MOTD - Media Bias Against City

[zuricity]

All the Georgians had big names. Except Shelia.

Jane Austen isn't a very big name.

[Goaters 103]

Bizarrely both Shelia & Tshkadzeeezzwee - nicknamed Peepo as I recall (or fookin useless carthorse in my part of EE Upper) or whatever he was called also bore uncanny resemblences to Jimmy Nail. I thought for a while that a Jimmy Nail look-a-like & Georgian passport were the key criteria we looked for in a centre half.

Notable too that all the Georgians we signed, bar Kinkladze, were shite.

[mr_nool]

All the Georgians had big names. Except Shelia.

Jane Austen isn't a very big name.

A+

[Wonderwall]

How about uwe, or keegan or brian horton or swp or keith curle or dickov? Any would do for me and be pro city.

[Ted Hughes]

What a load of absolute bollocks. Michael Owen is there because of his multiple title wins & tv personality ?

Are you taking the fucking piss ?

That the best you can do?

Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, both boring monotone cunts have been England's best strikers of the past two decades. Years after his retirement, shearer still gets the gigs on motd, because he is a big name. Owen has a contract and most probably will never get another one unless he improves sharpish. But he is a big name which is what got him the gig in the first place, perhaps with an expectation that BT will develop him.

So back to my point, which city big names can they roll out from the last 30 years?

Why the fuck does it have to be 30 years for a start ? And what about ex managers etc ? How many times has Joe Royle been on City games in recent times ?

Hows about one time tv pundit, multi title & World Cup winnier Patrick Vieira who was a regular on tv when still associated with Arsenal, but has all but disappeared since he became more prominent at City ? Hows about Andrew Hinchcliffe who actually works for fucking Sky ? Hows about ex Sunderland & Manchester City scorer of the best goal in a league Cup final Dennis Tueart ? Sean Wright Phillips instead of Kevin fucking Phillips ? Paul Dicov ? Uwe Rosler ? Gary Owen ? We got David Platt until it transpired he wasn't baring a grudge & said nice things about us, then they fucked him off again, never to return. Shaun Goater, Richard Dunne, Stuart Pearce none of these played for Liverpool or Utd though.

So we get David James, Macmanaman, Didi Hamann, Robbie Fowler. If we play Spurs we might be treated to Clive Allen.

But who would do a commentary for City v Aston Villa, recent City/Villa Premier League cb Richard Dunne or former Manchester Utd left Villa in 1998 Dwight Yorke ? I think we all know the fucking answer to that one.

The era they played in has got fuck all to do with it. It's down to who they played for. If you think the number of Utd, Arsenal & Liverpool pundits on tv is an accident, you are a mentalist.

[Benjay]

Swings in roundabouts in my opinion. Two years ago every neutral wanted us to win the league. Tyler's Aguerooo was a case in point so was the reaction of most pundits on Tv. Now its Liverpools turn. If they win the league they may not get such an easy ride next season as evey defeat will be scrutinised to death like we are now. The press will evaluate us now - we are a major player now on the european league. The press fawned over Fergie and United but I sense that is going - they have been scathing of Moyes and the way United are run. Besides I dont want a fawning press. Everyone loves an underdog. We are no longer underdogs. We are the big brother so we just have to deal with it. Im surprised how popular we remain amongst the neutral despite our money - unlike Chelsea. Thats testament to our great club and fans.

[Hazy2]

Never watch it , as for Owen, he is a football refugee hated by the scouters so hates us for the scum to tolerate him.

[Ted Hughes]

Swings in roundabouts in my opinion. Two years ago every neutral wanted us to win the league. Tyler's Aguerooo was a case in point so was the reaction of most pundits on Tv. Now its Liverpools turn. If they win the league they may not get such an easy ride next season as evey defeat will be scrutinised to death like we are now. The press will evaluate us now - we are a major player now on the european league. The press fawned over Fergie and United but I sense that is going - they have been scathing of Moyes and the way United are run. Besides I dont want a fawning press. Everyone loves an underdog. We are no longer underdogs. We are the big brother so we just have to deal with it. Im surprised how popular we remain amongst the neutral despite our money - unlike Chelsea. Thats testament to our great club and fans.

