Sportsound Watch

[hearthammer]

20 hours ago, VictorOnopko said:

No - the BBC never stopped covering Rangers games.  They covered every them in detail - build up and frequent "live updates" at home, and loads of live commentaries away.  They did this despite a tantrum on Rangers' part which went on for years, when they could just have given HT and FT scores.

That your club's board and fans have adopted your rivals' traditional policy of paranoid, conspiracy-theorist whinging over the past ten years is undeniable.

Was the reactions from the The Rangers Int. board and fans anything to do with the fact that they were "demoted" and/or "relegated" unjustly by the jealous and spiteful rest of Scottish football ?? 

[Paxo]

Craig Levein was good value yesterday.

Before the Killie game, discussing Kyle Lafferty, he reckoned that Laff would go on to score double figures this season, until Richard Gordon brought up the likely 10 game ban about to be imposed on him... Levein was completely oblivious to Lafferty's indiscretion and had to ask what the ban was all about.

Not having shown himself up as clueless enough about one of the teams he was being *paid to analyse* he followed up with the gem "the young lad Armstrong is doing well... I say young lad... but I have no idea if he's young or not".

If anyone else showed this level of incompetence at work, surely they'd be reprimanded?

[gingermunkie]

3 hours ago, Paxo said:

Craig Levein was good value yesterday.

Before the Killie game, discussing Kyle Lafferty, he reckoned that Laff would go on to score double figures this season, until Richard Gordon brought up the likely 10 game ban about to be imposed on him... Levein was completely oblivious to Lafferty's indiscretion and had to ask what the ban was all about.

Not having shown himself up as clueless enough about one of the teams he was being *paid to analyse* he followed up with the gem "the young lad Armstrong is doing well... I say young lad... but I have no idea if he's young or not".

If anyone else showed this level of incompetence at work, surely they'd be reprimanded?

Genuinely wonder if he’s not well… seems like stuff like that is pretty common plus turning up to the Brechin photo day totally unprepared makes you worry.

 

he could of course just give zero fucks whatsoever.

[TheScarf]

It’s been said on here numerous times. But I’d never go on live TV or Radio for something unprepared. The Sportscene pundits wear it as a badge of honour.

[Thenorthernlight]

On 09/10/2022 at 16:15, bennett said:

 

Yet it was the bbc who apologised for a lack of accuracy and balance when it came to Rangers, Rangers were right and that is undeniable. 

 

The Rangers.

Rangers died.

Just for accuracy & balance. 

[David W]

14 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

It’s been said on here numerous times. But I’d never go on live TV or Radio for something unprepared. The Sportscene pundits wear it as a badge of honour.

The thing that really gets me is when they literally don't know the laws of the game. That's not something that needs any level of preparation during the week. Surely the BBC can get all of their pundits/commentators in a room pre-season to discuss any changes? It should be a pre-requisite for the job.

A few years back Liam McLeod and Barry Wilson were going apoplectic after the referee gave a free-kick for offside in the attacking half. The rules had been changed months beforehand to allow that and they spent the next half hour panning the officials.

There was also one in the Hearts game last Thursday, where Levein and Preston again didn't have a clue. I can't remember off the top of my head what it was about, possibly giving a bounce-ball when the referee got in the way.

[bennett]

On 09/10/2022 at 15:29, gannonball said:

Bennett is technically correct the BBC did stop covering Rangers games, because they were liquidated.

 

 

[Death in Vegas]

Genuinely wonder if he’s not well… seems like stuff like that is pretty common plus turning up to the Brechin photo day totally unprepared makes you worry.
 
he could of course just give zero fucks whatsoever.

Any interview he does he literally can’t remember a thing about his playing days in terms of matches.

[arab_joe]

7 hours ago, gingermunkie said:

Genuinely wonder if he’s not well… seems like stuff like that is pretty common plus turning up to the Brechin photo day totally unprepared makes you worry.

I've had that same thought a number of times.

He was on Off The Ball recently, discussing glamour pre-season friendlies... initially he couldn't remember that Dundee United (who he was in charge of at the time) had played Barcelona (not once, but twice)- then when he was reminded of it, he stated that Messi had not been playing (Messi scored a first-half hat-trick in one of the games).  As a fan I remember the games clearly - you'd think as a manager you'd not quickly forget going up against a club like Barcelona.

