http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7868759.stm
Sky have won 4 packages so far of the next round of bidding rights, with the other packages going to a second round of bids.
Details of prices or which packages have yet to be announced, and won't be until all 6 packages have been awarded, but it is likely Sky have won the rights to the packages they already hold. Sky can win one more package under EU legislation.
There is the possibility that live rights could become even more fragmented with ESPN rumoured to be interested in bidding.
Personally, I don't think Sky will win, or even go for any more packages. One package isn't enough for a PPV package, which by all accounts lost Sky money, and an extra package on the subscription channels doesn't make financial sense, as the outlay will not be recouped in extra subscriptions. Unless of course, Sky try to win another package in an attempt to run Setanta out of business.
All very interesting, especially to see how much has been paid. This could be the first time the cost of rights has not risen significantly since the last round of bidding - the BBC have held highlights rights for the same price as last time (effectively cheaper given inflation), plus MOTD2 will now be on the iplayer the Tuesday after broadcast (presumably so other outlets retain some kind of exclusivity for a period of time).
Showing posts with label sky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sky. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Thursday, 25 September 2008
League Cup; Newcastle vs Tottenham
Not dwelling on this one - awful match. First half instantly forgettable save for minor clash between Coloccini and Pavlyuchenko.
In the second half, Tottenham were marginally better, and scored through Pavlyuchenko and a drive from O'Hara. Owen got one back for Newcastle at the end, but I'd given up by then.
Both teams were woeful, and on this form it is little surprise they are stuck at the bottom of the table - no creativity, no fluidity, nothing to offer the fans of the clubs any glimmer of hope. The 30,000 fans who stayed away had the best idea. The highlight of the match for me was when the screen turned green when Sky had a problem with their uplink, but unfortunately for the viewer, it soon came back on.
Annoyingly for me, there was a full round of Serie A matches, so I could have switched over to Digitalb and at least watched one of those. Never mind.
Newcastle are deep in the mire, and unless they get the management and ownership sorted out quickly, they are a realistic prospect for relegation, as West Brom, Hull and Stoke all seem much more capable of collecting points that Newcastle do.
In the second half, Tottenham were marginally better, and scored through Pavlyuchenko and a drive from O'Hara. Owen got one back for Newcastle at the end, but I'd given up by then.
Both teams were woeful, and on this form it is little surprise they are stuck at the bottom of the table - no creativity, no fluidity, nothing to offer the fans of the clubs any glimmer of hope. The 30,000 fans who stayed away had the best idea. The highlight of the match for me was when the screen turned green when Sky had a problem with their uplink, but unfortunately for the viewer, it soon came back on.
Annoyingly for me, there was a full round of Serie A matches, so I could have switched over to Digitalb and at least watched one of those. Never mind.
Newcastle are deep in the mire, and unless they get the management and ownership sorted out quickly, they are a realistic prospect for relegation, as West Brom, Hull and Stoke all seem much more capable of collecting points that Newcastle do.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Champions League; Barcelona vs Sporting Lisbon; Marseille vs Liverpool
The Champions League returns and the Sky hype machine gets cranked up a notch. As I'll be watching Manchester United's match tomorrow, I thought I'd take in one of the matches not involving English teams tonight, and tuned into the first half of Barcelona's match against Sporting Lisbon. A good match on paper, between two skillful sides, turned out to be fairly dull, in the half that I watched anyway.
In a Nou Camp that was far from full, Barcelona dominated possession, notching up 70% of the possession at one stage. Barcelona were completely in control, although creating very little in the final third of the pitch. Sporting's apparent unwillingness to chase the ball down meant Barcelona could pass the ball round easily without needing to extend themselves too much, killing the game as a spectacle. They became even less adventurous after Marquez gave them the lead from a poorly defended corner. I decided to switch over at half-time to watch Marseille's match against Liverpool, which at 2-1 to Liverpool, looked a mych more balanced and enticing prospect.
