Football podcasts

[Viana]

On 04/08/2023 at 09:31, r0cafella said:

Aye the only patter is complete shit and they manage to spend an inordinate amount of time talking about anything but football. 

There are quite a few football pods guilty of that. 
 

The Guardian love a digression down a one way street, especially when Barney Ronay is on. 
 

People like Taylor and Caulkin don’t see podcasting for the skill it is. In reality it’s radio without the pitch markings. Ad libs aren’t outlawed, but they’re like flicks and tricks on a football pitch, there’s a time and a place.

 

When podcasting is done well it’s a structured conversation that looks free flowing. The problem Pod on the Tyne has is that it has none of that structure and it’s host doesn’t know how to use his guests effectively. 
 

It means you end up with chat about “waffles” that has more value to HR than it does an audience.

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Viana

[Rich]

What have they done to the Weekend Preview, ffs. Bring back the Brummies.

[Yorkie]

3 hours ago, Rich said:

What have they done to the Weekend Preview, ffs. Bring back the Brummies.

 

Listened to that on the way into work today. There's such a smug, condescending, 'everything's about The Big Six and anything else is irrelevant' tone to these podcasts at times.

 

It's so blatant as well; "it's Forest against Sheffield United on Friday night [scoff] is there anything interesting about that game? Let's talk about a better game: Palace vs Arsenal." That's basically verbatim. 

 

And kindly stop suddenly blasting your obnoxiously loud theme tune into my ears without warning at various points in the podcast. 

[Rich]

There was absolutely nee insight in either of those first two episodes and the production quality was crap, had exactly the same issue with the theme tune as well.

 

With the amount of dollar they've got and the amount of people producing the podcast, based simply on who they thank at the end, it's a fucking joke.

 

Made me miss Dan Bardell and Steve Freeth more than I ever thought possible. (Didn't mind either tbf, accents aside.)

[Yorkie]

28 minutes ago, Rich said:

There was absolutely nee insight in either of those first two episodes and the production quality was crap, had exactly the same issue with the theme tune as well.

 

With the amount of dollar they've got and the amount of people producing the podcast, based simply on who they thank at the end, it's a fucking joke.

 

Made me miss Dan Bardell and Steve Freeth more than I ever thought possible. (Didn't mind either tbf, accents aside.)

 

Aye, Bardell is absolutely fine. And re the quality yeah, there was a faint 'hiss' on the host's mic. Like howay, I'm accidentally paying £60 for this. Alongside my accidental £55 for Strava.

[Rich]

Yorkie can I interest you in the new "Rich" subscription?

[Yorkie]

Just show me where to put my card details! 

[Viana]

I know everyone adores James Richardson, but I feel like I've noticed a more pronounced snideness to him lately. 

 

It sounded like he wanted nothing to do with the women's World Cup chat, and was constantly interrupting while also making a passive aggressive remark about Duncan Alexander's jokes. I know to a degree that's his style, but I do wonder if he's just bored of the whole carry on. 

 

I think I need to refresh my football podcasts tbh. Even the tactics one with Michael Cox feels like eavesdropping a group of lads from Oxbridge discuss football. 

[Disco]

The most recent Athletic Football pod is a nice listen if you’re not overly predisposed towards Everton.

 

Caveat about the host being horrific still applies. Stop over-pronouncing everything son, it’s not necessary. 

 

On 19/08/2023 at 22:08, Viana said:

I think I need to refresh my football podcasts tbh. Even the tactics one with Michael Cox feels like eavesdropping a group of lads from Oxbridge discuss football. 

 It’s interesting but borderline unlistenable for me albeit I’m probably on the borderline of being the audience. I do love Michael Cox though. 
 

RE: comments on the weekend preview seems to me now they’re NYT affiliated they’re cutting more and more to suit a US audience. Noticed it over the summer with the casual dropping in of the MLS fixtures etc. Think I’ve posted before but I liked the preview bar shoehorning of odds as it felt natural. Bardell seems like good normal people as does the Wolves lad.   

[Viana]

44 minutes ago, Disco said:

The most recent Athletic Football pod is a nice listen if you’re not overly predisposed towards Everton.

 

Caveat about the host being horrific still applies. Stop over-pronouncing everything son, it’s not necessary. 

 

 It’s interesting but borderline unlistenable for me. I do love Michael Cox though. 
 

