General Premier League Thread 2020-21 - Mod Notes in 1st post. [Updated 17/12/20]

Speak Now

Money decision, the 3 lads were probably on decent money compared to what the new younger presenters will be on!

Sunday supplement got the bullet as well didnt it? Wont miss the Custis brothers anyway especially the Neil fella.

Richard Hillman

Yes, the Sunday Supplement got cut. They went down the Woke Route and went broke. Nobody was watching it despite it being on 3 different channels at the same time. The only ads you would ever see on it were from Sky themselves. Which is a surefire sign that advertisers were not pushed in buying advertising slots.

Richard Hillman

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Not too surprising really.

I mean, even beyond any thoughts over how good they are versus how good they used to be, the bigger question is that of the current audience.

I mean, we (of a largely 30+ demographic on here) know these guys. We saw them play, or at least saw them soon enough after their careers that it still means something to us. There's some tangible connection between them and football for us.

They mean nothing to the current teens and 20-somethings. They're just old guys who are all decades away from having had anything to do with football in a practical sense.

So it makes total sense that there would be a generational shift to try to get lads in who mean to the current viewers what these auld lads meant to us in the past.

They're nowhere near good/interesting/informative/funny enough to transcend the passing of time and relevance. Except Jeff. I love Jeff.

Their demographic viewers are males that are aged between 30-65. I don't understand trying to alienate their prime demographic to appeal to the under 30s. They could have had the same 4 on that panel for another 10 years. OK Thommo and Charlie are getting older but would have just went in their own time or phased out slowly.

They've gone down a route that possibly appeals to under 30s and people who are into identity politics. I can't see that demographic sitting down in front of Sky Sports News from 12pm-5pm. They had a demographic that will be around for 20-30-40 years and traded it all in for something that people in their 20s may or may not like.

It will all go south very quickly. ESPN/Sports Centre went down that route in America and found out sharply that its probably not a good idea to alienate your prime demographic.

I'd imagine Sky will go with a more diverse panel.

razorblunt

None of that 3 will be missed.

Rosenior is too good for Soccer Saturday he needs to be on the main programs. He’s a cut above everything else they have, I think he’d make a decent prime time co commentator.

CSF

Sure we have live 3 PM games over here now anyway so it’s of very little significance to us

~Rebel~

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Their demographic viewers are males that are aged between 30-65. I don't understand trying to alienate their prime demographic to appeal to the under 30s. They could have had the same 4 on that panel for another 10 years. OK Thommo and Charlie are getting older but would have just went in their own time or phased out slowly.

They've gone down a route that possibly appeals to under 30s and people who are into identity politics. I can't see that demographic sitting down in front of Sky Sports News from 12pm-5pm. They had a demographic that will be around for 20-30-40 years and traded it all in for something that people in their 20s may or may not like.

It will all go south very quickly. ESPN/Sports Centre went down that route in America and found out sharply that its probably not a good idea to alienate your prime demographic.

If they were getting solid viewerships, they wouldn't be letting them go. First and foremost they follow the money. I stopped watching SS nearly a decade ago. I enjoyed them in my early 20's but it kinda just got stale.

As for identity politics, bit of a leap you're making there.

TV is evolving, and football coverage is evolving - the odds of things staying the same enough that this would remain working for your named (or, indeed, any) demographic for 20 - 40 years is small to nil.

Speak Now

Is Soccer A.M. still a thing, now that's a show that's absolute rubbish.

Agent Coulson

I wonder what the chances are that a shed load of players pick up Covid on International duty and the start of the league season is postponed.

ERG89

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I wonder what the chances are that a shed load of players pick up Covid on International duty and the start of the league season is postponed.

Apparently Chelsea have had several players fail covid tests and those players will be going into isolation for 2 weeks now.
Going to take a lot for the Premier League to shut down again though.

y0ssar1an22

munstermagic11 wrote: »

Agreed. I like Clinton, and I've seen him in some more relaxed scenarios where it's like listening to one of your mates chatting about football. But as an actual analyst, who's meant to interpret what his watching to an audience, he's not very good.