One advantage of watching the Champions League on Sky is their interactive facility - offering six matches tonight and eight tomorrow, all of which can be watched at once if you have ADHD, or you can focus on one and be kept abreast of developments elsewhere by a message on the bottom of the screen as the goals go in, pressing the red button to view them. Sky have improved this facility this season, by showing the replayed goal twice - last season you needed to react within milliseconds of the message going up in order to view anything more than players celebrating a goal. This season you can be slightly more relaxed about things. Unfortunately, Sky have decided against showing the match in whatever format the host broadcaster provide, choosing to chop the top and bottom off a 4:3 feed to fake a 16:9 picture, meaning that players at the top of the screen regularly have their head chopped off, or disappear behind the score graphic.
The Marseille vs Liverpool match was a much more entertaining affair, between two closely matched teams. Marseille had the majority of the play and consistently dispossessed Liverpool in midfield, although it was Liverpool who had the better of the chances as Babel blasted a ball from six yards against the keeper, who managed to get an arm in the way. Both teams had interesting kits - Liverpool's absent of the sponsor logo due to the alcohol advertising ban in France, Marseille for some reason in a change kit of gold and black. The impressive Stade Velodrome had swathes of empty seats - perhaps Champions League apathy is reaching the south coast of France.
In other matches, the Champions League new boys had impressive debuts - Anorthosis Famagusta sharing the points with Werder Bremen in a goaless draw, but by far the most impressive result being Cluj's win in Rome. Both matches frustratingly spoiling my accumulators and denying me my 2p fortune.
In a Nou Camp that was far from full, Barcelona dominated possession, notching up 70% of the possession at one stage. Barcelona were completely in control, although creating very little in the final third of the pitch. Sporting's apparent unwillingness to chase the ball down meant Barcelona could pass the ball round easily without needing to extend themselves too much, killing the game as a spectacle. They became even less adventurous after Marquez gave them the lead from a poorly defended corner. I decided to switch over at half-time to watch Marseille's match against Liverpool, which at 2-1 to Liverpool, looked a mych more balanced and enticing prospect.
One advantage of watching the Champions League on Sky is their interactive facility - offering six matches tonight and eight tomorrow, all of which can be watched at once if you have ADHD, or you can focus on one and be kept abreast of developments elsewhere by a message on the bottom of the screen as the goals go in, pressing the red button to view them. Sky have improved this facility this season, by showing the replayed goal twice - last season you needed to react within milliseconds of the message going up in order to view anything more than players celebrating a goal. This season you can be slightly more relaxed about things. Unfortunately, Sky have decided against showing the match in whatever format the host broadcaster provide, choosing to chop the top and bottom off a 4:3 feed to fake a 16:9 picture, meaning that players at the top of the screen regularly have their head chopped off, or disappear behind the score graphic.
The Marseille vs Liverpool match was a much more entertaining affair, between two closely matched teams. Marseille had the majority of the play and consistently dispossessed Liverpool in midfield, although it was Liverpool who had the better of the chances as Babel blasted a ball from six yards against the keeper, who managed to get an arm in the way. Both teams had interesting kits - Liverpool's absent of the sponsor logo due to the alcohol advertising ban in France, Marseille for some reason in a change kit of gold and black. The impressive Stade Velodrome had swathes of empty seats - perhaps Champions League apathy is reaching the south coast of France.
In other matches, the Champions League new boys had impressive debuts - Anorthosis Famagusta sharing the points with Werder Bremen in a goaless draw, but by far the most impressive result being Cluj's win in Rome. Both matches frustratingly spoiling my accumulators and denying me my 2p fortune.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Czech Republic (and a little mention of England)
Sky's first match of their new deal to screen Northern Ireland's home internationals saw them screening probably Northern Ireland's toughest home fixture against group favourites Czech Republic. Gerry Armstrong took a break from his La Liga duties to play summariser, and the little Northern Irish man from Sky Sports News whose name escapes me presented the show.
Didn't quite catch the name of the commentator, it wasn't Jackie Fullerton but it sounded bloody like him, although with less of the trademark Fullerton chuckles.
It was a decent match though, both sides coming close. Chris Brunt has probably the best chance of the match, drawing a save out of Cech when baring down on goal, but a draw was probably fair. Northern Ireland were arguably the better team, but lacked cutting edge up front, as is often the problem. There was hope though, that it would be possible to get some results against the weaker teams in the group at Windsor Park if they played like that again - now if they can only produce that away from home.
