Another weekend passes us by, but this one was different. A new Premier League season got underway, but what did we learn from all the hoo-hah and the nitty-gritty? Here's our thoughts on the matter...
1) Here in the UK, TV viewers tuned to Sky Sports for live coverage of the first game of the season, Sunderland v Tottenham, but something had changed. Yes, it was their on-screen graphics which always gets a new look at this time of the year, but this season Sky have opted to show the score in the corner of the screen using only two letters for each team instead of three. Whereas before you might have seen Aston Villa's scoreline against Blackburn Rovers depicted thus:
AST 1 - 2 BLA
...now it might look something like this:
AV 1 - 2 BR
Call me a pathetic little schoolboy if you like, but I'm looking forward to Sky's coverage of Cambridge United's home game against Northampton Town in the FA Cup...
2) Over on the BBC, Gary Lineker introduced the first edition of 'Match of the Day' from a studio which looked like one of the pods on the London Eye decorated to look like the shelving section at Ikea. Not the way to gain the trust of your viewers.
If anyone's listening at the BBC, here's my advice: sit Lineker behind a desk with the 'Match of the Day' logo on the wall behind him and give Mark Lawrenson the same treatment while you're at it. They'll be renewing their TV licenses quicker than you can say 'Tony Gubba'.
3) On the pitch, we discovered that Wayne Rooney's got a foot that's susceptible to injury. (Technically not something we learned at the weekend because we've had that discussion at least twice before - usually on the eve of major footballing events. Sorry to have brought it up.)
4) Sven-Goran Eriksson really does seem to know what he's doing. So where did he go wrong as coach of England? He guided a team made up of nothing but Englishmen. Simple when you think about it.
So what did you learn from the weekend? Did we miss anything? Leave us a comment and let us know...
We learned that 50,000,000+ pounds (sorry, no pound sign on my keyboard) of summer signings don't guarantee you the title.
ReplyDeleteActually, we mostly already knew that, but some reinforcement doesn't hurt (especially for the pundits, who never seem to grasp the lesson).
We have the international production of games where they use as many letters as possible. For instance, Liverpool was LIV'RPOOL. I don't know why they can't just add the E. However, when the Setanta (US) game is same one shown on Setanta (UK) we have the UK production, fewer letters and odds on the screen.
ReplyDeleteIt seems everyone received a facelift recently. I turned on Sky Sports News the other day and saw all new graphics and studio sets. Unfortunatly, the presenters were all the same.
In regards to Rooney, England are up against it now. The back line is in disarray, and the forwards are injured or suspended at a time when a draw could mean disaster. Also, rather than enjoying BA's first class hospitality and the finer suites in the US, maybe McClaren should have been home scouting suitable resplacments.
RE: Sven -
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, if England had to play West Ham in every tournament match, we would be World, European, Commonwealth and Commonwealth champions.