Soccer Saturday needs a big shake up though. Merson is terrible and the others seemed to lose interest after being there too long.

The worst show they have is Sunday Supplement, just awful.

I don't care about diversity as long as they are good. They've added Michael Richards, who's terrible. They'd be better off adding Liam Rosenior, who's excellent anytime he's been on the debate show, rater than adding a 'name'.

Sunday supplement got the chop as well, nothing got to do with viewership but 'due to next season's huge Premier League fixture pile-up'. it was on at 10-11.30am on a sunday? cant imagine we'll be seeing games at those times.

y0ssar1an22

ERG89 wrote: »

Apparently Chelsea have had several players fail covid tests and those players will be going into isolation for 2 weeks now.
Going to take a lot for the Premier League to shut down again though.

have the PL stopped reporting this?

they were mad to tell us at the start of project restart

Unearthly

Glad to see all 3 go. Very poor standard. They offer 0 insight for a show that lasts about 6 hours

Agent Coulson

The show became more about the banter between them than the actual football they were supposed to be watching.

To be honest any show of its kind will always end up the same way when you have people talking about something the viewer can see.

A decade and more of the same gang talking they were just all bantered out. The new recruits will end up the same way by the end of the season.

razorblunt

Speak Now wrote: »

Is Soccer A.M. still a thing, now that's a show that's absolute rubbish.

On the rare occasion I've stumbled across it, it seems to be the Fenners (remember him from 20 years ago?) and Bullard show. Fenners who's 50 thinking he's mid 20s and Bullard who runs around like a kid on sugar. Embarrassing stuff.

I think there probably is a market for something at that time but they'd need to ramp up the guests and get footballers back onside.

eigrod

razorblunt wrote: »

On the rare occasion I've stumbled across it, it seems to be the Fenners (remember him from 20 years ago?) and Bullard show. Fenners who's 50 thinking he's mid 20s and Bullard who runs around like a kid on sugar. Embarrassing stuff.

I think there probably is a market for something at that time but they'd need to ramp up the guests and get footballers back onside.

It’s really something for Under 15s.

Bridge93

Soccer Am never recovered once the Helen Chamberlain and Tim Lovejoy combo was broken up. Been a steady decline since

rob316

Soccerete was the best on Soccer AM.

j8wk2feszrnpao

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Their demographic viewers are males that are aged between 30-65. I don't understand trying to alienate their prime demographic to appeal to the under 30s

I agree to an extent. The under 30's have no interest in SS. They are on the move, not sitting in front of the TV. A few of the younger lads I play football with all watch stuff like The Kickoff on YouTube rather than SS. I think Sky want that audience, whether they get it or not is a different thing.

retalivity

Bridge93 wrote: »

Soccer Am never recovered once the Helen Chamberlain and Tim Lovejoy combo was broken up. Been a steady decline since

Lovejoy was a tit but can't disagree with this. Used to watch it religiously 20 years ago, caught up with a few months back and it was woeful ****e.

j8wk2feszrnpao

y0ssar1an22 wrote: »

Sunday supplement got the chop as well, nothing got to do with viewership but 'due to next season's huge Premier League fixture pile-up'. it was on at 10-11.30am on a sunday? cant imagine we'll be seeing games at those times.

Didn't even know that. It was a terrible show, an ego trip for reporters to waffle on for a few hours. Having it on 3 channels at the same time was ridiculous.

rob316

Sunday Supplement got axed? Really enjoyed it, plenty of decent journos on it, nice discussion to listen to for a sunday morning. I wont miss the likes of Custis and John Cross though.

It went downhill after Lovejoy and Chamberlain?

But that's umpossible...

Potential Underachiever

The Lovejoy and Chamberlain years were great, but then again I was alot younger back then!

Yorkshire news, Stan Hibbert, Soccerette, Boston goals, Tubes, Barry proudfoot, the wrestler guys to name but a few memorable segments from the show.

I think Fenners did a good few of those characters, so fair play to him even if it's dirge to watch these days, not that I do actually watch it.

