Match of the Day vs The Premiership

= more football - one and half hours of football versus Coke idents, Townsend prattling and Lynam phoning in his performance. he was like Brezhnev in his later days - it could have been a hologram of any Des perfroamnce since 1998 and you couldn't tell.

ITV are shite at football - always have been. I refer anyone to the idea that anyone would listen to a 7" single of their 1986 World Cup theme tune, then use it as their normal theme tune for the next 4 years, regardless of the non-mexican flavour of Sunday 1st division football from Villa park. Cockfarmers, who also started the Premeirship off (Cheers Greg Dyke!) and who by only shoing 'the big five' ensured that those self-same five becamse even more self-important and agressive. So fuck ITV and dig up the founders of it and fuck them too.

MOTD also ahs more match action from all games, which the Premiershite couldn't do. All in all - I have actually made my saturday's fit around seenig MOTD which I never did under the Premiership because it was just rubbish.

Pinefox only asks this because of Matt Smith luv - have you seen him on that stoopid ptrolhead show PF? His matey askance looks and 'I'm just like you viewer only I get to compere these wankers talk shite' really fell on its bum.

I don't believe this to be true. Perhaps it's a false memory but I don't recall late '90s/early '00s MOTD to be purely the Arse and the Manch (and the Chelse).

I thought they should have analysed Atouba's goal a bit more, and they should have made a catty comment about Carr.

Good point that Hansen may be relying on reputation. Look how far back in his chair he slumps!

I think Boyle wants to get in the ring. But with whom?

My comments had little to do with Matt Smith, who never presented the Saturday night Premiership anyway. But it's true, he may have swayed me a little ITV's way.

Allen over Peacock - 6 days a week will do me. He can rest on the 7th.

But Kevin Day was still terrible.

Chiles is hunching, it's dodgy. Chiles feels dodgy to me - OK as a light-hearted radio link-man type, but not for this big job. But are the well-intentioned BBC maybe trying to fill a Midlands hole?

(Then again - Lineker!)

How about a Walsall lass, that would do.

I don't have nae problem wi Strachan. He's quirky, genuinely, I think, as well as put-on persona; a mix. And he can be funny, enough for me.

Odd about Reidy: eh! I 'ope 'e only got 'alf de fee, la!

But mainly, how right WBS is about Anderson. The old-Gooner rules don't apply here - there's Forest, United, Barnsley, pioneer black boss and all, and all. I like him. A really good presence, not pushy, not arrogant, but ready to get involved. Keep him in! Just don't involve his c.1988 replacement, L** D****.

Kevin Day actually seems to be getting worse, from an appalling start. But possibly he just remains appalling.

Thing with Day is that Chiles has worked with him on the radio, and it's worked there, but maybe it's more what Day's being given to work with, which would not be funny in the hands of anyone at all - the "have a look through the footage for hilarious moments of a non-contentious nature" thing is flat-out shit. Then again, he doesn't really do anything to inspire any great confidence at all. Roving reports like the one from Norwich last week are the domain of Football Focus, and from Day's real nervousness as regards how to handle it, they'd do very well to stay that way.

I have faith in Chiles, though - the key is that he is a listener who is approaching this from the angle 'What would I like to watch if I was at home?' He's genuinely really very interested in what the panel had to say, he gives them a lot of room, doesn't try to force the discussion. The problem with this is he doesn't really bring much control with it, and he's possibly a touch too respectful - he's sitting across from three immensely experienced and decorated ex-pros and managers/coaches, and he is well aware that his personal opinion is not going to really count for anything - too aware, perhaps.

However, it is very nice to see someone so willing to just take a back seat and let it flow, and who has such genuine enthusiasm for their programme and its format, who isn't just reading off the effing autocue all the time. I really am quite sure this will grow into something very worthwhile now.

Crooksy is magnificent and should be on MotD every week. I feel a bore for saying this.

Well if you believe mourinho, none of these ppl know ANYTHING about 'futbol'.

They think they know but really...they don't!

What is also interesting about MOTD2 is that it is drawing up very clear lines about who among the BBC's pundit pool would work on it. MOTD2 has already had people that were effective (Anderson, Strachan) and weren't (Houllier). A show that relies on discussion between its pundits requires pundits that are willing to instigate and get involved in that discussion themselves, and it's a very tricky thing to get the tone of it right, to be naturally witty and interesting and not forced or excessively cliquey. I'd be interested to see if "Party On" Garth could do that - if there's one thing he always is, it's himself. I'm fairly sure Schmeichel would be terrible, and Dixon and Bright... do not even go there. Wrighty could do quite well - you'd imagine him, Strachan and Anderson could come up with the odd thing or two to say to each other. Lawro wouldn't work because he's too reliant on being asked questions by the main presenter, and I'm pretty certain that that's a reason why it probably wouldn't suit The Peacock either, he's not the type to go for debates, but rather an analyst who likes making his own statements - that said, he was quite definitely the most effective pundit at the African Nations, and one of the few who was capable of starting a discussion with whoever he was sharing the sofa with (christ knows Crooks couldn't). I'd imagine we can safely rule Hansen out of the equation - he'd probably do alright, but he'd definitely never deign to grace it with his presence + fear of Strachan going at him Martin O'Neill-style.

Thinking about this, though - Strachan and O'Neill (w/Anderson as referee). You'd pay to see that, no?

I think he is terrible.

This week we have extra MOTD on Wednesday! I think Gary L is in charge.

A cringy 'walking across the pitch interview' and cut and paste terrace introduction set the scene. Then 20 minutes of the Plymouth game (including adverts). Still Beautiful Day, which was incorrect because it was cloudy.

Tuesday night, late highlights, after the Rooneyfest, he signed off:

So guess who made the headlines tonight - something old: Trafford - something new - you know who - something borrowed - hardly, at £27m - and, of course, he used to be a Blue. Two words: Wayne Rooney. Third word: Night.

It was so surreally fine that I must write it down, on the spot. But I don't see it being revived and adapted as regularly as 'Remember The Name!'.

During the good bit of yesterday afternoon (before Redknapp* tried to maim Cahill and things went wrong at Goodison) there was a compendium of Garth Crooks light entertainment moments - including the great man introducing Altered Images on TOTP in 1982 alongside Peter Powell! I nearly choked on my cashews.

(* - in the Goodison h/t tunnel scuffle Redknapp was initially cited as the peacemaker. Steve McMahon said, "You're jokin'. He was in the piano with the lid down." Fantastic.)

Alan Hansen never tried it quite so obviously with Des.