We are not particularly 'hated' by neutrals & neither are Liverpool particularly adored by them. It is a media thing, where they are looking to promote Liverpool & will find 'neutrals' who agree with them.

It stands to reason that if you do a poll on such things, half the people who reply will be Liverpool fans, as there are a lot of them around the world, hence why the media pander to them & why so many of them get jobs in the media.

[Im_Spartacus]

What a load of absolute bollocks. Michael Owen is there because of his multiple title wins & tv personality ?

Are you taking the fucking piss ?

That the best you can do?

Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, both boring monotone cunts have been England's best strikers of the past two decades. Years after his retirement, shearer still gets the gigs on motd, because he is a big name. Owen has a contract and most probably will never get another one unless he improves sharpish. But he is a big name which is what got him the gig in the first place, perhaps with an expectation that BT will develop him.

So back to my point, which city big names can they roll out from the last 30 years?

Why the fuck does it have to be 30 years for a start ? And what about ex managers etc ? How many times has Joe Royle been on City games in recent times ?

Hows about one time tv pundit, multi title & World Cup winnier Patrick Vieira who was a regular on tv when still associated with Arsenal, but has all but disappeared since he became more prominent at City ? Hows about Andrew Hinchcliffe who actually works for fucking Sky ? Hows about ex Sunderland & Manchester City scorer of the best goal in a league Cup final Dennis Tueart ? Sean Wright Phillips instead of Kevin fucking Phillips ? Paul Dicov ? Uwe Rosler ? Gary Owen ? We got David Platt until it transpired he wasn't baring a grudge & said nice things about us, then they fucked him off again, never to return. Shaun Goater, Richard Dunne, Stuart Pearce none of these played for Liverpool or Utd though.

So we get David James, Macmanaman, Didi Hamann, Robbie Fowler. If we play Spurs we might be treated to Clive Allen.

But who would do a commentary for City v Aston Villa, recent City/Villa Premier League cb Richard Dunne or former Manchester Utd left Villa in 1998 Dwight Yorke ? I think we all know the fucking answer to that one.

The era they played in has got fuck all to do with it. It's down to who they played for. If you think the number of Utd, Arsenal & Liverpool pundits on tv is an accident, you are a mentalist.

Mate, have a word with yourself, your whinging is ill thought out and sounds pathetic.

But I'll take your points one by one:

* In the last 30 years, we have had very few people at our club who are newsworthy and has an irrefutable association with Manchester City. The fact that the high profile players we have had who have gone onto media work, Keegan, McManaman, Fowler, James, Hamman, Clive Allen have other club loyalties, is hardly sky's fucking fault is it? Royle will probably be wheeled out for the Everton game....but equally, your should remember there are foreign networks competing for these guys too.

* Andy Hinchcliffe is a co-commentator for lesser games, generally non-premier league games. Should he be in two places at once?

* Dennis Tueart (aside from being at retirement age, was on in the build up to the LC final, but why the issue if Niall Quinn equally fits the bill? You will obviously say 'Ah but he fucking hates City'.....yet funnily enough non-city fans feel he is equally biased towards us so how can they both be correct.

* Shaun Goater, Richard Dunne, Shaun Wright Philips (despite the fact two of them still play every weekend) - do you think that just because they are a city great, that should give them a divine right to be on the country's television screens? They haven't pursued a career in the media, nor at this stage have shown any suggestion they want a media career and so they don't get rolled out every few weeks like the contracted sky/BT team does.

And your final point, you completely contradicted yourself. Of course they come from Arsenal, Liverpool and United, because they are highly prominent players from the recent past, they are highly prominent because they played for a club during a reasonably successful era, hence the public know them, and the domestic broadcasters clearly feel the public like to hear their opinions having played at the top of the tree (whether we agree or not, that's how it works). The lack of success throughout the same period means nobody gives a fucking shit what our ex players have to say, and at the end of the day their business model is mass market, not kissing our arse.

If one day we are bigger draw than those 3, and have a backlog of high profile ex players who spent their career with us, THEN you can expect to see it change. Either way though, if anyone with an MCFC loyalty comes across like Summerbee did (great entertainment or cringeworthy, you decide), they won't be invited back anyway.