RE: comments on the weekend preview seems to me now they’re NYT affiliated they’re cutting more and more to suit a US audience. Noticed it over the summer with the casual dropping in of the MLS fixtures etc. Think I’ve posted before but I liked the preview bar shoehorning of odds as it felt natural. Bardell seems like good normal people as does the Wolves lad.   

Coxy is a good lad and a tidy player actually. He absolutely pulls no punches with colleagues though which amuses me. 
 

You’re right it’s a better listen because there’s insight. The Guardian one lately has felt like listening to four improv comics trying new bits of material at the same time. 
 

I also wish we had a Newcastle podcast with a bit of sophistication. I don’t need numbers rammed down my throat, but even just a bit of proper discourse about the club and the matches outside of “he was shite” or “how good is he?” 
 

I know that means more pre-production and likely more left on the cutting room floor, but I really feel there’s a space for a curated Newcastle fan media platform. 
 

Podcasts on classic games, interviews with former players. Just something substantial. 

[Disco]

Yeah totally agree.
 

TF have the market reasonably locked off but for me those involved and the analysis are both largely terrible. I have a bit to do with one of them through work and the person involved is no different there. I guess anything new would need significant backing to break into a reasonably crowded market place though.

 

Maybe it’s because I’m too involved I think that though, who knows but most other club pods I’ve given a listen to don’t seem anywhere near as bad or full of their self importance. 

 

I feel like I could write a diss on football podcasts given how many I listen to but all seem to have declined in quality when they become to self important and almost get too big.
 

Maybe it’s because I’m less interested day to day but I find the non UK focused pods / specific topic pods much more interesting and listenable than the regular preview/review hur hur don’t we all think x stuff even though I listen to it all. Hence Set Piece Menu, Foorball Cliches, Gazzetta, TF Europod (even though I dislike Laurens and Horncastle about they clearly know their stuff so I can let it ride) being go to’s ahead of owt else domestic based.

 

 

[Wullie]

I've basically given up listening to the weekend preview/review podcasts a while ago. More than ten years of listening to the format has made me completely sick of it. If I could guarantee it was people I liked listening to every week I could get away with it but I was spending too much time listening to bland journos whose name I can't remember give me their thoughts for 3 minutes about Watford vs Burnley, then 4 minutes on Palace vs Brentford (then "Stick around for part 3, we'll talk about Wolves vs West Ham *one second jingle* Welcome to part 3").

 

I feel like those podcasts are trapped between discussing the weekend's biggest, most interesting talking points which, unless there's a wider point to be made around, say, a refereeing decision, inevitably means discussing the best teams/biggest clubs, and making sure everyone gets a fair hearing. They, imo, do the latter but at the expense of the former. I know it's annoying when you're a midtable team and you win 4-0 and then it gets a passing mention but actually, most people aren't interested in a midtable team winning 4-0 beyond the point the game has ended. I'd rather hear someone like Jonathan Wilson or Rory Smith talk about Arsenal vs Man United for half an hour than hear their brief thoughts on each PL game (interspersed with the aforementioned folk I don't know), so I basically just listen to Second Captains now, even though they hate Newcastle.

[AJ9]

Is football cliches dead now? Not been any content in ages. Been giving POTT a go but it’s absolutely shite. Caulkin comes across like a grade a twat.

[Yorkie]

3 hours ago, AJ9 said:

Is football cliches dead now? Not been any content in ages. Been giving POTT a go but it’s absolutely shite. Caulkin comes across like a grade a twat.

 

He's really doubled down on it this season as well.

 

However - N-O bubble klaxon - I was chatting to a friend of a friend the other day, who ended up being a Newcastle fan. I asked him if he ever frequented this place; he said no but he loved Pod on the Tyne. So it's probably just us curmudgeons again, isn't it?

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Yorkie said:

 

He's really doubled down on it this season as well.

 

However - N-O bubble klaxon - I was chatting to a friend of a friend the other day, who ended up being a Newcastle fan. I asked him if he ever frequented this place; he said no but he loved Pod on the Tyne. So it's probably just us curmudgeons again, isn't it?

It isn’t, Caulkin comes across terribly. Piss poor bantz combined with a seeming loathing of anything actually football. 

[AJ9]

3 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

He's really doubled down on it this season as well.

 

However - N-O bubble klaxon - I was chatting to a friend of a friend the other day, who ended up being a Newcastle fan. I asked him if he ever frequented this place; he said no but he loved Pod on the Tyne. So it's probably just us curmudgeons again, isn't it?