Meanwhile, Setanta will be delighted with their match, England at Croatia, Walcott's hat-trick helping to earn a 4-1 win. I haven't seen any of the goals yet, but internet reports suggest a comprehensive win in the manner England should be capable of more often. Perhaps the knives where out for Cappello to soon - no doubt tomorrow's papers will go to the other extreme and start to build England up as World Cup hopefuls again, until the next bad result comes along.
Didn't quite catch the name of the commentator, it wasn't Jackie Fullerton but it sounded bloody like him, although with less of the trademark Fullerton chuckles.
It was a decent match though, both sides coming close. Chris Brunt has probably the best chance of the match, drawing a save out of Cech when baring down on goal, but a draw was probably fair. Northern Ireland were arguably the better team, but lacked cutting edge up front, as is often the problem. There was hope though, that it would be possible to get some results against the weaker teams in the group at Windsor Park if they played like that again - now if they can only produce that away from home.
Meanwhile, Setanta will be delighted with their match, England at Croatia, Walcott's hat-trick helping to earn a 4-1 win. I haven't seen any of the goals yet, but internet reports suggest a comprehensive win in the manner England should be capable of more often. Perhaps the knives where out for Cappello to soon - no doubt tomorrow's papers will go to the other extreme and start to build England up as World Cup hopefuls again, until the next bad result comes along.
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Saturday review
Started the day with Goalissimo and Soccer AM as usual (great piece from Chris Kamara at Middlesbrough's Riverside stadium, which unfortunately hasn't turned up on their website, but is well worth a viewing if you get a chance.
Then I watched the first half of Southampton vs Blackpool, which Blackpool won with a penalty right on the stroke of half-time. The first half was an entertaining affair, with both sides going close at either end. Can't comment on the second half, as we made a mercy dash to the allotment to get some vegetables for tonight's tea, and ended coming away with a marrow, cabbage and some apples donated by other allotmenteers, brucey bonus.
Off to Christie this afternoon, where we lost 2-1 to Dagenham and Redbridge. The performace was much better than against Rotherham, but poor keeping at a free kick and failure to clear the lines in the box let Dagenham score two early in the first half, and it was uphill from there. Credit to the management, who changed the central midfield by bringing in Steward Drummond and Garry Hunter, which made a massive difference, and later we threw three up front by bringing on Diarmuid O'Carroll, who scored seconds after coming on. Despite late pressure, we couldn't get an equaliser, but the last 20 minutes or so bode well if we can utilise what we've learnt today - improvements must be made in defence to stop giving goals away so cheaply though. Credit today to Tony Roberts, the Dagenham keeping, who is always a tremendous laugh, responding to the banter from the crowd and providing a bit of a laugh when otherwise we might have been in the doldrums.
In the Premier League, it seems like normality has resumed already - Hull's fairytale start was brought crashing to the ground with a 5-0 home humbling from Wigan, who finally get something out of a game after playing well against Chelsea and West Ham. Everton's failure to add to the team in the transfer window showed as they were handed a 3-0 spanking at Goodison to Portsmouth, who showed they can't keep getting worse. Stoke showed last weeks win against Villa was probably not the norm as they went down 2-1 to Middlesbrough; Bolton drew 0-0 with West Brom, and although I haven't seen any highlights, I'm willing to bet it wasn't pretty.
As I type this, Arsenal are 2-0 up against Newcastle and showing the potential to run riot. Fabregas is back and showing just what a difference he makes to their side. Newcastle look hopeless outclasses and a win against one of the "big four" looks as far away as ever.
Then I watched the first half of Southampton vs Blackpool, which Blackpool won with a penalty right on the stroke of half-time. The first half was an entertaining affair, with both sides going close at either end. Can't comment on the second half, as we made a mercy dash to the allotment to get some vegetables for tonight's tea, and ended coming away with a marrow, cabbage and some apples donated by other allotmenteers, brucey bonus.