[Benjay]

I don't get people saying big Niall is anti city. His job is to be balanced which may mean he has to criticise us sometimes but he is a City (and Sunderland) man. He stood by us on tv at a time that we were shit. He has a fondness for the club and I believe that still comes over on TV. Just think some people will not accept any criticism even if its balanced .

[Ted Hughes]

What a load of absolute bollocks. Michael Owen is there because of his multiple title wins & tv personality ?

Are you taking the fucking piss ?

That the best you can do?

Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, both boring monotone cunts have been England's best strikers of the past two decades. Years after his retirement, shearer still gets the gigs on motd, because he is a big name. Owen has a contract and most probably will never get another one unless he improves sharpish. But he is a big name which is what got him the gig in the first place, perhaps with an expectation that BT will develop him.

So back to my point, which city big names can they roll out from the last 30 years?

Why the fuck does it have to be 30 years for a start ? And what about ex managers etc ? How many times has Joe Royle been on City games in recent times ?

Hows about one time tv pundit, multi title & World Cup winnier Patrick Vieira who was a regular on tv when still associated with Arsenal, but has all but disappeared since he became more prominent at City ? Hows about Andrew Hinchcliffe who actually works for fucking Sky ? Hows about ex Sunderland & Manchester City scorer of the best goal in a league Cup final Dennis Tueart ? Sean Wright Phillips instead of Kevin fucking Phillips ? Paul Dicov ? Uwe Rosler ? Gary Owen ? We got David Platt until it transpired he wasn't baring a grudge & said nice things about us, then they fucked him off again, never to return. Shaun Goater, Richard Dunne, Stuart Pearce none of these played for Liverpool or Utd though.

So we get David James, Macmanaman, Didi Hamann, Robbie Fowler. If we play Spurs we might be treated to Clive Allen.

But who would do a commentary for City v Aston Villa, recent City/Villa Premier League cb Richard Dunne or former Manchester Utd left Villa in 1998 Dwight Yorke ? I think we all know the fucking answer to that one.

The era they played in has got fuck all to do with it. It's down to who they played for. If you think the number of Utd, Arsenal & Liverpool pundits on tv is an accident, you are a mentalist.

Mate, have a word with yourself, your whinging is ill thought out and sounds pathetic.

But I'll take your points one by one:

* In the last 30 years, we have had very few people at our club who are newsworthy and has an irrefutable association with Manchester City. The fact that the high profile players we have had who have gone onto media work, Keegan, McManaman, Fowler, James, Hamman, Clive Allen have other club loyalties, is hardly sky's fucking fault is it? Royle will probably be wheeled out for the Everton game....but equally, your should remember there are foreign networks competing for these guys too.

* Andy Hinchcliffe is a co-commentator for lesser games, generally non-premier league games. Should he be in two places at once?

* Dennis Tueart (aside from being at retirement age, was on in the build up to the LC final, but why the issue if Niall Quinn equally fits the bill? You will obviously say 'Ah but he fucking hates City'.....yet funnily enough non-city fans feel he is equally biased towards us so how can they both be correct.

* Shaun Goater, Richard Dunne, Shaun Wright Philips (despite the fact two of them still play every weekend) - do you think that just because they are a city great, that should give them a divine right to be on the country's television screens? They haven't pursued a career in the media, nor at this stage have shown any suggestion they want a media career and so they don't get rolled out every few weeks like the contracted sky/BT team does.

And your final point, you completely contradicted yourself. Of course they come from Arsenal, Liverpool and United, because they are highly prominent players from the recent past, they are highly prominent because they played for a club during a reasonably successful era, hence the public know them, and the domestic broadcasters clearly feel the public like to hear their opinions having played at the top of the tree (whether we agree or not, that's how it works). The lack of success throughout the same period means nobody gives a fucking shit what our ex players have to say, and at the end of the day their business model is mass market, not kissing our arse.

If one day we are bigger draw than those 3, and have a backlog of high profile ex players who spent their career with us, THEN you can expect to see it change. Either way though, if anyone with an MCFC loyalty comes across like Summerbee did (great entertainment or cringeworthy, you decide), they won't be invited back anyway.