4 hours ago, Death in Vegas said:

Any interview he does he literally can’t remember a thing about his playing days in terms of matches.

He references his terrible memory quite frequently on his podcast with Amy Irons - I hope it is just that, a terrible memory, and nothing more sinister. 

[Estragon]

13 hours ago, Paxo said:

Craig Levein was good value yesterday.

Before the Killie game, discussing Kyle Lafferty, he reckoned that Laff would go on to score double figures this season, until Richard Gordon brought up the likely 10 game ban about to be imposed on him... Levein was completely oblivious to Lafferty's indiscretion and had to ask what the ban was all about.

Not having shown himself up as clueless enough about one of the teams he was being *paid to analyse* he followed up with the gem "the young lad Armstrong is doing well... I say young lad... but I have no idea if he's young or not".

If anyone else showed this level of incompetence at work, surely they'd be reprimanded?

Willie Miller had no idea who Scotland's all-time leading (male) scorer was when I was listening to the prematch en route to Scotland vs Ukraine the other week. It's like listening to a load of old boys at the bowling club. 

[VincentGuerin]

I've known a few footballers over the years, still know a couple. They tend to know much less about the kind of things fans take for granted.

To a fan a game is a memory, a day out, and fans love arguing about history, results, stats etc. Players just don't care about that stuff. Genuinely the ones I know have always surprised me with things they don't remember and aren't bothered about not remembering.

My brother-in-law couldn't tell me who he made his EFL debut against or what the score had been. I found that incredible, but he didn't really care. Another footballer I know completely forgot that he had played under a certain manager for a few months. A mate of my brother-in-law played in an FA Cup semi-final and remembered the score wrongly, just kind of shrugged when his dad corrected him.

It's something I've noticed over the years on Sportsound, the Si Ferry Interviews, Off the Ball etc too. Ex-players and managers often just don't remember things that seem obvious to a fan. Results wrong, opponents wrong, a manager wrong, the season something happened in wrongly recalled etc.

I really think most players and managers just mean it when they say 'onto the next game'. They just brush a lot of stuff off.

For example, Levein's hazy memory of the Barcelona thing makes sense if you think about it. Pre-season is a busy time. He'd have been thinking tactics, bringing players in, moving players out, trying players in a certain shape or combination. He'd be busy as f**k, and while fans might see Barcelona as exciting, he'd just see pre-season preparation and the issue of playing Barcelona would be way down his priority list.

FWIW, I met Levein last season and he seemed perfectly on the ball. I was actually surprised/relieved by how nice a guy he was. And a mate of mine was saying recently he and his pal chatted to Levein for a couple of hours in Riga, again, only positive reviews of the great man.

Edited October 11, 2022 by VincentGuerin

[Estragon]

25 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said:

I've known a few footballers over the years, still know a couple. They tend to know much less about the kind of things fans take for granted.

To a fan a game is a memory, a day out, and fans love arguing about history, results, stats etc. Players just don't care about that stuff. Genuinely the ones I know have always surprised me with things they don't remember and aren't bothered about not remembering.

My brother-in-law couldn't tell me who he made his EFL debut against or what the score had been. I found that incredible, but he didn't really care. Another footballer I know completely forgot that he had played under a certain manager for a few months. A mate of my brother-in-law played in an FA Cup semi-final and remembered the score wrongly, just kind of shrugged when his dad corrected him.

It's something I've noticed over the years on Sportsound, the Si Ferry Interviews, Off the Ball etc too. Ex-players and managers often just don't remember things that seem obvious to a fan. Results wrong, opponents wrong, a manager wrong, the season something happened in wrongly recalled etc.

I really think most players and managers just mean it when they say 'onto the next game'. They just brush a lot of stuff off.

For example, Levein's hazy memory of the Barcelona thing makes sense if you think about it. Pre-season is a busy time. He'd have been thinking tactics, bringing players in, moving players out, trying players in a certain shape or combination. He'd be busy as f**k, and while fans might see Barcelona as exciting, he'd just see pre-season preparation and the issue of playing Barcelona would be way down his priority list.