Off to Christie this afternoon, where we lost 2-1 to Dagenham and Redbridge. The performace was much better than against Rotherham, but poor keeping at a free kick and failure to clear the lines in the box let Dagenham score two early in the first half, and it was uphill from there. Credit to the management, who changed the central midfield by bringing in Steward Drummond and Garry Hunter, which made a massive difference, and later we threw three up front by bringing on Diarmuid O'Carroll, who scored seconds after coming on. Despite late pressure, we couldn't get an equaliser, but the last 20 minutes or so bode well if we can utilise what we've learnt today - improvements must be made in defence to stop giving goals away so cheaply though. Credit today to Tony Roberts, the Dagenham keeping, who is always a tremendous laugh, responding to the banter from the crowd and providing a bit of a laugh when otherwise we might have been in the doldrums.
In the Premier League, it seems like normality has resumed already - Hull's fairytale start was brought crashing to the ground with a 5-0 home humbling from Wigan, who finally get something out of a game after playing well against Chelsea and West Ham. Everton's failure to add to the team in the transfer window showed as they were handed a 3-0 spanking at Goodison to Portsmouth, who showed they can't keep getting worse. Stoke showed last weeks win against Villa was probably not the norm as they went down 2-1 to Middlesbrough; Bolton drew 0-0 with West Brom, and although I haven't seen any highlights, I'm willing to bet it wasn't pretty.
As I type this, Arsenal are 2-0 up against Newcastle and showing the potential to run riot. Fabregas is back and showing just what a difference he makes to their side. Newcastle look hopeless outclasses and a win against one of the "big four" looks as far away as ever.
Saturday, 23 August 2008
Monday - Wednesday preview
A few interesting matches in the next few days - Portsmouth vs Man Utd in the Monday night Premier League match (Sky Sports 1), as both teams look for an improvement in form on their opening day features. Hopefully it will be more interesting than the Charity Shield match.
Tuesday sees Queen of the South look to overcome a deficit in the UEFA Cup against Danish side Nordsjaelland (BBC2 Scotland), which looks like a tall order. Also on Sky Sports that evening, Coventry host Newcastle with both teams having made a promising start to the season. There's a few other Champion's League/UEFA Cup qualifiers that night, but nothing incredibly interesting.
Wednesday sees a J-League match-up in the morning with Vissel Kobe vs Kashima Antlers on Eurosport 2, while in the evening, there are several interesting Champion's League qualifiers - Fenerbache vs Partizan Belgrade is finely balanced (RTS Sat, 13e), as is Schalke vs Athletico Madrid, with Schalke having a 1-0 first leg lead (ARD, 13e/19.2e). Arsenal should be fine against Steve McClaren's Twente (BBC3), and while Liverpool should cruise past Standard Liege, they will need to improve on the form they have shown in their last few matches (ITV1). Digitalb carry the final of the South American version of the Supercup, with Boca Juniors facing Arsenal in an all Argentinan clash.
Tuesday sees Queen of the South look to overcome a deficit in the UEFA Cup against Danish side Nordsjaelland (BBC2 Scotland), which looks like a tall order. Also on Sky Sports that evening, Coventry host Newcastle with both teams having made a promising start to the season. There's a few other Champion's League/UEFA Cup qualifiers that night, but nothing incredibly interesting.
Wednesday sees a J-League match-up in the morning with Vissel Kobe vs Kashima Antlers on Eurosport 2, while in the evening, there are several interesting Champion's League qualifiers - Fenerbache vs Partizan Belgrade is finely balanced (RTS Sat, 13e), as is Schalke vs Athletico Madrid, with Schalke having a 1-0 first leg lead (ARD, 13e/19.2e). Arsenal should be fine against Steve McClaren's Twente (BBC3), and while Liverpool should cruise past Standard Liege, they will need to improve on the form they have shown in their last few matches (ITV1). Digitalb carry the final of the South American version of the Supercup, with Boca Juniors facing Arsenal in an all Argentinan clash.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Scotland vs Northern Ireland, 20 August 2008
Scotland on Sky - Jim White is unlocked from the Sky Sports News studio and dispatched to Hampden, and Gerry Armstrong is removed from the room with the Spanish TV for his La Liga commentrary and sent up to join Jim. And as it's Scotland, of course Charlie Nicholas gets to do one of his live matches.
A match between two teams who narrowly missed out on going to Euro 2008 (and probably would have gone if they could have immproved some of their results against sides ranked much lower than them) and possibly a pre-cursor to some kind of revived Home Nations tournament, though not involving England as the rest of the British Isles are beneath them. Experimental sides from both teams - Ryan McGivern made his debut for Northern Ireland before he's even playe for Man City. To contrast the depth of resources available to each side, Northern Ireland named a massive 5 substitues.
