I watch Match of the Day 2 quite a lot. I’ve always considered it a lesser programme compared to Match of the Day. This evening’s thrilling episode of MOTD2 added something which I didn’t care for and lead me to think something I often think, “There’s a blog in this”. Now I will raise the thing they’ve added but there are a few more points which condemn it to being MOTD’s stupid sibling. It’s not much really, just some stuff I’ve had in my noodle for years and felt it might be fun to note them down. So.
Adrian Chiles
Now, I don’t mind Adrian Chiles really. Odd I know if I raise it as the first issue I have but I don’t want you to think I’m aboard the “Adrian Chiles is a c**t” boat. That boat is very full and I don’t think he’s that bad. The main problem with Adrian is this
He’s Beige
Oh Adrian, so bland, so vanilla, oh so beige. I’ve taken to calling him the Beige Fog but it hasn’t caught on. People may say Lineker is the same but he’s allowed to be as he has the benefit of footballing credibility, having you know, played football. Whereas Adrian, bless him, hasn’t. He’s really quite fantastically plain and inoffensive so I really struggle to warm to him.
He’s nice enough, but I would prefer someone with a bit more Gravitas. Though the choice of host might be to do with my second objection.
Daytime TV
It’s slow, it’s viral and it’s more and more apparent. The show is becoming more and more like lightweight, wishy washy daytime television. The Beige Fog is the archetype for this kinda stuff, thus his position as captain of the good ship One Show. Sailing the waveless, vanilla seas of daytime without even breaking the surface.
Aside from Chiles the show has the “2 Good 2 Bad” feature which highlights the enormous amusement that can be found from a member of the crowd wearing a funny hat. When done properly you get something like Soccer AM’s third eye which produces some brilliantly funny moments from the loony bin that is football. Here’s an example of a cracking Third Eye
Brilliant! It works there because it’s much of a supporters perspective whereas on MOTD2 it’s like You’ve been Framed after Beadle and before Hill. Yuck.
They’ve also added these “delightful” little vignets telling the “mad” stories of supporters. It’s like watching the Aviva advert with Paul Whitehouse as the Plymouth supporter. I like that advert as I think Whitehouse is a triumph in pretty much anything he’s in, but doing that without the intention of being funny is really quite acutely boring. It’s only in there to flesh out the program a bit and I audibly groan every time it comes on.
Finally in this bit, the catalyst for this blog, the over editing of highlights. Because they have the benefit of a days editing time, they seem to deem it necessary to edit the highlights in a fashion that reflects the nature of the match. It’s so hammy and tacky. For example Chelsea’s recent 7-2 smashing of Sunderland was turned into a parody of the Magnificent Seven with Wanted posters and wild west music, it’s just annoying. They’ve also taken to adding music to the managers interview and recapping the key points from the game with Lord Ordinary whimsically talking fluffly waffle over the top of it.
This all pales in comparison to my biggest objection to MOTD2.
Showing some of Saturday’s goals in the Intro
I HAVEN”T SEEN THEM ADRIAN. I have to close my eyes during the intro as I don’t like seeing the goals out of context. Why do it? What purpose does it serve? It’s been like this for years and it drives me loopy. Serenity Now!
The Advantages of MOTD2
There are precious few advantages that MOTD2 has over MOTD. The first is more Goals. Though Gary Lineker’s lack of a time machine is hardly a fair criticism.
The other advantage is it’s on Sunday. Being the funky hipster bohemian that I am I often miss MOTD. Now this isn’t due to any kind of crammed social schedule. Truth be told I can’t remember what I did last night which lead me to miss MOTD which lead me to watch MOTD2. Sunday is a day where nothing good can be achieved so don’t try. Just sit around, mooching about waiting for Monday. MOTD2 knows this and is there to help you waste an hour.
Conclusion
I much prefer MOTD for blindly stupid “footballing” reasons. I want a show that shows the highlights and then idly discusses them in football fashion. It’s football, stupid and more than occasionally boring. That’s the way I like it. There are two methods of presenting football, dead pan serious with occasional journeys into sillyness (MOTD or Gillette Soccer Saturday) or the daft, on the terraces version (Soccer AM). Both work as they treat football in a genuine way. Be it stupidly serious or a brilliantly stupid.
MOTD2 falls somewhere in the middle and it’s too far divorced from either side for it to work for me. But I’ll still watch it and be vaguely miffed as Chico Vanilla pokes me in the face with candy floss. Hmph.
