Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

OTF vs "The Greatest League In The World™"?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    OTF vs "The Greatest League In The World™"?

    I have just been canvassing opinions of some of the Tan United refuseniks about their football watching as they appear to be doing so much ground-hopping geekery and watching of obscure sports such as cheese rolling, yo-yoing and cricket, they can't be catching up with everything on TV as well. It struck me also, on reading the Big Dave's Gusset appreciation thread, that I am not the only one that needs many of the EPL references explained to me. Who is watching EPL (or, indeed, Champions' League" football regularly still? Has anyone noticeably decreased their viewing habits in, say, the last 5 years? Has anyone increased it? I appreciate that we have more supporters of EPL supporters here who will be watching their own clubs but what about the rest of the matches?

    #2
    Despite having become a moderately obsessive Fantasy PL-er, I still seldom see any point in going to the pub to watch any of it happen, rarely bother with MOTD, or certainly not all of it. I am reluctantly prepared to fellate Murdoch for the ability to watch cycling (and heartily boo his team, to make me feel better) but don't have any live football subscription channels.

    I do have Jeff Stelling on if I'm home on a saturday, but that's as much about his jokes -"Isa has scored for Maidstone (or was it Maidenhead?)- he was a good investment!" and the fact that, unlike the BRITISH Broadcsting Corp, he will tell you what happens at Elgin and Cowdenbeath. And also cos I bet on lower league football (Prem odds are getting ridiculous).

    Comment


      #3
      Still watch a little bit of EPL football due to easy access to Match of the Day. Get to watch a lot more SPL stuff now due to the availability of Sportscene on iPlayer, plus a lot of teams putting their stuff on YouTube.

      Champions League I've stopped watching altogether - don't have Sky or any of their competitors, and it's really not worth the hassle of mucking about with internet streaming to see Chelsea or Real or Juve barely getting out of second gear against some overmatched Belgians or Slovenes.

      Admittedly, it might have been funny to see Celtic getting their entrails handed to them by PSG, but if I want to see an insufferable Glasgow team getting eviscerated by a mega-money European outfit, I'll just find some old videos of Rangers getting done 8-1 on aggregate by Lippi's Juventus.

      Comment


        #4
        My interest has diminished year on year for about ten years and it's reached complete disinterest now. I'm vaguely aware of who is having a good or bad season, largely from comments on Facebook (but even then they tend to be people howling about refereeing decisions). I have even less idea what is going on in the Championship and League One, and only a vague grasp on what is happening in my own team's division.

        Haven't watched MoTD in years, cancelled Sky Sports after the end of the Super League season because I haven't watched an EPL game at home in ages. The only time I see one is if I'm out with people who support EPL teams, so I get to sit there feigning interest while grown men who have lived in Carlisle all their lives call each other 'typical Scousers' and 'Manc bastards'. The only European competition game I've watched on TV this season is when Koln played at Arsenal cos I'm interested in them, and occasionally watch them when I realise they have a Bundesliga game live on BT.

        I'm actively annoyed by it all now, I stopped listening to Five Live in the house because of the constant EPL chunter at weekends, and rarely have it on in the car.

        I've still got a couple of EPL grounds to tick off and I'll do them when I get the chance, because I like going to new grounds and still like being at live football, but I wouldn't be that interested in the outcome of the actual game.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
          I'm actively annoyed by it all now, I stopped listening to Five Live in the house because of the constant EPL chunter at weekends, and rarely have it on in the car.

          I've still got a couple of EPL grounds to tick off and I'll do them when I get the chance, because I like going to new grounds and still like being at live football, but I wouldn't be that interested in the outcome of the actual game.
          In my car medium wave has stopped working and in a ten year old Volvo with 100,000 miles on the clock it isn't worth have a new radio put in. Initially I was annoyed at not being able to listen to the self styled "home of football" but now I couldn't care less. I listen to Radio 2, Classic FM and have really enjoyed the programmes on Radio 4. In fact, if I hear football commentary on the radio now I turn it off. Radio 5 has become impossible to listen to such is the dominance of the premier league.

          As with WFD I also have a number of premier league grounds to tick off, but I have been doing these in pre-season friendlies (Crystal Palace was one such example back in July). But if I watch live football these days it's non-league.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Paul S View Post
            in a ten year old Volvo with 100,000 miles on the clock it isn't worth have a new radio put in.
            That's mad. Volvos have the reputation of going on forever. I have a 14 year old VW Golf with well over 200,000 miles on the clock, and I expect to have it for a while yet.