Hampden wasn't full by any stretch, but there was a strong Northern Ireland contingent who made the short journey across the Irish Sea. There's fireworks and a loud PA playing Muse, booing for the Northern Irish anthem (not sure what the Scots have against God save the Queen), but the Northern Irish fans still manage to sing it at about twice the speed of the band.
Scrappy old game, few chances, Scotland had majority of the possession as Northern Ireland packed the midfield and chased and harried Scotland everytime they had the ball, trying to set David Healy away. Ryan McGivern managed to pick up two yellows on his debut, and picked up a red card on his debut. Surprisingly, one of his cards wasn't for his rubbish haircut. Northern Ireland earned a penalty not long after when Feeny was brought down in the area, but substitue Alan McGregor guessed correctly to save Healy's well struck penalty.
In other news, seems Silvrestre has left Man Utd for Arsenal. Looks lke Ferguson is trimming the squad down, presumably with a view to blooding more of the youngsters like Jonny Evans (although he's primarily a centre back) or the young Da Silva. Unusual for a transfer between two of the "Big Four", even if Silvestre is only likely to be as much of a squad player as he's been at Man Utd recently.
Sky: 5
Setanta: 3
BBC: 1
Foreign Satellite: 2
A match between two teams who narrowly missed out on going to Euro 2008 (and probably would have gone if they could have immproved some of their results against sides ranked much lower than them) and possibly a pre-cursor to some kind of revived Home Nations tournament, though not involving England as the rest of the British Isles are beneath them. Experimental sides from both teams - Ryan McGivern made his debut for Northern Ireland before he's even playe for Man City. To contrast the depth of resources available to each side, Northern Ireland named a massive 5 substitues.
Hampden wasn't full by any stretch, but there was a strong Northern Ireland contingent who made the short journey across the Irish Sea. There's fireworks and a loud PA playing Muse, booing for the Northern Irish anthem (not sure what the Scots have against God save the Queen), but the Northern Irish fans still manage to sing it at about twice the speed of the band.
Scrappy old game, few chances, Scotland had majority of the possession as Northern Ireland packed the midfield and chased and harried Scotland everytime they had the ball, trying to set David Healy away. Ryan McGivern managed to pick up two yellows on his debut, and picked up a red card on his debut. Surprisingly, one of his cards wasn't for his rubbish haircut. Northern Ireland earned a penalty not long after when Feeny was brought down in the area, but substitue Alan McGregor guessed correctly to save Healy's well struck penalty.
In other news, seems Silvrestre has left Man Utd for Arsenal. Looks lke Ferguson is trimming the squad down, presumably with a view to blooding more of the youngsters like Jonny Evans (although he's primarily a centre back) or the young Da Silva. Unusual for a transfer between two of the "Big Four", even if Silvestre is only likely to be as much of a squad player as he's been at Man Utd recently.
Sky: 5
Setanta: 3
BBC: 1
Foreign Satellite: 2
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Man Utd 1 - 1 Newcastle Utd, 17 August 2008
After the great football in the Chelsea - Pompey game earlier, this was a disappointing follow-up. United were missing several players, notably Tevez through a family bereavment and Ronaldo through injury, and it showed as they struggled to create chances, and struggled to take chances.
Gone was the free-flowing football from last season, and it was replaced with a staccato stop-start performance through of mistakes, which made play disjointed and fairly dull to watch.
For me, if United don't sign Berbatov or another striker, they won't win the league again this season - whilst their attacking players are very good, there are too few of them - Scholes and Giggs are showing their age, Saha is constantly crocked and Campbell shows promise but is still very much learning his trade, leaving the mantle to Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo to lead the attack. United were fortunate with injuries last season, but it would be surprising if they rode their luck in such a way again this season.
It's only the first match of the season, and with Tevez and Ronaldo to come back, it it shouldn't be panic stations yet, but they must keep up with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea until Ronaldo comes back.
Matches so far this season:
Sky: 4
Setanta: 3
Foreign Satellite: 2
Gone was the free-flowing football from last season, and it was replaced with a staccato stop-start performance through of mistakes, which made play disjointed and fairly dull to watch.