Weird. Even with the obvious issue of Caulkin being a toaster on it put to one side, I can’t see what people find enjoyable about it. I usually like podcasts as a way of getting some niche or interesting insight/comment that I wouldn’t get from other types of media. Maybe a little depth on a topic, perhaps. POTT offers nothing more than you’d get off a mate down the pub. Maybe that’s the intended overall feel, but it’s poor. I even hate the fucking music.

[Lush Vlad]

12 hours ago, Disco said:

Yeah totally agree.
 

TF have the market reasonably locked off but for me those involved and the analysis are both largely terrible. I have a bit to do with one of them through work and the person involved is no different there. I guess anything new would need significant backing to break into a reasonably crowded market place though.

 

Maybe it’s because I’m too involved I think that though, who knows but most other club pods I’ve given a listen to don’t seem anywhere near as bad or full of their self importance. 

 

I feel like I could write a diss on football podcasts given how many I listen to but all seem to have declined in quality when they become to self important and almost get too big.
 

Maybe it’s because I’m less interested day to day but I find the non UK focused pods / specific topic pods much more interesting and listenable than the regular preview/review hur hur don’t we all think x stuff even though I listen to it all. Hence Set Piece Menu, Foorball Cliches, Gazzetta, TF Europod (even though I dislike Laurens and Horncastle about they clearly know their stuff so I can let it ride) being go to’s ahead of owt else domestic based.

 

 

Got a point on the Europod. They have what seem like some of the smuggest fuckers going on there. But they are actually insightful and interesting, at least. 
 

Stuck record. But the NUFC specific ones are horrendous. Choice between awful puns and sausage based gags. A pod that spends 75% of its time getting stuff wrong, arguing and massively going off topic. Or the unbearable ‘we are mint. Like, Isak is the best player in the world, ever’ pod. 

[Lush Vlad]

8 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

He's really doubled down on it this season as well.

 

However - N-O bubble klaxon - I was chatting to a friend of a friend the other day, who ended up being a Newcastle fan. I asked him if he ever frequented this place; he said no but he loved Pod on the Tyne. So it's probably just us curmudgeons again, isn't it?

Nah. It’s dreadful. 
 

The host is a right plum. Caulkin is arguably worse (don’t meet/listen to your heroes). 
 

At least Waugh attempts to bring some tactical insight and stats to the table. Only to be shouted down and sneered at for loving meat or whatever it is the other two clowns are jipping him about that week. It also doesn’t help that he is a pure charisma vacuum. 

[r0cafella]

We slag it off but I bet we all listen to it weekly which is a bit of a sad indictment on the state of the podcasts surrounding us

[Lush Vlad]

6 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

We slag it off but I bet we all listen to it weekly which is a bit of a sad indictment on the state of the podcasts surrounding us

Nah. I genuinely haven’t since towards the end of last season. 
 

I tried TF and GS this season and turned both off. They were painfully bad. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, Lush Vlad said:

Nah. I genuinely haven’t since towards the end of last season. 
 

I tried TF and GS this season and turned both off. They were painfully bad. 

Sensible, I can’t help but stick it on whilst I’m regretting hoping for a grain of insight that usually never comes

[Disco]

4 hours ago, AJ9 said:

Is football cliches dead now? Not been any content in ages. 

 

From what I can gather it's been pied by The Athletic but it'll return elsewhere eventually.

[Viana]

14 hours ago, Disco said:

Yeah totally agree.
 

TF have the market reasonably locked off but for me those involved and the analysis are both largely terrible. I have a bit to do with one of them through work and the person involved is no different there. I guess anything new would need significant backing to break into a reasonably crowded market place though.

 

Maybe it’s because I’m too involved I think that though, who knows but most other club pods I’ve given a listen to don’t seem anywhere near as bad or full of their self importance. 

 

I feel like I could write a diss on football podcasts given how many I listen to but all seem to have declined in quality when they become to self important and almost get too big.
 

Maybe it’s because I’m less interested day to day but I find the non UK focused pods / specific topic pods much more interesting and listenable than the regular preview/review hur hur don’t we all think x stuff even though I listen to it all. Hence Set Piece Menu, Foorball Cliches, Gazzetta, TF Europod (even though I dislike Laurens and Horncastle about they clearly know their stuff so I can let it ride) being go to’s ahead of owt else domestic based.