So you say 'have a word withyourself' when I mention a bunch of high profile City people then conveniently ignore most of those I've listed ? What sort of way is that to respond ? Just ignore what I've posted & carry on regardless ?

And no theey're not all working at the same time City are on, they are almost all available, every time. And Tueart is too old but Graeme Souness isn't ? Vieira isn't a big enough name ? Uwe Rosler can't make it at 4 on a Sunday ?

And where the fuck have I contradicted myself ? My whole point is that the media is geared towards those clubs for the very reason mentioned ? How the fuck can I contradict what I said in the first place ?

They have squads of rags, dippers & Arsenal people because they are interested in broadcasting to their fans. Whichever one floats to the top, they can seamlessly swap ten of theirs, for ten rags THAT IS WHERE THE BIAS COMES IN AND THE WHOLE POINT I AM MAKING. It's not fucking right, at all.

City won the league two years ago, the FA Cup previous to that & they can't even do us the courtesy of putting one person who is actually City, for balance, at any time, v any team.

As for Niall Quinn, 'fitting the bill' he is a Sunderland man, through and through. At the final, there were a whole bunch of City & Sunderland people. Some famous ex internationals WHO HAVE PLAYED IN AND WON THE LEAGUE CUP FINAL AND FA CUP FINAL FOR CITY AND SUNDERLAND. Who do we get alongside Quinn ?

Kevin fucking Phillips. Two Sunderland one Utd plus Marting fucking Tyler.

The media in this country is controlled by London, plus rags & dippers. We are an unwanted bad smell to these people & they have no intention of even trying to show us in a good light unless their bosses force them to.

[Original Dub]

Fair play to the Mirror - they have never even pretended to like us. Very consistent.

Anyway, here's a real beaut today. They manage to beat us with every stick possible in one article - the amount we've spent, the wages, the UEFA investigation and the "under achieving" in Europe.

Hats off.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... op-3419740?

[Wonderwall]

Fair play to the Mirror - they have never even pretended to like us. Very consistent.

Anyway, here's a real beaut today. They manage to beat us with every stick possible in one article - the amount we've spent, the wages, the UEFA investigation and the "under achieving" in Europe.

Hats off.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... op-3419740?

oh the irony when you look at the top 3 links next to that money table

1. Chelsea confident of landing £50m Diego Costa
2. Reus now wants a transfer to Utd as Moyes is given £200m to spend
3. Man Utd offer Toni Kroos £260k a week

[Original Dub]

Fair play to the Mirror - they have never even pretended to like us. Very consistent.

Anyway, here's a real beaut today. They manage to beat us with every stick possible in one article - the amount we've spent, the wages, the UEFA investigation and the "under achieving" in Europe.

Hats off.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... op-3419740?

oh the irony when you look at the top 3 links next to that money table

1. Chelsea confident of landing £50m Diego Costa
2. Reus now wants a transfer to Utd as Moyes is given £200m to spend
3. Man Utd offer Toni Kroos £260k a week

haha, never even noticed that!

What a horrible rag of a paper that thing is.

[Im_Spartacus]

What a load of absolute bollocks. Michael Owen is there because of his multiple title wins & tv personality ?

Are you taking the fucking piss ?

That the best you can do?

Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, both boring monotone cunts have been England's best strikers of the past two decades. Years after his retirement, shearer still gets the gigs on motd, because he is a big name. Owen has a contract and most probably will never get another one unless he improves sharpish. But he is a big name which is what got him the gig in the first place, perhaps with an expectation that BT will develop him.

So back to my point, which city big names can they roll out from the last 30 years?

Why the fuck does it have to be 30 years for a start ? And what about ex managers etc ? How many times has Joe Royle been on City games in recent times ?