For me, if United don't sign Berbatov or another striker, they won't win the league again this season - whilst their attacking players are very good, there are too few of them - Scholes and Giggs are showing their age, Saha is constantly crocked and Campbell shows promise but is still very much learning his trade, leaving the mantle to Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo to lead the attack. United were fortunate with injuries last season, but it would be surprising if they rode their luck in such a way again this season.
It's only the first match of the season, and with Tevez and Ronaldo to come back, it it shouldn't be panic stations yet, but they must keep up with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea until Ronaldo comes back.
Matches so far this season:
Sky: 4
Setanta: 3
Foreign Satellite: 2
Chelsea 4 - 0 Portsmouth, 17 August 2008
After being derided as a boring team for the neutral to watch ever since Mourinho took control of the club, Chelsea have just delivered a devestating show of football to perhaps blow that old chestnut out of the water. Portsmouth were dominated in the first half by a showing of fantastic passing and movement and went in three down at the break. Chelsea took their foot off the gas in the second period, but Deco scored a delightful long range goal near the end, although it was helped by questionable positioning by James in the Popey goal.
£8 million for Deco, in a market where Robbie Keane costs £20 million and Gareth Barry is quoted at £18 million is an absolute steal. Ever since he signed for Chelsea, I had a feeling he would make a massive difference to their team, and even though it's only the first match of the season, he made it. His through balls to the likes of Anelka, Drogba and Kalou with pace could be devestating.
Of course, Portsmouth have the disadvantage of being the first team to play Chelsea and that makes it difficult to decide how to play against them. After today's showing, I'd guess most teams will just opt to shut up shop at Stamford Bridge and hope to hold out for a goal from a set piece. Lesser teams that come to try and outplay Chelsea could be massacred.
It also shows the huge gap between the top four teams in the Premier League and the rest. Portsmouth are supposed to be a team on the up - Cup Champions and have been challenging for Europe for the last couple of seasons. But to barely be able to hold of Chelsea for even 10 minutes and be chasing shadows for most of the match illustrates just how unbalanced this league has become.
Matches so far this season:
Sky: 3
Setanta: 3
Foreign Satellite: 2
£8 million for Deco, in a market where Robbie Keane costs £20 million and Gareth Barry is quoted at £18 million is an absolute steal. Ever since he signed for Chelsea, I had a feeling he would make a massive difference to their team, and even though it's only the first match of the season, he made it. His through balls to the likes of Anelka, Drogba and Kalou with pace could be devestating.
Of course, Portsmouth have the disadvantage of being the first team to play Chelsea and that makes it difficult to decide how to play against them. After today's showing, I'd guess most teams will just opt to shut up shop at Stamford Bridge and hope to hold out for a goal from a set piece. Lesser teams that come to try and outplay Chelsea could be massacred.
It also shows the huge gap between the top four teams in the Premier League and the rest. Portsmouth are supposed to be a team on the up - Cup Champions and have been challenging for Europe for the last couple of seasons. But to barely be able to hold of Chelsea for even 10 minutes and be chasing shadows for most of the match illustrates just how unbalanced this league has become.
Matches so far this season:
Sky: 3
Setanta: 3
Foreign Satellite: 2
Saturday, 16 August 2008
The first day of the Premier League Season
EPL back today. Be still whilst I contain my joy!
Anyhoo, started the day with the return of Soccer AM. New look to go along with the new presenter (feel a bit for Andy Goldstein, I quite liked him, an improvement over Tim Lovejoy in my opinion, who had become a self-centred tool). Although it's pretty much the same old show as ever, signs are that the new presenter looks OK, and hopefully wil improve as he builds up a rapport with Helen.
Staying on Sky for the opening match of the EPL, Arsenal vs West Brom, looked like it might be a rampage for Arsenal as Nasri opened the scoring after 4 minutes. However, luckily for West Brom, Arsenal struggled to create many more chances and looked in control without creating much after that. My interest waned and I browsed the internet looking for a new phone whilst watching it.