 

 

I don't know any of the True Faith people personally, but when I have listened I feel it falls into the trap of many podcasts, which is presuming a podcast is just have a chat and hit record. It leaves the whole thing feeling a bit empty and like a string of adjectives thrown together. There's more nuance to it than that. 

 

In my opinion, a good podcast looks like a natural conversation because of how much work goes on behind the curtain to orchestrate that in a way so that it glides between prepared and spontaneous, with the chemistry generated by continuity of panel another factor (none of the big pods have this anymore). It also requires a degree of self-sacrifice from your host/guest to not make it about them. You need a keen eye on when to let the conversation flow and when to move on. 

 

I've not tried many of the ones you mention as enjoying, so will definitely load them up. I will also echo what @Wullie says below. It's become formulaic. The journalists aren't truly plugged into a lot of the lesser clubs so they tend to regurgitate the same talking points. That's how the narrative becomes reinforced, and in reality, you can't provide ample context or even alternative viewpoints in those little three or four minute blocks. Cutting a 20-25 minute chat down is hard for an editor, but also a disservice to your audience, and running a 2 hour plus podcast every week probably won't deliver the listen time the money men want. 

 

I debated whether different formats would work, or if doing a bi-weekly deep dive pod on one team's situation alongside your standard pre and post game ones would work, but I'm not sure. They're trying to appeal to the broadest audience by covering all the teams, but by doing that they're kind of covering none of them adequately. 

 

The fact that the Guardian and Totally Football know they're too big to fail means there's also no incentive to change. The Ramble's approach to European coverage is nice, I just don't know if you'd get that to work for the Premier League. If you have planned to discuss Bournemouth and Iraola's exciting tactical approach and then Liverpool blitz Man Utd 7-0 again you're going to abandon that first pod instantly.

 

 

6 hours ago, Wullie said:

I've basically given up listening to the weekend preview/review podcasts a while ago. More than ten years of listening to the format has made me completely sick of it. If I could guarantee it was people I liked listening to every week I could get away with it but I was spending too much time listening to bland journos whose name I can't remember give me their thoughts for 3 minutes about Watford vs Burnley, then 4 minutes on Palace vs Brentford (then "Stick around for part 3, we'll talk about Wolves vs West Ham *one second jingle* Welcome to part 3").

 

I feel like those podcasts are trapped between discussing the weekend's biggest, most interesting talking points which, unless there's a wider point to be made around, say, a refereeing decision, inevitably means discussing the best teams/biggest clubs, and making sure everyone gets a fair hearing. They, imo, do the latter but at the expense of the former. I know it's annoying when you're a midtable team and you win 4-0 and then it gets a passing mention but actually, most people aren't interested in a midtable team winning 4-0 beyond the point the game has ended. I'd rather hear someone like Jonathan Wilson or Rory Smith talk about Arsenal vs Man United for half an hour than hear their brief thoughts on each PL game (interspersed with the aforementioned folk I don't know), so I basically just listen to Second Captains now, even though they hate Newcastle.

 

[Chapo]

6 hours ago, Wullie said:

I've basically given up listening to the weekend preview/review podcasts a while ago. More than ten years of listening to the format has made me completely sick of it. If I could guarantee it was people I liked listening to every week I could get away with it but I was spending too much time listening to bland journos whose name I can't remember give me their thoughts for 3 minutes about Watford vs Burnley, then 4 minutes on Palace vs Brentford (then "Stick around for part 3, we'll talk about Wolves vs West Ham *one second jingle* Welcome to part 3").

 

I feel like those podcasts are trapped between discussing the weekend's biggest, most interesting talking points which, unless there's a wider point to be made around, say, a refereeing decision, inevitably means discussing the best teams/biggest clubs, and making sure everyone gets a fair hearing. They, imo, do the latter but at the expense of the former. I know it's annoying when you're a midtable team and you win 4-0 and then it gets a passing mention but actually, most people aren't interested in a midtable team winning 4-0 beyond the point the game has ended. I'd rather hear someone like Jonathan Wilson or Rory Smith talk about Arsenal vs Man United for half an hour than hear their brief thoughts on each PL game (interspersed with the aforementioned folk I don't know), so I basically just listen to Second Captains now, even though they hate Newcastle.

Ken’s hatred and mockery of all things Eddie is tough going  

[Nucasol]

2 hours ago, Lush Vlad said:

Or the unbearable ‘we are mint. Like, Isak is the best player in the world, ever’ pod. 

“Class”. You did a canny impression of Charlotte there.