            Comment


              #7
              I have to follow the Premier League for my job, but I watch far less of it than I used to, partly because I'm now the only person in a family of four who's even remotely interested and watching football on one's own isn't hugely enjoyable, partly because what leisure time I can allocate to football I prefer to spend watching my own team live, and partly because, well, it's hard to give a fuck about most of the teams and people competing.

              Comment


                #8
                So, being married to a Liverpool season ticket holder who wants to watch her team as often as possible, it's simply not possible to ignore it. I go to one or two EPL games a season with her, as well as most of their League Cup and FA Cup games (home and away). All of this is ok - they're generally a decent side to watch and it gets me to live football - but unless it's a new away ground it's not massively thrilling and I do find the all-pervading media wankery around the Premier League soap opera and its endless carousel of cunts to be exceptionally tiresome.

                Where I do find myself more engaged is with European football - unlike the same old same old EPL repetition of Chelsea, Spurs, Stoke etc. every year, I really enjoy seeing different teams visiting Anfield, and better still, going to the away legs. I've found that this has also made me more interested in watching Europa League and Champions League on telly too, and I find the BT Goals Show a really entertaining watch (on a related note, I've also subscribed to the Totally Football Show podcast).

                When not watching live, we have Sky and BT subscriptions, and the former also comes in handy for (cough) the EFL, Super League and domestic speedway, whilst the latter covers EL/CL nights, Bundesliga, speedway GPs, WRC and the Conference. Other than Liverpool games, I reckon I have about 75% of the other EPL games on as background noise, while I'm titting about on the laptop or reading a magazine - but I'm not really that arsed about it. I'll also zip through MOTD on TiVo during Sunday brunch though, and I always watch the C5 Goal Rush.

                I'm slightly more likely to have a game on 5 live or Talksport if I'm driving of an evening and I've got no podcasts to listen to. I'm more likely to nail my own testicles to a live armadillo than I am to listen to 606 or a football radio phone-in.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I get BT sports because of my internet package, and it's not too bad. There's just an overwhelming sense of Meh about it. The only players that you immediately recognise are invariably players who tried to make it in england or spain, and didn't quite manage it. I suppose I should stop watching the AC milan games. There's something very depressing about seeing a milan team where the star player is Suso.

                  You should watch the bundesliga. Everyone runs around enthusiastically, and half the games (that don't involve Bayern) have at least 5 goals, randomly distributed between the teams. Once you can get over the fact that it has about as much star quality as a Eurovision semi-final it can be good fun. And if you can work out how teams that can attack collectively, are incapable of defending collectively, you'll probably get the Dortmund Job.

                  I got rid of Sky sports 18 months ago, because it was simply too expensive, and for some reason I had gone right off watching a lot of football. Also I'm pretty much housebound to a certain degree, and everyone I know lives on the other side of the country, so after a while there are only so many football games you can watch by yourself, and then seeing a disgusting Scummy Cunt like mourinho taking sole credit for any bit of success your team has, really makes that more difficult. That means that most of the premier league i watch is on Bt sports, which means that the matches are usually terrible, and I have to sit through the BT punditry, which goes further to explaining Brexit, than even the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail is just evil, and that can only get you so far. In order to get something like brexit through, you have to work really hard to develop a culture that celebrates unthinking stupidity, and insular ignorance, that celebrates personalities, over process, and is basically just sneering, moronic nostalgia laden banterific bollocks.

                  And their matches are terrible.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I'm really struggling to remember when I lasted watched an EPL game for the whole 90 minutes. I tend to dip in and out, or not bother.

                    I record MotD and just watch the goals.

                    As E10 Rifle suggests, it's really hard to give a fuck.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
                      That's mad. Volvos have the reputation of going on forever. I have a 14 year old VW Golf with well over 200,000 miles on the clock, and I expect to have it for a while yet.
                      It's Ł500 which I don't have right now. Maybe when I have some more money.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Third rate les bleus View Post
                        So, being married to a Liverpool season ticket holder who wants to watch her team as often as possible, it's simply not possible to ignore it. I go to one or two EPL games a season with her, as well as most of their League Cup and FA Cup games (home and away). All of this is ok - they're generally a decent side to watch and it gets me to live football - but unless it's a new away ground it's not massively thrilling and I do find the all-pervading media wankery around the Premier League soap opera and its endless carousel of cunts to be exceptionally tiresome.
                        See, if I were in your position, I would definitely go on a regular basis (cost permitting). However, I am not sure that would necessarily be bothered to watch the rest. I don't even keep up with what is happening in the rest of the Conference South.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I have just realised how ridiculous that last sentence sounds.