I was shocked at how thin Arsenal's squad has become. I know they are suffering from injuries, but they seem to be down to almost the bones, and even had a 16-year old (according to the SKy interactive stats) on the bench. Lots of young players indicate just how much of a selling club Arsenal have become - get a player young, train him in the Arsenal way and flog him high after a few years. It would be interesting if Arsenal ever were taken over by an investor - Wenger could make somebody a lot of money, but as I heard somewhere else, the amount of players they need to sell to help pay off the stadium debt must be worrying, especially if Arsenal don't qualify for the Champions League. Will be an interesting season to see if the young players can rise to the challenge when they face sterner tests.
Off to Christie Park for the first home match of the season against Rotherham. We were comprehensively outplayed for the majority of the match, going 1-0 down to a superbly taken long range goal after 8 minutes, and after that Rotherham dominated us for the match. They broke strong and quick, and we couldn't get anything through their midfield, leaving us to punt the ball up long for their central denfenders to comfortably deal with. Another one just before half time, from the edge of the box (closing players down is not our strong point). Mid-way through the second half, we scored and put them under a sustained period of pressure, only for them to curl another goal in from the corner of the area right at the death. Pandemonium on the messageboard this evening, as people criticise all and sundry and blame the manager for everything. Yes, we played poorly, but it was exactly the same team who held a strong Wycombe team at Adams Park last Saturday. I don't think we'll go down (and with three teams still on minus points, we shouldn't!) but I don't think we'll challenge for the play-offs either, but then that was always unlikely. After a few seasons of success, fans expectations get raised, often unrealistically, and many seem unable to deal with us losing more regularly, after becoming accustomed to us winning often in the Conference.
Home, and watched Setanta to see Sunderland against Liverpool. Or at least, I would have, had we not discovered that our cat may have contracted worms from somewhere and we had to mount a major clean up operation in the room where the cat sleeps and has her tray and food. I watched the first part, and was interested to see how uncreative Liverpool were, and then stuck the rest of the match on a stream on the laptop whilst I was cleaning. I came back downstairs just as Torres got a goal from nothing, which shows what £24 million buys. The first match of the season is always interesting, as it leaves you to speculate if Liverpool were poor, or if it was down to improvements in the Sunderland squad that lead to Liverpool struggling.
Interestingly, it seems that both of the foreign cards I use may have been barred from broadcasting 3pm English matches for a certain period, as it seems the cards are becoming too prolific in the UK, and the Premier League are leaning heavily on the broadcasters. If this continues, it should help me in my quest to explore other leagues, as I will be forced into watching other countries leagues on Saturday afternoons when I haven't gone to Morecambe away matches.
Will most likely watch some of match of the day to catch up on the other Premier League goals, and become incensed with Gary Linker's smug face.
Matches so far this season:
Sky: 2
Setanta: 3
Foreign Satellite: 2
Monday, 11 August 2008
What's on this season?
Just thought I'd compile a list of what we know is going to be available in the UK this season on various TV and internet channels. Please send me anything that I've missed: email thefootballwatcher@gmail.com with anything that is inaccurate or missing.
England
Premier League
Live matches on Sky and Setanta, highlights on BBC.
Delayed full matches shown on BT Vision, extended highlights on Sky Sports.
The FA Cup
Live matches on ITV and Setanta
The League Cup
Live matches on Sky, highlights on ITV
The Football League
Live matches on Sky, highlights on ITV
Johnstones Paint Trophy
Live matches on Sky
Blue Square Premier
Live matches on Setanta
Scotland
Premier League
Live matches on Setanta, highlights on BBC. Delayed matches shown on BT Vision and BBC Gaelic
FA Cup
Live matches on Sky and BBC
League Cup
Live matches on BBC
Other Leagues
League of Wales
Live matches on S4C
Carnegie Irish Premier League (Northern Ireland)
Live matches on Sky
Eircom Premier League (Republic of Ireland)
Live matches on Setanta
La Liga (Spain)
Live matches on Sky
Bundesliga (Germany)
Live matches on Setanta
Ligue 1 (France)
Live matches on Setanta
Eredivise (Holland)
Live matches on Setanta
Serie A (Brazil)
Live matches on SportsXchange
J-League (Japan)
Live matches on Eurosport 2 (streaming also on bet365)
Chinese Super League
Live matches streamed on bet365
Russian Premier League
Live matches streamed on bet365
Finnish League
Live matches streamed on bet365
European Competitions
Champions League
Live matches on ITV and Sky
UEFA Cup
Home rights sold by individual clubs - expect matches on ITV4, Setanta and Five for English clubs. ITV have rights to Manchester City matches.