Cookiemunster

Scott Minto has announced he's been let go too. Some serious cost cutting underway at Sky Sports. I think it's more than just diversifying the talent.

rob316

****waits patiently for Martin Tyler sacking announcement*****

JPA

rob316 wrote: »

Sunday Supplement got axed? Really enjoyed it, plenty of decent journos on it, nice discussion to listen to for a sunday morning. I wont miss the likes of Custis and John Cross though.

I never liked it, it was awful dry stuff. But in saying that it was like nothing else Sky Sports did, an attempt to go a bit deeper into stories.

plibige

Wonder what the criteria was that kept Merson in the job but the other 3 were deemed surplus

rob316

plibige wrote: »

Wonder what the criteria was that kept Merson in the job but the other 3 were deemed surplus

Needs the money who else would hire him. Awful gambling and drink problems too.

plibige

rob316 wrote: »

Needs the money who else would hire him. Awful gambling and drink problems too.

Maybe i'm looking at it the wrong way, but surely that's a reason to get rid of him rather than keep him?

Sky clearly aren't a charity case and these cuts are evidence

Richard Hillman

plibige wrote: »

Wonder what the criteria was that kept Merson in the job but the other 3 were deemed surplus

If he went off the rails, it would be awful PR for Sky. They would be absolutely hammered for it. So they are basically stuck with him until he says something not PC.

rob316

He provides the most entertainment out of the 4 too. He's thick as the wall but hard not to like.

DVDM93

https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1298938698608906242?s=20

TitianGerm

Pogba and Ndombele test positive for Covid

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1298952349122203648?s=19

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1298954375768006656?s=19

Not sure if they were both with the French team and if they have an outbreak there?

chicorytip

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Some of them were looking jaded. I can't imagine any other channel wanting them, except maybe BT being after Le Tissier for Southampton games. Nicholas I think was there from when Frank McLintock used to be on.

Why do Sky continue to employ and promote those two utter imbeciles Neville and Carragher?

Shanotheslayer

DVDM93 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1298938698608906242?s=20

Loved him at Everton

DVDM93

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Loved him at Everton

Rafa Benitez also loved him. He wanted to sell Alonso to buy him.

Harry Palmr

Gareth Barry RIPL

(Feck it Milly, you can't retire for about 5 years!)

~Rebel~

DVDM93 wrote: »

Rafa Benitez also loved him. He wanted to sell Alonso to buy him.

What's not to love? Was a brilliant player, at the heart of City's midfield when they finally won the league.

DVDM93

~Rebel~ wrote: »

What's not to love? Was a brilliant player, at the heart of City's midfield when they finally won the league.

I'm not saying anything different?

I wouldn't have proactively sold Alonso for him at the time though.

Great player all the same & a Premier League legend.

~Rebel~

DVDM93 wrote: »

I'm not saying anything different?

I wouldn't have proactively sold Alonso for him at the time though.

Great player all the same & a Premier League legend.

Oh I didn't think you were, just reiterating my own man-love for Gary Barry

The sale subject is always a tricky one, with hindsight playing a major role - would I have swapped him the year after, no, absolutely not! But the summer Rafa was actually looking at it, poor auld Xabi had had a difficult season. Broke his foot and missed a big chunk of the season between September and Christmas, and never quite got back to his best over the rest of the season.

Of course it all turned out for the better for Liverpool in the short term anyway, with the deal falling through, and Xabi putting in his best season the following year. As for any of that stuff playing a role in his Madrid move, I'm sure it didn't exactly help, but I've absolutely no doubt he'd have been gone to play at the heart of that Real Madrid team regardless. That was just a move he was never going to turn down. In the longer term, if Liverpool had swapped Barry for Alonso, we wouldn't have had that great 08/09 season (in which we didn't actually win anything), but who knows, maybe would've been in better shape aftwards? I'd certainly have preferred Barry over Aquilani for the 09/10 season and onwards...

pjohnson

Has Nuno extended his Wolves contract?

With Jonny out and Doherty leaving unless the Wolves owners get a move on I'd say he could walk. They already had a ridiculously small squad and that is two key departures.

