Newstalk: Off The Ball

amlinopta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121346511#Comment_121346511

That would be Richie, has been a regular contributor to Tom's show over the years and often fills in as a presenter

left_hander

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121346433#Comment_121346433

Nathan is part of the lads on the Dadcast and he (and Ger I am 99% sure) more than once mocked and described people who have breathing sensors under their baby's mattresses as fear-mongered suckers who stupidly parted with their cash for these things.

That tells you all you need to know about the education levels of this uneducated numpty - potentially life-saving devices which are not that expensive being laughed off as a waste of money. As the parent of a young child who has had this alarm go off on a couple of occasions - one of which the child was probably having difficulty breathing due do being completely blocked up with mucus - I can't tell you how annoyed I was hearing

But none of the rest of them challenged him on it either, I was aghast at what I was hearing.

CatFromHue

Richie used to work at Phantom so like a lot of the guys at OTB he's experienced and/or well qualified for a job in media.

deisedude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121350371#Comment_121350371

He knows his stuff on sport and music but he sometimes tries to be too much of a smart arse and often comes across condescending

BPKS

The Sunday Premiership commentary - I assume they are commentating from the studio? Interestingly, the radio was 5-10 seconds behind the TV for the Chelsea City game yesterday.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121362828#Comment_121362828

They usually commentate live from the games I thought.

Was Dave McIntyre on commentary yesterday, haven't seen him around the OTB space in a long time but I think I saw a tweet yesterday with him.

Looked like they were outside of studio in the image.

Miley Byrne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363086#Comment_121363086

 "haven't seen him around the OTB space in a long time"

Thanks be to jebus for small mercies

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363121#Comment_121363121

I'll never not be surprised at how much dislike there is for the people on the show. Will never understand the extent of it or the justification for it either.

I used to enjoy Dave. Himself and Nathan and Kevin Kilbane used to be a good team a couple years back.

dulpit

I think he's just a contractor now for commentary... He crops up all over the place sure.

callaway92

To people saying ‘maybe if they charged €3 instead of €10 I’d have subscribed’… this has been proven as a fact that the second a charge is put in anything, that’s the moment you see the drop-off.

It’s why phone games etc are all free and if you want ‘upgrades’ etc you then pay. But a phone game now pretty much never charges anything up-front.

If OTB have 10,000 subscribers at €10 a month (I don’t think there are 10k), would they have really gotten 35,000 subscribers at €3 a month. Doubtful.

StuttgartKY

Yeah all commentary is done remote from the studio in Dublin now. Pandemic started it and they never went back. Its a pity I think as I used to enjoy the atmosphere coming across a bit more when they were there.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363188#Comment_121363188

Didn't realise that and I'd agree, losing the atmosphere that comes across live from a stadium is not ideal.

amlinopta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363086#Comment_121363086

Seems to be doing very well as a freelancer, Virgin Media and Premier Sports mainly, anything up to 3-4 games a week. Football and rugby. And GAAGOin the summer

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363158#Comment_121363158

Agree - this was the best its been for me post second captains. Downhill since then tho.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363187#Comment_121363187

I said about the 3E/Month rather than 10.

And I'd agree, they wouldn't get 3 times the numbers, but, they'd probably get greater numbers in the first place and overtime, a price increase might not necessarily result in losing those who signed up.

Even if it went to 5E a year later, it wouldn't have been the same jump from free to 10E.

Ol' Donie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363086#Comment_121363086

Pretty sure Dave McIntyre did the Arsenal game on Eoin McDevitt Premier Sports 1 on Sat.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363187#Comment_121363187

I pay 4e a month for Golf Weekly. I would have paid a 5er for everything on OTB (inc. Golf Weekly) in a heartbeat just to get the Sunday Paper Review podcast and to be able to listen to OTB AM randomly in the morning after it aired.

Their price point was a big issue. €10 is ridiculous (even €4 for GW is too high but thats different for me). The purpose of setting it at €3 or whatever is to get people in. You then slowly increase the price. People will accept a €1 rise every year or so. A bit like the boiling frog concept.

Butson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121343370#Comment_121343370

Not nessesarily.

Sometimes it's about quality over quantity. Highly engaged, paid for subscribers.

Butson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363187#Comment_121363187

Exactly, you hear that arguement in America around pay per view boxing and UFC. If they charged 50 bucks instead of 80 bucks way more people would buy....would they though? There is a cohort out there you will not pay for anything.

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363610#Comment_121363610

I know - but that's you. I'd have similar thoughts, but it has been proven now factually that once something starts charging, it doesn't matter what they go with. GENERALLY people will moan, but the ones who really want it will still get it.