Hows about one time tv pundit, multi title & World Cup winnier Patrick Vieira who was a regular on tv when still associated with Arsenal, but has all but disappeared since he became more prominent at City ? Hows about Andrew Hinchcliffe who actually works for fucking Sky ? Hows about ex Sunderland & Manchester City scorer of the best goal in a league Cup final Dennis Tueart ? Sean Wright Phillips instead of Kevin fucking Phillips ? Paul Dicov ? Uwe Rosler ? Gary Owen ? We got David Platt until it transpired he wasn't baring a grudge & said nice things about us, then they fucked him off again, never to return. Shaun Goater, Richard Dunne, Stuart Pearce none of these played for Liverpool or Utd though.

So we get David James, Macmanaman, Didi Hamann, Robbie Fowler. If we play Spurs we might be treated to Clive Allen.

But who would do a commentary for City v Aston Villa, recent City/Villa Premier League cb Richard Dunne or former Manchester Utd left Villa in 1998 Dwight Yorke ? I think we all know the fucking answer to that one.

The era they played in has got fuck all to do with it. It's down to who they played for. If you think the number of Utd, Arsenal & Liverpool pundits on tv is an accident, you are a mentalist.

Mate, have a word with yourself, your whinging is ill thought out and sounds pathetic.

But I'll take your points one by one:

* In the last 30 years, we have had very few people at our club who are newsworthy and has an irrefutable association with Manchester City. The fact that the high profile players we have had who have gone onto media work, Keegan, McManaman, Fowler, James, Hamman, Clive Allen have other club loyalties, is hardly sky's fucking fault is it? Royle will probably be wheeled out for the Everton game....but equally, your should remember there are foreign networks competing for these guys too.

* Andy Hinchcliffe is a co-commentator for lesser games, generally non-premier league games. Should he be in two places at once?

* Dennis Tueart (aside from being at retirement age, was on in the build up to the LC final, but why the issue if Niall Quinn equally fits the bill? You will obviously say 'Ah but he fucking hates City'.....yet funnily enough non-city fans feel he is equally biased towards us so how can they both be correct.

* Shaun Goater, Richard Dunne, Shaun Wright Philips (despite the fact two of them still play every weekend) - do you think that just because they are a city great, that should give them a divine right to be on the country's television screens? They haven't pursued a career in the media, nor at this stage have shown any suggestion they want a media career and so they don't get rolled out every few weeks like the contracted sky/BT team does.

And your final point, you completely contradicted yourself. Of course they come from Arsenal, Liverpool and United, because they are highly prominent players from the recent past, they are highly prominent because they played for a club during a reasonably successful era, hence the public know them, and the domestic broadcasters clearly feel the public like to hear their opinions having played at the top of the tree (whether we agree or not, that's how it works). The lack of success throughout the same period means nobody gives a fucking shit what our ex players have to say, and at the end of the day their business model is mass market, not kissing our arse.

If one day we are bigger draw than those 3, and have a backlog of high profile ex players who spent their career with us, THEN you can expect to see it change. Either way though, if anyone with an MCFC loyalty comes across like Summerbee did (great entertainment or cringeworthy, you decide), they won't be invited back anyway.

So you say 'have a word withyourself' when I mention a bunch of high profile City people then conveniently ignore most of those I've listed ? What sort of way is that to respond ? Just ignore what I've posted & carry on regardless ?

And no theey're not all working at the same time City are on, they are almost all available, every time. And Tueart is too old but Graeme Souness isn't ? Vieira isn't a big enough name ? Uwe Rosler can't make it at 4 on a Sunday ?

And where the fuck have I contradicted myself ? My whole point is that the media is geared towards those clubs for the very reason mentioned ? How the fuck can I contradict what I said in the first place ?

They have squads of rags, dippers & Arsenal people because they are interested in broadcasting to their fans. Whichever one floats to the top, they can seamlessly swap ten of theirs, for ten rags THAT IS WHERE THE BIAS COMES IN AND THE WHOLE POINT I AM MAKING. It's not fucking right, at all.

City won the league two years ago, the FA Cup previous to that & they can't even do us the courtesy of putting one person who is actually City, for balance, at any time, v any team.

As for Niall Quinn, 'fitting the bill' he is a Sunderland man, through and through. At the final, there were a whole bunch of City & Sunderland people. Some famous ex internationals WHO HAVE PLAYED IN AND WON THE LEAGUE CUP FINAL AND FA CUP FINAL FOR CITY AND SUNDERLAND. Who do we get alongside Quinn ?