POKERKING

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

Loved him at Everton

Unbelievable at City too. One of my fave players of the last ten years. Id love to see a peak barry in the current city side, vastly underrated player. 2 yards ahead of everybody in the park in his head made up for his lack of pace. Great for a tactical foul too, never knew a player to get away with so many deliberate handballs! When city won the league, david silva(who was citys player of the year that year) voted for Barry as his player of the year.

POKERKING

~Rebel~ wrote: »

What's not to love? Was a brilliant player, at the heart of City's midfield when they finally won the league.

I thought i was in a one man club on this, glad to see someone else is in it too!

Rock77

POKERKING wrote: »

Unbelievable at City too. One of my fave players of the last ten years. Id love to see a peak barry in the current city side, vastly underrated player. 2 yards ahead of everybody in the park in his head made up for his lack of pace. Great for a tactical foul too, never knew a player to get away with so many deliberate handballs! When city won the league, david silva(who was citys player of the year that year) voted for Barry as his player of the year.

Great professional, great longevity. Just didn’t have that little bit of extra ability to be top class but a very good player

Corholio

Looks like the nonsense 5 sub thing is still a possibility with the top clubs pushing for it at a PL meeting despite the vote against it a few weeks ago.

Would be an horrendous decision if it's overturns and would only benefit already highly benefitted top clubs.

DVDM93

Premier League legend Jermain Defoe.

https://twitter.com/elbalson/status/1299137648997609476?s=20

https://twitter.com/elbalson/status/1299354912955019265?s=20

citytillidie

Saturday 12th September
12:30 Fulham v Arsenal (BT Sport)
17:30 Liverpool v Leeds Utd (Sky Sports)

Sunday 13th September
14:00 West Brom v Leicester City (Sky Sports)
16:30 Spurs v Everton (Sky Sports)

Monday 14th September
20:00 Brighton v Chelsea (Sky Sports)

Saturday 19th September
12:30 Everton v West Brom (BT Sport)
17:30 Man Utd v Crystal Palace (Sky Sports)

Sunday 20th September
12:00 Southampton v Spurs (BT Sport)
14:00 Arsenal v West Ham (Sky Sports)
14:00 Aston Villa v Sheff Utd*
14:00 Newcastle Utd v Brighton*
*Due to EFL Cup participation on Thursday 17th Sep
16:30 Chelsea v Liverpool (Sky Sports)

Monday 21st September
20:00 Wolves v Man City (Sky Sports)

Saturday 26th September
12:30 Brighton v Man Utd (BT Sport)
17:30 West Brom v Chelsea (Sky Sports)

Sunday 27th September
12:00 Sheff Utd v Leeds Utd (BT Sport)
14:00 Fulham v Aston Villa (Sky Sports)
16:30 Man City v Leicester City (Sky Sports)

Monday 28th September
20:00 Liverpool v Arsenal (Sky Sports)

Guy:Incognito

Has there been an announcement about crowds at games? Presumably even if there are , it'll be vastly reduced.

Why have they not stuck with showing all games on tv? Theres enough channels and they dont have to be all at different times either. Most of the time sky show the same game on 2 channels anyway.

ArmaniJeanss

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Has there been an announcement about crowds at games? Presumably even if there are , it'll be vastly reduced.

Why have they not stuck with showing all games on tv? Theres enough channels and they dont have to be all at different times either. Most of the time sky show the same game on 2 channels anyway.

It may yet happen, but its complicated.

EPL would like some money for the games - substantially less than the current amount of about £8M per game admittedly, but they do value them at a couple of million per game.

Sky/BT would be willing to show the games, but regard their actual value as close to zero. Most of them would be 7th to 10th choice games each week and won't drive subscriptions or advertising revenue.
There would be a few 'low-team' v MUFC or Pool they'd quite like obviously, otoh they'd lose money showing the likes of Burnley v Fulham with broadcast costs and the slots they'd take.

It's not as simple as 'well if they don't want them, sell them cheap to the BBC or ITV or club-streaming'. There'd be rebates to Sky/BT in this case.

All games being on air back in June/July was driven by government (apparently the order was 'show them all or we won't let you restart'). That doesn't seem to be a directive now. But I'd still be hopeful something will be agreed next week.