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363860#Comment_121363860

Ah yeah, you can always split it into 3 categories:

1. Those who will buy it no matter the cost (within reason)
2. Those who will sit on the fence and buy it but their decision is heavily dependent on the cost
3. Those who wouldn't pay anything for it

You're trying to find the optimum balance to get the most amount of money from group 2. You will never get anywhere near 100% conversion from free listeners to paid. Look at Second Captains, they were getting around 100k unique listeners a week. Getting to 10-15% of that took quite a while and bucks the trend. OTB I believe have made a balls of it so far but their model may still be working for them.

left_hander

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363187#Comment_121363187

Those figures are very arbitary! I'd say you can take a couple of zeroes off the first and then you might have the reality.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363960#Comment_121363960

This is the real situation. I'd rename your categories

1. Suckers
2. Measured people, happy to pay a reasonable price for good content (ME)
3. Paul Murphy brigade

If you start with a subscription model, you start with a low price and deliver good content - and make it quality stuff, where people say "I am happy to pay for the top presenter and great guest on whatever sport you like". Then, when you reach a critical mass you add an extra euro to their subscription and people say "yeah, I like their stuff so I'm happy to do so".

Not throwing the Crappy Quiz onto a podcast and a load of other crap and expecting them to pay €10 a month.

pc7

Their price point was way off compared to day the 42 (which I pay for yearly) or SecondCaptains (I tap in and out of, paid during RWC will again probably for 6N and end of season as enjoyed extra content outside of free pod).

I did the free month of OTB and honestly don’t miss it now, it’s not worth €10, they should have done pick and mix, I’d have paid a fiver for say rugby and Sunday paper review. I’ve no interest in soccer/GAA, slight tangent or crappy quiz. I really think they over did it.

gluppers

That Mick guy on Off the ball needs to give his opinion more

StuttgartKY

New racing podcast from them now, first half of it free and then the 2nd half for subscribers only so maybe thats a sign of the strategy changing a bit.

But again I think this is just more of the same from OTB so many podcasts coming and going, and all of poorish quality e.g the f1 show. This racing pod would be far better as just a proper slot on the actual show on a friday night instead of a needless further podcast. And would also spare us having John Duggan dressing up in his flat cap and promising to “bring the craic”

Mr Disco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121381323#Comment_121381323

Duggan is truly a halfwit

bren2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121394109#Comment_121394109

We're OTB saying Kenny has been unlucky as Ireland manager?

Jesus.....

Gusser09

Collins

Bazunu

Ogbene

Ebolese

Ferguson

All players who can play in the PL or a top european league.

Along with

Smallbone

Obafemi

Omabamadele

O shea

Cullen

Knight

Players who can make a differ

We're not as poor as some are making out. We badly need young Moran to push on.

However kenny failed to deal with the fact that midfield is our weak link and he kept trying to play through them. Utter madness. Otb fail to mention or focus on his inability to change systems.

There are no serious excuses for how poor the guy has done. He has set us back even further.

siblers

Kenny was unlucky during Covid, especially the false positives. He was unlucky to get such a **** draw but he's been woefully out of his depth. He's also coming across very petty having pops at previous managers' performances

Jack Daw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121394239#Comment_121394239

I'm pretty sure a large portion of people are completely unsurprised at how badly he did. He's completely out of his depth as he's never had any experience of top level football in any way.

He was completely delusional about himself propped up by the sycophantic LOI fans.The delusions of the LOI fans can be summed up from this quote from the below piece by Eamonn Sweeney in the Independent when he says:

"What is Kenny going to learn from managing the Irish U-21 team that he hasn't already learned with Dundalk in Europe?"

Eamonn Sweeney: 'FAI's Irish solution to an Irish problem leaves Stephen Kenny in no-man's land'

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/eamonn-sweeney-fais-irish-solution-to-an-irish-problem-leaves-stephen-kenny-in-no-mans-land/37564821.html

Apparently managing a bunch of semi-professionals who play at a standard similar to the 5th tier in the English game and play once every 3 or 4 years a couple of games against a good European team , provides the same experience as managing the u-21 team who compete against the best u-21 teams from all across Europe.

If Kenny had been left in charge of the u-19/u-21 team for 5 or 6 years and showed some positive results and developed as a coach he might have been a good manager for the senior side but the FAI stupidly thought throwing him in at the deep end was a better idea.

Kenny also was quoted early on in his reign of saying he wanted to change the perception of Irish football internationally which shows an insane degree of delusional as 1 nobody outside of Ireland gives a fiddlers about Irish football and 2 he obviously thought he was some sort of tactical whizz who could transform Ireland.

If he'd been more pragmatic as manager he might have had some chance of success.He clearly had no idea how difficult international football is which of course is not unexpected as he has had no experience of top level football before as either a player or manager.

If they ant to use the LOI as a pathway for developing coaches for the national team (like maybe for Duff in th future) then it needs to be done by bringing them in from the LOI to first to coach in the underage ranks and working their way up to the senior team.