                          "Can you imagine, he doesn't even check out the festival of football that is the glamorous Conference South."

                          Comment


                            #14
                            There's a full slate of EPL matches on locally but I rarely watch any. Occasionally if there's an ex-QPR player involved — Charlie Austin at Southampton for instance — I'll take a peek, but that's rare. I too watch the Bundesliga, though the matches are less frequent and scheduled more randomly than in the past. We get the Scottish Prem on a similar basis, and I'll watch those so long as Celtic aren't playing.*

                            * This isn't an anti-Celtic thing, only that as a neutral I find no joy in watching a one-sided contest. The same applies to La Liga games. BeIn only shows Real or Barcelona versus cannon fodder. I mean what's the point, beyond shirt spotting?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Bordeaux Education View Post
                              See, if I were in your position, I would definitely go on a regular basis (cost permitting).
                              Two seasons ago I did just that and went to about 15 home games - but I found myself getting drawn into the whole pantomime with all the hatred and dislike and as Reg correctly observed upthread, life is too short to spend large chunks of it hoping other teams lose. So I bought a season ticket for Carlisle and now I can spend my time just mostly hating them.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Like most of you I have my own club that I'm moderately involved in behind the scenes, that being said I usually watch a couple of games at the weekend and motd 2 nearly every Sunday, never watch the European cup until the semis, the annoying thing is when you have Irish fans asking why you follow that shite, Dublin regards itself as having two teams, Man utd and Liverpool

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  The standard at a Shels v Bohs derby I saw over 10 years back was fucking shocking, the only attempts at passing were at the beginning of each half. Genuinely worse than what I was used to in the Scottish (now) Championship. Frantic running up the wing, no one running up in the middle so blootered away to the opposition. For 80 odd minutes. At freezing Tolka Park. Fair scunnered me from League of Ireland watching.

                                  Now i can barely be arsed watching Liverpool do their immense/dogshit act. The premier league, CL, La Liga, I couldnt give a fuck anymore. As a positive it will have barely any effect on my blood pressure should Liverpool never win the league again. 5 years ago that seemed Important. I ought to get myself round St Pat’s. Spectacle has got boring, I’d rather watch a shit game live in a decent atmosphere. Just as well, Arbroath v Raith is unlikely to set the heather on fire on Saturday.
                                  Last edited by Lang Spoon; 19-12-2017, 20:14.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    I used to watch occasional Champions League game when it was shown on ITV and there was nothing else on. The ending of ITV’s contract would coincide with the last such match I saw. Never had any paid-for satellite package and I haven’t watched Match Of The Day for probably about three or four years. I pick up a small amount of knowledge of the Premier League by listening to 5 Live while driving to attend local games (I don’t listen to it under other circumstances), the fact that either BT or Sky is normally on at half time and full time in the clubhouse at the aforementioned local games, or from browsing OTF. I don’t miss it at all and the exposure to 5 Live coverage is enough to remind me that the Premier League isn’t for me.

                                    As for what I do watch and keep up with, that would be Channel 5’s Saturday night coverage of the Championship, League 1 and League 2, bits and pieces of the FA Cup coverage on the BBC, live Belgian games on FreeSports, the odd Welsh game on S4C and the odd Scottish game on BBC Alba. All interesting in their own way.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      We haven't played in the winter since 2003 Lang so even if it's shite you won't be cold, wes Houlihan would've been playing for Shels back then so he mustn't have made an impression as Irelands great lost hope

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Thinking back it would have been about 2002. Was Wes at Shels way back then? And it was fucking September! Just the lack of any overhead cover on a windy day I think.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Maybe wee Wes was the poor fucker trying to get a move together after the kick off/after Bohs scored. As the rest of the game was mostly air based probably wouldn’t have given him much opportunity to do anything. The Cameroon right winger was about the only player that caught my eye (nicknamed “Sparky” by the Shels massive, in a way that seemed derisory in tone and somehow racist).

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Sparky is Mark Rutherford from Birmingham and he brought the nickname with him (Marky Sparky I presume ) the Cameroon player is Joseph Ndo, now a pundit on Rte highlights programme Soccer Republic

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Ah, cheers elguapo. Hadn’t thought about that game in over 15 years. Fuck sake I was young then.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Weren't we all, to get back on thread I bet sky are wetting themselves over the prospect of a man utd, man city, Chelsea and arsenal league cup semi final line up, come on Bournemouth and Bristol City

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  I think I've watched none football this season.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X