Kevin fucking Phillips. Two Sunderland one Utd plus Marting fucking Tyler.

The media in this country is controlled by London, plus rags & dippers. We are an unwanted bad smell to these people & they have no intention of even trying to show us in a good light unless their bosses force them to.

Not mentioning most of those you mentioned? You named 17 players I think, I mentioned 13. This is why it's hard to take you seriously when you get all paranoid, as you clearly don't read what other people write in your haste to put others down and prove yourself right. It's a shame, because your self righteousness when you get on your high horse takes away from the good contributions you make.

It makes it pretty pointless arguing with you, but I'm a sucker for a good row.......

I don't disagree with your last line, but the reality is they will only make an effort to portray us positively once it becomes commercially necessary, eg, once the viewing figures for City exceed those of United, Arsenal and Liverpool - which in reality will be a long long time away.

Chelsea have been at it 10 years now and still get the snide digs despite being London based, yet on the upside for them, they have relevant people (Wilkins, Gullit, Vialli, overseas they have 2nd tier of Wise, Dorigo, Elliot) who were in their own right decent names, associated primarily with Chelsea in this country, speak great english (except for Wise), and have always been in the media since quitting playing.

As for the rest of it.......between us, neither of us know the contractual situation (for example with Vieira, Dickov etc) so with all respect, for you to say these people are available is a fantasy in your mind, and the simple underlying fact is that City's representation in the media will only ever increase once we have had a sustained spell of success and a decent line of high profile english speaking players identified primarily with City, have made the transition from player to pundit. Eg, as have Liverpool, Rags, Arsenal and increasingly, Chelsea.

Until then (and that will be some years off), we won't ever have decent representation on the pundit panels.

[trueblue64]

This was my reply from the BBc.

Dear Mr Gregory
Reference CAS-2658325-7BP2WC
Thanks for contacting us regarding BBC One’s ‘Match of the Day 2,’ broadcast on 13 April.
We understand you are unhappy with choice of pundits selected for the programme, specifically we note you found them to show bias in favour of Liverpool.
We appreciate your feedback on this and of course it's in the nature of commentating and punditry that contributors are expected to provide their personal view on the action and events surrounding the sport they're watching. All we can expect of them is a fair assessment based on their knowledge and experience. We do however employ different commentators, pundits and sports reporters to provide as wide a range of views as we can.
We have found that there are many different views and observations, particularly about the style of our presenters and contributors. It is clear that it has divided opinion amongst many of our viewers.
Nonetheless, we appreciate your feedback on this matter and would like to assure you that we’ve registered your concerns on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's made available to many BBC staff, including the programme team and senior management.
The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
Robin MacDonald
BBC Complaints

[Twobob]

So they dont even try and deny it!

[AG7]

So they dont even try and deny it!

He stopped short of saying we can't find ex-City players who have achieved anything or were as successful that they be called pundits ... so guys pipe down all the conspiracies and because of Liverpool's long sustained success their players who played back then are in that age bracket now that they will overshadow all other pundits ... wait as this is about to get worse ... next decade we'll see the scum pundits everywhere even if they are a mid-table mediocre side for a whole decade ... reason that happens is not because of the players of that era become pundits but it's the children of that ear growing up watching and supporting that team (Liverpool first, then Scum for the next two decades) and those children are at a stage of their lives now who are CEOs and Directors and all behind scenes who get their childhood heroes these spotlights and jobs ...

For us to be anywhere there ... it'll have to be us being successful for a long period and then expect children aged 5-15 today who saw and will always cherish Aguerooooooo kind of moments and (if we are successfully over the whole of next decade) then only in say 20-25 yeas from now the time will come that a generation of pundits will arrive who in their prone would have played for us and been part of a successful side ... and more importantly those children of today would be in a position of CEOs and Directors at these companies and media houses and papers (decision makers basically) that'll direct how they wants their companies to go about it ... and then the 40-50 year olds will be pundits who might actually have a City link or might show some Blue bias ...

A slight problem with that however is we don't have that many 'English' stars who we can see one, being successful with us long term, and two, being able to transform themselves into media pundits of any sorts ... Hart? Rodwell? Richards? Milner?

