I find the RTE Euro 2008 coverage horrible.

[Roadend]

I taught Magee gave good commentry on the France game, at one point he called Nasri a banger.

He said he'd be a banger in the under 16's team, and basically repeated what Kinsella had said 2 minutes earlier. Top class alright.

[MyTown]

Lads, I think we've been spoiled over the years with the very high quality of punditry and coverage on RTE.

It's only when reviewing the posts from outside Ireland that you get a real sense of how far ahead of the game RTE has been.

To take for granted the fact that we get the broadcasting rights in the first place is a lot. That might change any time & weren't we all overjoyed at TV3s recent acquisition of Champions League rights?

Granted - The lads seem to be having a fairly bad tournament by their high standards, but I'll forgive them based on a very impressive track record & above all credit to RTE (no, I don't work there) for providing top quality coverage and analysis MOST of the time.

James Richardson is the ONLY non RTE anchor / pundit who gives our lads any kind of a run for their money imo, the only one worth paying a transfer fee for.

[gustavo]

James Richardson is the ONLY non RTE anchor / pundit who gives our lads any kind of a run for their money imo, the only one worth paying a transfer fee for.

Guillem Balague is very good imo on Sky

[TheBoss]

Yeah I hear Souness is more of a cricket man alright Seriously what are you on about? Keep in mind you're talking about the Irish 'can't be bothered walking 10 mins to watch live football' Public

Its not so hard to watch a half hour program showing at least some highlights of games from Europe, you can then see the best players of each team in those highlights, its not always having to watch full 90 mins of every game, but at least keep track of the leagues so you what to expect from the teams, that is at least what pundits should be doing in their spare time.

[lionelhutz]

Jimmy Magee is the worst commentator on TV. The only people who like him probably have alzheimers and can't remember his name anyway. Hamilton's a fool and always has been but I think Moloney is ok.

I've always loved the RTE analysts - when I switch to the idiots on ITV or the gang banging fest on BBC I realise how lucky we are in this country. However, Whelan's lack of knowledge is disgraceful, he brings the level analysis down. I like Cunningham who is very exact in his thoughts on the game and I think he'd make a great coach - not sure about manager though.

The trio of Brady, Giles and Dunphy are a great combination even if Dunphy's a sensationalist.

[gspain]

I think RTE's coverage is aimed at football fans whereas the BBC and Sky aim theirs at people who don't know the game but want to pretend they do at work the following day. Souness is crap on Sky for example and brilliant on RTE.

ITV's coverage is aimed at idiots.

I think the pundits could have done more research but their main skill is analysing what is going on anyway so even if it's the blonde number 7 etc it is still enjoyable.

[boovidge]

2) Then there's this whole Premiership-centric nature. The panel seem to want to discuss Ronaldo and Torres far more than they do the rest of their respective teams. When players like Robben or Van Nistellroy appear the first thing they mention is the fact they used to play for Premiership teams. I don't think Hamilton mentioned either of their current clubs once, it seems to be much more important to them to remind viewers that they once had English ties.

Definately agree on that, the panel barely seem to know anything about the game outside of the premiership and champions league. I can't remember who it was, perhaps Dunphy in another lenghty debate about Ronaldo, said something like the Irish people are "Drip fed" by the British press before continuing to talk about premiership players. No sense of irony whatsoever!

[mypost]

Like it or not, we're still strongly bound to English sporting culture

So how's our interest in cricket, or tennis, or bowls then??

The RTE production is of very poor quality. On the BBC, and ITV, there are always new commentators and pundits at every tournament, but RTE have the same ones for the last 25 years at every championship, with the same outdated views on foreign teams and players.

Apparantly, Luca Toni plays in a league that's not Number 1 or 2 in Europe. The Bundesliga is one of the top leagues in the world, just because we don't get to see it doesn't mean it's crap.

