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Johnny And Al's Jingoism On TV

It's not the 1990s anymore and we're not cheering on 'our' boys in Europe. We feel like we know more than commentators referring to Bayern as a 'very capable' side.

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Comments 1 - 10 of (29)

ak (Liverpool) says...

I agree completely with Johny & Al, but i find that this 'jingoism' or 'bias' extends not only to the English teams when they play the European, but with the so called 'bigger' teams against the lower teams in the PL. Particularly, there is a blatant bias, almost an unseemly cringe-worthy gushing whenever Man Utd, Chelsea or Arsenal take to the pitch, no matter whom they are up against. Its not just ITV, I find Sky guilty of the same thing pretty often.

Posted 11:50am 25th February 2013

jimbobbarker (Torquay United) says...

The polar opposite is true when commentators do an England game. Beat Brazil and its a kind of begrudging 'yeah, they are not playing too badly' but should England struggle against or not thrash Italy then it's a 'England need to be able to beat teams like this comfortably if they are to be considered any good' and 'England are really poor tonight'. They assume we all want to slag them off, the English fans that is, we all know the rest of the world enviously hates us.

Posted 8:02pm 24th February 2013

Ezy_Rider says...

I don't disagree with anything said here, but you have made this point several times now. Maybe a spin on it in future, as to who/what you'd like to see done differently? Or some suggestions of why this situation is allowed to persist despite TV coverage being so obviously rubbish?

Posted 3:09pm 24th February 2013

jim1985 (Manchester United) says...

It is unfortunate that you would pick on ITV. They have assembled a good panel by consensus. Lee Dixon talks a lot of sense and Roy Keane is prepared to criticise his own fans. Townsend is something of a remnant from the way that it used to be. Commentary styles can be neutral or slighty biased but can't be everything to everyone. I can excuse the latter in this case as there is a tradition amongst commentators to champions the English side on their European journey. Too little in this article is devoted to the fact that deep down, cries for a neutral style of commentary will primary serve the small minded haters amongst us who simply want the English side to lose. I'd say that accounts for far more of the people on here that those who genuinely love/support or follow foreign teams. It basically comes down to not liking 'interst english team here' (typically manchester united. I don't think we should cater for people who just tune in to see us lose. And although it is a minor quibble and a side point I would again like to point out where Manchester United are the exception to the rule in that our team is not as 'foreign' as some. Danny Welbeck is a local lad who scored away in the Bernabeu last time out. Any any other time we can have Evans, Ferdinand, Jones, Smalling, Cleverly, Welbeck, Rooney, Young, Carrick, Giggs and Scholes on the pitch. Dare I say it even some of the 'foreigners' that we do have are so long in the premier league that they are part of the furniture. You could easily support Manchester united on the basis that you are proud that the greatest team in the world is British (lol).

Posted 11:05am 24th February 2013

josh365 (Arsenal) says...

I agree with manimal, though I'm not British, I grew up on the EPL, and if anyone took the time out of their day to actually watch a Bundesliga match you'd find most of them aren't all that interesting. I follow the big 4 leagues, and most interesting matches (small teams) from most to least are: EPL, Italian Serie A, La Liga then Bundesliga, I support BVB in Germany and they are the only team that constantly bring energy match after match like an City last year, so yes, I do get bored, and their on a British network, no matter how much times have changed I still believe most of UK will be behind their home team. P.S. Pirlo's beard commands that you must support Juve if you follow Serie A

Posted 11:31pm 23rd February 2013

vincenzerama (Charlton Athletic) says...

Good article. I quite agree. ITV forget that there are a lot of people who don't like Arsenal, Man United or Chelsea. And yes, Townsend is unforgivably awful.

Posted 1:58pm 23rd February 2013

manimal says...

I get bored watching foreign football. Is it OK to admit that?

Posted 3:31pm 22nd February 2013

oodes (Manchester United) says...

I agree with mark avfc ,get townsend off the TV , what a tw*t. He is the worst football commentator on TV (A title he has wrestled hard off Mark lawerence if you happen to watch TV3) with his pea-brain analysis of a match which makes Gary Neville look like footballs answer to Einstein.

Posted 2:45pm 22nd February 2013

daliem (Bristol City) says...

I know this subject divides opinions, but I really like this article. I don¿t blame the ex footballers, its not what they¿ve been trained to do, my main gripe is with Tilsley & his sort on ITV. They always seem more interested in saying something ¿clever¿, something that rhymes or something that they hope will be used as a sound bite somewhere. The article¿s right, you do feel like you know more than they do and that¿s with them looking up the opposition on Google! Its almost like ITV are there to attract viewers with something shiny, whereas a 5 Live for example are there for the fan who doesn¿t need exciting all the time. Don¿t be afraid to say the game¿s rubbish for fear of viewers turning off and losing numbers for advertising, we¿re not so stupid that we won¿t realise until you tell us. Plus you don¿t have to build every game up as the biggest game in years¿.they¿re not. Sky have to advertise and you don¿t get all that guff from Martin Tyler. Maybe they¿re all under instruction from ITV to act this way, maybe Danny Baker had it right when he said of the ITV commentators ¿we¿ve all (at BBC) seen their dusty CVs gathering dust in reception¿. I¿m not so sure.

Posted 2:37pm 22nd February 2013

zedjev (Everton) says...

'and have found all of these things hugely enriching in a way that going to Darlington, fingering a local girl and eating chips just isn't ' I really hope you washed your hands..

Posted 12:33pm 22nd February 2013

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