There once was a child who grew up in Leeds watching Leeds at their peak, now he is 45-50 year old and works in the Middle East, to be exact he runs a wealthy private equity fund out of Bahrain ... and then GFH (Gulf Finance House) decided to go and buy Leeds United (true, made a mess of it and bit a bit more than they could chew and have now sold on to the Italian guy) ... but what do you think made him sitting there in Bahrain come back to UK and buy a club in mid table Championship?

It's all cyclical ... and influencers are not the pundits but the decision makers and currently it's the generation of Liverpool fans of 70s and 80s ... Next up is the Scum fans so hold right, our turn will only come in 20 odd years later ... and that too if we are the prime English club for a good decade or two straight ahead and above everyone else like Liverpool was, like Scum was, else if it continues like won the league once then 2-3 years of also-rans ... then there'll probably be Arsenal and Chelsea ahead of us then too.

[Twobob]

He stopped short of saying we can't find ex-City players who have achieved anything or were as successful that they be called pundits ... so guys pipe down all the conspiracies and because of Liverpool's long sustained success their players who played back then are in that age bracket now that they will overshadow all other pundits ... wait as this is about to get worse ... next decade we'll see the scum pundits everywhere even if they are a mid-table mediocre side for a whole decade ... reason that happens is not because of the players of that era become pundits but it's the children of that ear growing up watching and supporting that team (Liverpool first, then Scum for the next two decades) and those children are at a stage of their lives now who are CEOs and Directors and all behind scenes who get their childhood heroes these spotlights and jobs ... For us to be anywhere there ... it'll have to be us being successful for a long period and then expect children aged 5-15 today who saw and will always cherish Aguerooooooo kind of moments and (if we are successfully over the whole of next decade) then only in say 20-25 yeas from now the time will come that a generation of pundits will arrive who in their prone would have played for us and been part of a successful side ... and more importantly those children of today would be in a position of CEOs and Directors at these companies and media houses and papers (decision makers basically) that'll direct how they wants their companies to go about it ... and then the 40-50 year olds will be pundits who might actually have a City link or might show some Blue bias ... A slight problem with that however is we don't have that many 'English' stars who we can see one, being successful with us long term, and two, being able to transform themselves into media pundits of any sorts ... Hart? Rodwell? Richards? Milner? There once was a child who grew up in Leeds watching Leeds at their peak, now he is 45-50 year old and works in the Middle East, to be exact he runs a wealthy private equity fund out of Bahrain ... and then GFH (Gulf Finance House) decided to go and buy Leeds United (true, made a mess of it and bit a bit more than they could chew and have now sold on to the Italian guy) ... but what do you think made him sitting there in Bahrain come back to UK and buy a club in mid table Championship? It's all cyclical ... and influencers are not the pundits but the decision makers and currently it's the generation of Liverpool fans of 70s and 80s ... Next up is the Scum fans so hold right, our turn will only come in 20 odd years later ... and that too if we are the prime English club for a good decade or two straight ahead and above everyone else like Liverpool was, like Scum was, else if it continues like won the league once then 2-3 years of also-rans ... then there'll probably be Arsenal and Chelsea ahead of us then too.

But is it too much to ask for un-biased commentary and editing? Don't give a fuck if its a rag, scouser or Oldham ex-player as long as they have the brains to be able to give a fair break down of a game and earn their money, and we should demand this quality - we pay for the licence fee that pays these clowns wages. Pro-bias would be bloody sycophantic.

[bayblue]

But is it too much to ask for un-biased commentary and editing? Don't give a fuck if its a rag, scouser or Oldham ex-player as long as they have the brains to be able to give a fair break down of a game and earn their money, and we should demand this quality - we pay for the licence fee that pays these clowns wages. Pro-bias would be bloody sycophantic.

Think half the problem is some of them aren't good full stop. Never mind being biased they aren't very insightful and / or articulate.

Five years ago I would have consigned myself to a psychiatric ward if I thought I'd ever write that Gary Neville would be a good analyst but he is. So many of the others have nothing to say that my kids couldn't also point out.