commentating on the Ghana v Czech Rep. match - but twice he referred to the Czech Republic as "Poland".

I know exactly why he did that - both times he said Poland soon after Jan POLAK ('Polack') had the ball. Which brings us back to the topic of latently/openly racist commentators.

Stephen Alkin was a disgrace at the end of the Ghana match, reeling out every cliché in the book:

"Oh those plucky Africans, they may be naive but they're so athletic, etc."
"Pele once said that an African team would win the World Cup and with a little more sophistication they would have by now blah, blah, blah."

Mark me down as another viewer fed up with the relentless negativity from the RTE panel - it's one thing not to get caught up in Sky-type cheerleading but IMO they lose credibility by being over the top in criticising the likes of Gerrard, Garcia, Kewell, the entire EPL (they're still in denial about Liverpool winning the Champions League). They gave the US a savaging after their battling backs-to-the-wall performance to stay in the world cup, laying into them for ruining the beautiful game because they wouldn't give up on the tournament without a fight. Brady - "Well the Americans are all like that anyway Bill, look at that carry-on in Iraq" I don't think I heard one word of criticism directed at the Italians for failing to beat those nine naughty Americans.

[tetsujin1979]

They gave the US a savaging after their battling backs-to-the-wall performance to stay in the world cup, laying into them for ruining the beautiful game because they wouldn't give up on the tournament without a fight. Brady - "Well the Americans are all like that anyway Bill, look at that carry-on in Iraq" I don't think I heard one word of criticism directed at the Italians for failing to beat those nine naughty Americans.

Brady said that becuase one of the Americans (could have been McBride) said before the game they were "going to do it for the boys in Iraq". What Brady probably didn't know was that some of the US armed forces had come to the training camp that week to speak to the players and inspire them to play well for the rest of the tournament.

[Beavis]

The same ALan Green who said a few days ago "I am born in Northern Ireland and I can't understand how anyone from the UK is not supporting England". He must have led a very sheltered life in Northern Ireland.

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.

[tipp man]

"Stephen Alkin was a disgrace at the end of the Ghana match, reeling out every cliché in the book:"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds Stephen Alkin rubbish. I know he only gets wheeled out once in a while when RTE are stuck but he is the poorest commentator around. Why not give Jimmy Magee more games. Bad and all as he is he has to be better than Alkin. The only time I turn over to a British channel is when Alkin is commentating.

[Roadend]

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.
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.

[NeilMcD]

Well said Roadend, I agree I think Bill O Herlihy does his job very well. He is there to ask the man on the street question. He could improve by being a bit more devils advocate but he is the best at that type of job in my view. Owls fan maybe you should switch to UKTV 2 From the times.

World Cup TV View: For World Cup diehards it's simply alarming that there are only three weeks left, although, admittedly, some are beginning to wilt a touch - or, worse, are suffering from two dead legs, so long has it been since they left the armchair.

When this happens a change is, of course, as good as a rest. So, with that in mind, we briefly deserted RTÉ/ITV/BBC yesterday and took ourselves off to the wilderness that is digital telly to watch the first of the day's games, Togo v Switzerland.


No, we'd never heard of UKTV G2 either, but there it was, positioned somewhere between The God Channel and Big Boobs TV.

If UKTV G2 is in the wilderness it's probably appropriate, then, that one of its World Cup co-commentators is none other than Ron "Big" Atkinson.

The channel's coverage of the World Cup is, apparently, aimed at male people between the ages of 16 and 34, which, as luck would have it, is the target market of one of the channel's sponsors, the splendidly named lads' mag Nuts.

Andy Goldstein was our presenter, his studio guests were Neil "Razor" Ruddock and Rod Liddle, the columnist who wishes he were Bob Geldof but isn't.

We use the word "studio" loosely here; they actually seem to be working out of one those €200 sheds you assemble all by yourself.

For example, when at one point Ruddock coughed, the "studio" shook like it had been hit by an earthquake that measured 7.9 on the Richter scale.

Although the echo that filled the air whenever our panellists spoke suggested that they could also have been in a public toilet. Either way, we're not, we'd assume, talking a gargantuan telly budget here.

Razor looked like he'd been out on the tear the night before and he appears to be a stone or seven overweight, so he's just as Liverpool fans will remember him in his prime.

We largely remember him for the time that he shared with the world his greatest source of amusement: being in bed with his wife and holding her head under the sheets while he broke wind.

Perhaps it's being overly delicate, but ever since reading that we've struggled to look Razor in the eye when he's appeared on our screens. And, when we caught up with him again yesterday, no matter how perceptive his analysis, that image was always going to cloud our view of him.

"We woz talking earlier and we said that 'argreaves is just there to break fings up, he ain't there to create nuffin'," he said to Andy when asked for his solution to England's midfield dilemma.

"Fanks, Rayzah," said Andy, before asking Liddle his thoughts on the Toga v Switzerland game.

"Switzerland started tearing them apart in a most un-Swiss-like manner, it's not what you expect - you expect clocks and money-laundering," said Rod.

"Fanks Rod," said Andy, before opening another in-depth analysis session with Razor on the subject of Spain.

"Well, you gotta fancy Spain, intya," he said.

"Fanks for that, Rayzah," said Andy, and that was kind of that.

Needless to say, with entertainment of that quality on offer, we returned for UKTV G2's next live game, Spain v Tunisia.

"Phil 'n' Fash are in the house!"

That's Phil Tufnell and John Fashanu to you and me.

"Ello, Fash. So, how d'ya fink England have been doing so far?"

"At the end of the day they've played two games and won both," said Fash, "and at the end of the day they're playing badly but winning."

"Fanks, Fash."

"Phil? Who's impressed you so far," asked Andy.

"Argentina and Spain, who we're seeing later on, have impressed me," said Phil.

"Argentina and Spain, who we're seeing later on, have impressed you?" asked Andy.

"Yeah," said Phil, who, like us, had spotted the echo problem.

"Fanks, Phil," said Andy, who then read out a text from "Madge in Winchester", who said she had "curtains the same as Phil's shirt".

"Fanks, Madge," said Phil.

Match-time. The players are in the tunnel. Fash points out that this is a crucial stage of the match.

"See, they're not even looking at each other, they're nervous."

"The game can't be won and lost in the tunnel, can it?" asked Andy.

"Oh, it can," said Fash. "There's so much psychological stuff going on there, if you see the way . . ."

Back to RTÉ. Souness and Gilesie are talking tactics and systems and the like. Na, it'll never catch on.

[joeSoap]

The lad from Limerick,Conor McNamara, who works for Radio 5 Live is quite good. He's very enthusiastic, and not very cliche-ed like most of the rest and sounds the part....even if he is developing a slight Craig Doyle-esque english twang to the accent...

[Pauro 76]

The lad from Limerick,Conor McNamara, who works for Radio 5 Live is quite good. He's very enthusiastic, and not very cliche-ed like most of the rest and sounds the part....even if he is developing a slight Craig Doyle-esque english twang to the accent...

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