FWIW, I met Levein last season and he seemed perfectly on the ball. I was actually surprised/relieved by how nice a guy he was. And a mate of mine was saying recently he and his pal chatted to Levein for a couple of hours in Riga, again, only positive reviews of the great man.

Totally understand all of this, but I think the crucial difference is that the guys on Sportsound aren't just reminiscing about old times - they're employed, and presumably well paid, to bring journalistic content and professional opinion to a radio program which should be tailored to fan interest/priorities. 

The issue with SS is that for years, it's become completely remote from its audience - and has become a boys club circular talking shop. 

Craig Levein misremembering details on Sacked in the Morning in the context of an entertaining anecdote - absolutely no issue. Craig Levein obviously not knowing a key current issue in the SPFL when contracted to provide insight on key current issues on Sportsound, not right IMO.

 

ETA - I've no real issue with Levein in the context of the rest of the goons on Sportsound. I'm just using him as an example because I initially quoted Paxo's post about him.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Estragon

[VictorOnopko]

On 09/10/2022 at 16:15, bennett said:

 

Yet it was the bbc who apologised for a lack of accuracy and balance when it came to Rangers, Rangers were right and that is undeniable. 

 

Don't mistake the BBC's craven wheedling and sucking up as a sign that Rangers were "right".  You also now have MacIntyre, a diehard Rangers fan, ruining OAM every Saturday with wall to wall Ibrox chat and arguments about "Gio"'s tactics in Europe and team selection while there are dozens of games happening across Scotland - so you are right, there is "a lack of balance" when it comes to your club - just in totally the opposite way from what you are arguing.

I see you have quietly dropped your claim that the BBC "stopped covering" Rangers games during Rangers' huge multi-year huff - a sensible move given it was 100% bollocks.

[craigkillie]

Have heard that Levein doesn't even remember lifting a trophy in his career.

[kennie makevin]

1 hour ago, Estragon said:

Totally understand all of this, but I think the crucial difference is that the guys on Sportsound aren't just reminiscing about old times - they're employed, and presumably well paid, to bring journalistic content and professional opinion to a radio program which should be tailored to fan interest/priorities. 

The issue with SS is that for years, it's become completely remote from its audience - and has become a boys club circular talking shop. 

Craig Levein misremembering details on Sacked in the Morning in the context of an entertaining anecdote - absolutely no issue. Craig Levein obviously not knowing a key current issue in the SPFL when contracted to provide insight on key current issues on Sportsound, not right IMO.

 

ETA - I've no real issue with Levein in the context of the rest of the goons on Sportsound. I'm just using him as an example because I initially quoted Paxo's post about him.

'Journalistic content' requires journalists not barely literate half-wits who happened to have played professional football. Why the football media persist with this idea that the likes of Bonnar, Biscuits, Alan Rough, Neil McCann, Derek Johnstone, Willie Miller etc etc know more about football and are better at talking about it than non ex-pros just because they played the game for money baffles me. How much rubbish do they have to incoherently splutter before someone realises that they actually don't know what they're talking about ?

Edited October 11, 2022 by kennie makevin
Typo

[DA Baracus]

I don't get the impression that Levein is suffering from the onset of dementia. Seems perfectly coherent to me.

Him not wearing a suit for a club photo is hardly compelling evidence. Sounds like it's more likely that he didn't expect to be in the photo and they've shouted him over and insisted.

For all the things he doesn't recall, there's plenty he does.

There's plenty of Pars games I can't really recall details of, yet there are others where I recall ridiculous detail. It's often totally random. For example, I can't really mind much of the 07 Scottish Cup final yet recall plenty of details from the 04 one. I remember loads of what I did before and after the game in 04 but not 07, and pretty sure I was drinking more heavily at the 04 one (indeed had had a wee spew the night before due to overindulgence of Galahad lager and some choice spirits).

There's games during COVID that I watched on stream and have little recollection of, yet others I can recount plenty of things about. Again, seems quite random which games I do and don't recall, and I never drank before any of the games on streams.

