Grey Blade
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
- Messages
- 1,948
- Reaction score
- 3,395
Like most of us I've been an armchair fan for nearly a year, something I don't want to repeat in a hurry. A year ago today I attended my last football match at Bramall Lane when United drew 1-1 with Brighton. I missed the game against Norwich a couple of weeks later as I was away, having booked a holiday on impulse just after New Year. At the time of booking there were reports of a virus in China but little did I think it would eventually bring life to a standstill in the UK.
Previously I had never subscribed to Sky Sports or BT Sport but did watch the occasional games using Now TV. I always avoided Sky or BT because I thought I might feel the need to watch games endlessly on the basis that I wanted to get value for money and felt I should put my time to better use. This all changed with lockdown. Initially I subscribed to Now TV on a monthly basis and when the free broadcasts ceased I added BT Sport. Of course with lockdown I had plenty of time on my hands and to be honest watching TV football did kill a lot of time.
I've also watched many Harrogate Town games on i Follow - nearly as many as the United games I've seen. I quite like watching League 2 football; there's plenty of honest endeavor, little play acting and very few prima donnas. There's only one camera angle, no VAR (thank goodness) and no endless analysis of decisions, largely because there doesn't seem to be any facility for slow motion action replays from several angles.
Having become a temporary armchair fan I find the coverage very frustrating. It's great for seeing action replays from several different angles but often it's difficult to judge how play is building as the cameras tend to ball watch and often miss movements off the ball. At times they zoom in on a small area of the pitch and it's difficult to know what's developing elsewhere. They're also keen to show action replays and often miss a subsequent piece of play. They show close ups of the manager, a player whose just done something of note, Gareth Southgate sitting in the stand, etc, etc and consequently miss what's happening on the pitch. The commentators and summarisers often appear to be willing the top teams to win and I find the endless analysis of every debatable decision most tedious. I look forward to no longer having to be an armchair fan and can't wait to watch games in a stadium without having to listen to commentators and summarisers with their constant chit chat and empty apologies for bad language we may have heard but usually haven't!
Having been an armchair fan for a year I shall be cancelling my monthly subscription to Now TV at the earliest opportunity (already cancelled BT Sport on Sunday). I do feel a lot of sympathy for fans who can only get their football via TV and will stick to my original plan of only subscribing to Sky or BT (or whoever else gets a contract) when I'm no longer able to get to a ground.
Previously I had never subscribed to Sky Sports or BT Sport but did watch the occasional games using Now TV. I always avoided Sky or BT because I thought I might feel the need to watch games endlessly on the basis that I wanted to get value for money and felt I should put my time to better use. This all changed with lockdown. Initially I subscribed to Now TV on a monthly basis and when the free broadcasts ceased I added BT Sport. Of course with lockdown I had plenty of time on my hands and to be honest watching TV football did kill a lot of time.
I've also watched many Harrogate Town games on i Follow - nearly as many as the United games I've seen. I quite like watching League 2 football; there's plenty of honest endeavor, little play acting and very few prima donnas. There's only one camera angle, no VAR (thank goodness) and no endless analysis of decisions, largely because there doesn't seem to be any facility for slow motion action replays from several angles.
Having become a temporary armchair fan I find the coverage very frustrating. It's great for seeing action replays from several different angles but often it's difficult to judge how play is building as the cameras tend to ball watch and often miss movements off the ball. At times they zoom in on a small area of the pitch and it's difficult to know what's developing elsewhere. They're also keen to show action replays and often miss a subsequent piece of play. They show close ups of the manager, a player whose just done something of note, Gareth Southgate sitting in the stand, etc, etc and consequently miss what's happening on the pitch. The commentators and summarisers often appear to be willing the top teams to win and I find the endless analysis of every debatable decision most tedious. I look forward to no longer having to be an armchair fan and can't wait to watch games in a stadium without having to listen to commentators and summarisers with their constant chit chat and empty apologies for bad language we may have heard but usually haven't!
Having been an armchair fan for a year I shall be cancelling my monthly subscription to Now TV at the earliest opportunity (already cancelled BT Sport on Sunday). I do feel a lot of sympathy for fans who can only get their football via TV and will stick to my original plan of only subscribing to Sky or BT (or whoever else gets a contract) when I'm no longer able to get to a ground.