BBC Scotland usually broadcast Scottish matches. Matches not involving British Teams tend to be streamed on bet365.
Quarter finals onwards broadcast only on ITV.
UEFA Super Cup
Live on ITV
Worldwide competitions
World Club Cup Championship
Expected to be on BBC, as it features Manchester United
Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana
Live matches on Setanta
Internationals
England
Home: World Cup qualifiers on ITV, Friendlies on Setanta (Highlights on ITV), some on ITV
Away: Sky/Setanta
Scotland
Live home matches on Sky; highlights on BBC Scotland
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC Scotland
Wales
Live home matches on Sky; highlights on BBC Wales
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC Wales
N. Ireland
Live home matches on Sky; highlights on BBC N Ireland
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC N Ireland
Rep. Ireland
Live home matches on Sky
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC Scotland
As part of Setanta's deal to broadcast home nations away matches, they have secured rights to the home matches of various European national teams. It is belived they will screen some of these other matches which take place in home nations groups as time allows.
So, looking at that list, it would appear that the Italian Serie A will not be broadcast this season (at time of writing), and the Portuguese BWin League has also disappeared from Setanta's portfolio.
England
Premier League
Live matches on Sky and Setanta, highlights on BBC.
Delayed full matches shown on BT Vision, extended highlights on Sky Sports.
The FA Cup
Live matches on ITV and Setanta
The League Cup
Live matches on Sky, highlights on ITV
The Football League
Live matches on Sky, highlights on ITV
Johnstones Paint Trophy
Live matches on Sky
Blue Square Premier
Live matches on Setanta
Scotland
Premier League
Live matches on Setanta, highlights on BBC. Delayed matches shown on BT Vision and BBC Gaelic
FA Cup
Live matches on Sky and BBC
League Cup
Live matches on BBC
Other Leagues
League of Wales
Live matches on S4C
Carnegie Irish Premier League (Northern Ireland)
Live matches on Sky
Eircom Premier League (Republic of Ireland)
Live matches on Setanta
La Liga (Spain)
Live matches on Sky
Bundesliga (Germany)
Live matches on Setanta
Ligue 1 (France)
Live matches on Setanta
Eredivise (Holland)
Live matches on Setanta
Serie A (Brazil)
Live matches on SportsXchange
J-League (Japan)
Live matches on Eurosport 2 (streaming also on bet365)
Chinese Super League
Live matches streamed on bet365
Russian Premier League
Live matches streamed on bet365
Finnish League
Live matches streamed on bet365
European Competitions
Champions League
Live matches on ITV and Sky
UEFA Cup
Home rights sold by individual clubs - expect matches on ITV4, Setanta and Five for English clubs. ITV have rights to Manchester City matches.
BBC Scotland usually broadcast Scottish matches. Matches not involving British Teams tend to be streamed on bet365.
Quarter finals onwards broadcast only on ITV.
UEFA Super Cup
Live on ITV
Worldwide competitions
World Club Cup Championship
Expected to be on BBC, as it features Manchester United
Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana
Live matches on Setanta
Internationals
England
Home: World Cup qualifiers on ITV, Friendlies on Setanta (Highlights on ITV), some on ITV
Away: Sky/Setanta
Scotland
Live home matches on Sky; highlights on BBC Scotland
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC Scotland
Wales
Live home matches on Sky; highlights on BBC Wales
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC Wales
N. Ireland
Live home matches on Sky; highlights on BBC N Ireland
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC N Ireland
Rep. Ireland
Live home matches on Sky
Away matches on Sky/Setanta/BBC Scotland
As part of Setanta's deal to broadcast home nations away matches, they have secured rights to the home matches of various European national teams. It is belived they will screen some of these other matches which take place in home nations groups as time allows.
So, looking at that list, it would appear that the Italian Serie A will not be broadcast this season (at time of writing), and the Portuguese BWin League has also disappeared from Setanta's portfolio.
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