The brain is an odd thing.

[BrodieJ12]

Interesting comments on Levein. I heard him admitting his memory was shocking the other week on Off the Ball as well but seemed to be a running joke. I wonder what he is like as an after dinner speaker if his memory is so poor, I guess he has a number of well rehearsed ones that he just rolls out? 

[Mark Connolly]

7 hours ago, arab_joe said:

He was on Off The Ball recently, discussing glamour pre-season friendlies... initially he couldn't remember that Dundee United (who he was in charge of at the time) had played Barcelona (not once, but twice)- then when he was reminded of it, he stated that Messi had not been playing (Messi scored a first-half hat-trick in one of the games).  As a fan I remember the games clearly - you'd think as a manager you'd not quickly forget going up against a club like Barcelona.

Not that clearly - Messi came on at half time, and scored the hat trick in the second half.

I was in the Shed that day - Henry missed an absolute sitter and got dog's abuse. When he eventually scored the equaliser, he just gave us all a wee smile. Messi was fucking ridiculous that day though.

https://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/news/2518/BARCA-WIN-5-1.html

[arab_joe]

3 hours ago, VincentGuerin said:

Levein's hazy memory of the Barcelona thing makes sense if you think about it. Pre-season is a busy time. He'd have been thinking tactics, bringing players in, moving players out, trying players in a certain shape or combination. He'd be busy as f**k, and while fans might see Barcelona as exciting, he'd just see pre-season preparation and the issue of playing Barcelona would be way down his priority list.

FWIW, I met Levein last season and he seemed perfectly on the ball. I was actually surprised/relieved by how nice a guy he was. And a mate of mine was saying recently he and his pal chatted to Levein for a couple of hours in Riga, again, only positive reviews of the great man.

You may well be right - and I certainly hope you are.

I was just very surprised, as he seemed completely unaware of the friendly even when it was brought up by Tam Cowan, who asked whether he had been involved - Levein was then asking aloud whether it was Hearts or Hibs who had played them etc., totally oblivious to the fact that he had managed United in the same fixture.  I get that it may not have been fresh in his memory, but when asked about it I would have expected him to remember. 

We almost beat them the first year, with Henry scoring in the final few minutes - I've never spoken to (or heard an interview of) anyone who was present at either game who doesn't remember it pretty vividly.

2 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

I don't get the impression that Levein is suffering from the onset of dementia. Seems perfectly coherent to me.

Him not wearing a suit for a club photo is hardly compelling evidence. Sounds like it's more likely that he didn't expect to be in the photo and they've shouted him over and insisted.

I hope you're right.

He mentioned on Off The Ball that he had recently gone to a Brechin away game only to discover that they were actually playing at home that day (or perhaps it was the other way round, my memory is a little hazy...) - and there were a few other things on the Sacked in the Morning podcast that just caused me a slight bit of concern.  As others have said, he may well play up to it a bit for comedic value!

9 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

Not that clearly - Messi came on at half time, and scored the hat trick in the second half.

I was in the Shed that day - Henry missed an absolute sitter and got dog's abuse. When he eventually scored the equaliser, he just gave us all a wee smile. Messi was fucking ridiculous that day though.

https://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/news/2518/BARCA-WIN-5-1.html

My apologies, you are of course absolutely right.  What a privilege it was to see young Leo Messi grace the Tannadice pitch.

I sat in the Shed for the first one, it was an incredible atmosphere considering it was a pre-season friendly.  I'm still raging that they chopped off Robson's header.  If memory serves, that was Prince Buaben's debut - he ran awkwardly, kicked the ball in a weird way, but what a legend he became.  

[DA Baracus]

23 minutes ago, arab_joe said:

I hope you're right.

He mentioned on Off The Ball that he had recently gone to a Brechin away game only to discover that they were actually playing at home that day (or perhaps it was the other way round, my memory is a little hazy...) - and there were a few other things on the Sacked in the Morning podcast that just caused me a slight bit of concern.  As others have said, he may well play up to it a bit for comedic value!

There was a goalie (maybe even Brechin) who, just a couple of years or so ago, did the same thing.