Ray Silke: Sunday Game, Pat Spillane...what an anchor!

[Hardy]

I just want to record that I've also more or less stopped watching that unwatchable tripe. If I want to see highlights of a game I've missed I'll turn it on sometimes. Even then I know I won't get highlights, just scores - and not all of those. And for every minute of action I'll get two minutes of Tommy Lyons gabbling about "gain lines" and Spillane neighing and whinnying his way to unexplored depths of prattery.

If enough of us draw their attention to the fact that we're not watching, maybe they'll notice. Though I wouldn't bet on it. I contacted them in September 2005 to tell them that I was turning off in my droves (well, that most people I knew no longer found it required viewing and that I assumed their audience figures must reflect that). I asked them for their average audience figures over the previous four years to test my hypothesis. I just got a load of flim-flam, evasion and all sorts of figures except the useful ones they clearly didn't want to give me.

So I reached the conclusion that they know it's crap but they don't care. If anyone feels like trying again, I have a contact email, assuming it's still current. But don't expect much.

[orangeman]

Good article by Silke - but here's an important consideration - those who can write well may not necssarily speak well - do you know what I mean ?

[Hardy]

That's right, orangeman. Silke's article is good and his points accurate, but he's been a total flop as a pundit himself anytime I've heard him on the last word - cliched, predictable and uninteresting.

But you don't have to be a priest to know a bad sermon when you hear one. For example, I know I'd be totally rank as a presenter or a pundit. That doesn't disqualify me from commenting that Spillane and Lyons are equally bad.

[orangeman]

What about Brolly as a presenter ? Would he be just too contreversial ?

[DickyRock]

Brolly is just another spillane -  so no

[DJGaliv]

I think O'Cinneide will be the long term choice as host, as the only qualified journo amounst footballers he has been well groomed during his time with Radio Na G.

He is a nice lad and is fairly diplomatic and gives a good balanced view of what he sees in a game , even if its Kerry playing.

To be honest I think he's perfectly suited to the presenters role, so long as he doesn't try and be presenter and analyst like Spillane does. It would be good to have someone who will ask the right questions and knows a lot about the sport. I think he is a tad too nice to the Kerry boys for him to become a quality analyst, anchor would definitely be more up his street. There doesn't seem to be much ego about him. Spillane on the other hand, always has to get the last word in on a topic, after not listening to his guests.

Silke is right in what he says, but it does sound an awful lot like his angling for a job there. He's a sound man, but I don't think he's up to it. Fair play to him though, he's not afraid to let rip at a few of his team mates from '98. At least Silke is putting it out there that The Sunday Game is dying with the quality of presentation and analysis they have. Most people watching The Sunday Game have played, or still play at some level, and the least RTE could do is respect their knowledge of the game and give hard analysis. Instead we have pointless fluff like Lyons on about gainlines.

I think everybody knows that Spillane is useless at presenting, from Silke to the Leinster chairman (I think?). I can't for the life of me figure out why nothing has been done about it. Is it actually an old pals act in there? O'Rourke and Brolly won't work as analysts if Spillane doesn't get a presenting job. Maybe they're afraid that they won't get enough "airtime" if Spillane is just a regular analyst like them. Tommy Lyons, in typical snake-oil salesman fashion I'd say, bullshitted himself into the analsyts chair. He's not taken seriously be anyone at this stage.

First ones out the door, in my opinion should be Spillane, Lyons, McStay, and Davis. Martin "They're scoring too many points against us Tommy" Carney isn't much use either. I think there's a hell of a lot of ex players who wouldn't mind a crack at it, and most if not all would do a better job. All Tony Davis ever seems to come out with is "What <insert county> really need to do is start winning possession". Pointless.

Christ Brolly as a presenter would be as bad as Spillane.

The Sunday Game has gone from vital for many GAA fans, to stale and pointless. The biggest annoyance is how easily it can be fixed. No doubt there's some guy in charge of The Sunday Game who used to direct The Clinic or something, and hasn't a clue where they are going wrong or why people have stopped watching. If people rattle off a few emails to them it can't hurt.

Email: thesundaygame@rte.ie

[full back]

Davis has to be 1st out the door
I mean, who keeps their job when they have to read the names from a sheet
How the fcuk he is keeping his job is a mystery

It's like working in a car showroom, a customer coming in and you not knowing the name of the f**king cars

[balladmaker]

How much does Spillane get paid for his role as presenter per year......would it be in around the 200K mark?

[Croí na hÉireann]

David has to be 1st out the door
I mean, who keeps their job when they have to read the names from a sheet
How the fcuk he is keeping his job is a mystery

Couldn't for the life of me figure out who David was (David Spillane? No! David Tohill? No! David Lyons? No!...) until I read the next line.. "read the names from a sheet" ah, Tony Davis, complete plank...

[full back]

Sorry about that Croi - duly amended

[Croí na hÉireann]

No worries, just thought it funny that I was having difficulty figuring out who David was until I read the next line...

My list to be expelled from TSG is, in order: Lyons, Spillane out of the anchor chair, Flynn and Davis. Someone needs to tell Brolly and O'Rourke to cut back on the schoolboy bitching. Farrell and Mulcahy were at it to a lesser extent last Sun, give it a rest lads.

[orangeman]

Out of curiosity - how much do all the people get paid for being on the show ? Does anyone hve that information ? Maybe it's voluntary ?

[IolarCoisCuain]

You know how you normally get De Dubs, that lifeblood of the GAA and all that we hold dear, jumping all over you if you express an un-Dublin thought, like maybe they could turn up on time for their own games? Why aren't they defending poor Tommy? Why isn't someone in sky and navy blue diving over the hand-grenades being tossed at their former Duce? Ah me - how quickly they forget....

[The Claw]

So how about this for the SG team
Anchor - O Cinneide,
Football analists: Robbie O Malley, Anthony Tohill,
Hurling: Anthony Daly, Donal O Grady, Larry Murphy (trust me, knows his stuff)
Out: Davis, Lyons, Spillane, Flynn, McStay.

[orangeman]

Get Adrian Logan in - UTV don't use him for GAA - just the odd rugby match.