[boovidge]

So how's our interest in cricket, or tennis, or bowls then??

no one in England watches tennis or bowls

[bennocelt]

Oh and James Richardson is my favourite football presenter ever. Can't understand how he's been left to rot on the lesser channels.

snap. Jeez he is the best bar none
Love his articles for the guardian

Also thought the Ex QPR/rangers/england co host - whose name i cant remember was ace mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm what was his name again

[TonyD]

Jimmy Magee is the worst commentator on TV. The only people who like him probably have alzheimers and can't remember his name anyway. .

I've actually become a fan of Jimmy. I remember growing up I thought he was awful but now I like listening to him. His genuine enthusiasm for the game shines through and he can make even a dull game seem exciting. Don't like Hamilton, Daragh Moloney isn't the worst but has a horrible habit of raising his voice towards the end of a sentence when anything exciting looks like it might happen. As for the English Commentators, muck, mostly. John Motson and his infuriating little chuckles to himself, the hideous Clive Tyldsley and (as I once read him very aptly described in When Saturday Comes) the "deeply unwelcome Jonathon Pearce".


Now......what was the question ?

[Schumi]

Also thought the Ex QPR/rangers/england co host - whose name i cant remember was ace mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm what was his name again

Mark Hately? Is he involved in TV now?

[Sesp]

snap. Jeez he is the best bar none
Love his articles for the guardian

Also thought the Ex QPR/rangers/england co host - whose name i cant remember was ace mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm what was his name again

I know he played for Celtic, but you're not thinking of Paul Elliot are you (he that had his career ended by Dean Saunders)? Himself and Richardson were always good together.

[Sesp]

Daragh Moloney isn't the worst but has a horrible habit of raising his voice towards the end of a sentence when anything exciting looks like it might happen

I actually can't stand him. The "raised voice" tendency you mention is often used to sensationalise situations. Every loss is a "disaster!" and every victory is a "massive step toward" something or other. He's got no sense of balance. No ability for calm analysis. His job is, simply, to whip things up to the level of hysteria and make sweeping generalisations about everything.

Give me Jimmy Maggee any day!

[MyTown]

Mark Hately? Is he involved in TV now?

Saw him on Setanta's coverage of the SPL recently enough I think

[pete]

RTE pundits ok compared to the rest but they do drag on post match. Don't know who watches 30 minutes of post match analysis of Sweden & Greece? Maybe they just waiting for Apres Match but thats on the web site now.

I find David Pleat the best of the match summarisers as at least he makes some effort to look at the tactical line ups. That said I don't listen to them much. If Ray Houghton is on I will watch any alternative as he has the opinions of a bar fly.

[Calcio Jack]

RTE pundits ok compared to the rest but they do drag on post match. Don't know who watches 30 minutes of post match analysis of Sweden & Greece? Maybe they just waiting for Apres Match but thats on the web site now.

I find David Pleat the best of the match summarisers as at least he makes some effort to look at the tactical line ups. That said I don't listen to them much. If Ray Houghton is on I will watch any alternative as he has the opinions of a bar fly.

I think you're exagerating somewhat...usually the games end at 9.30ish... follwed by analysis and a couple of ad' breaks before they show highlights of the earlier match at 9.50pm that's then followed by the credits and then Apres Match which is finished before 10pm....so they at max do approx 10minutes analysis..... maybe because the Sweden game was so poor it just felt like 30 minutes !!

[gustavo]

Just spent the last ten minutes talking about Cristiano Ronaldos contract situation , i.e nothing to do with Euro 2008

[pete]

Just spent the last ten minutes talking about Cristiano Ronaldos contract situation , i.e nothing to do with Euro 2008

Glad I missed that so. They talk about that everything I see them.

I noticed Peter Collins was presenter last night with Dunphy & the others. Might be worth watching that as time goes on surely Dunphy will eventually call him a clown or similar eventually.

[shakermaker1982]

Did they slag off Ronaldo tonight? The guy who never does it on the big stage and only scores goals against Derby and Birmingham?

If Portugal can get a decent LB to replace Ferreira they could go all the way. A decent side will attack that flank.