Danny Baker back on Five Live

[readingbedding]

This time it's for the Saturday morning show.

Cast your mind back to 1997, the 'Things can only get better year..'

This little mp3 has the 606 conversation that smashed the Camel's back, got Baker the sack, coz he wanted his old Producer back.

http://www.internettreehouse.co.uk/audio/produce3.mp3

One of the best out there, and it's a welcome return to a time that I can listen to him on...

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Danny Baker's great, but that doesn't show him in the best light.

It's one of the least pleasant aspects of any phone-in host - the fact that they can just demand the caller gets cut off if the he starts to get the better of him.

[Royal Rother]

Interesting - not heard that before.

[The Reverend]

Oh dear God.

I would rather listen to Spoony and Lovejoy than this cretin. FFS, even Alan Green is less offensive. The 606 phone-ins should be about football, gathering the views and experiences of fans coming away from the matches.

Not some pseudo-intellectual-quasi-comic investigation into callers' best reasons for not having the proper footy kit ahead of the U16 county cup final.

RIP Saturday mornings.

[frimmers]

Oh dear God.

I would rather listen to Spoony and Lovejoy than this cretin. FFS, even Alan Green is less offensive. The 606 phone-ins should be about football, gathering the views and experiences of fans coming away from the matches.

Not some pseudo-intellectual-quasi-comic investigation into callers' best reasons for not having the proper footy kit ahead of the U16 county cup final.

RIP Saturday mornings.

lovejoy? take him all for yourself and spare the rest from the tintin quiffed cretin.spoony? right...danny baker has the gravitas to make him worth a listen and is prepared to step outside the comfort zone

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Oh dear God.

I would rather listen to Spoony and Lovejoy than this cretin. FFS, even Alan Green is less offensive. The 606 phone-ins should be about football, gathering the views and experiences of fans coming away from the matches.

Not some pseudo-intellectual-quasi-comic investigation into callers' best reasons for not having the proper footy kit ahead of the U16 county cup final.

RIP Saturday mornings.

lovejoy? take him all for yourself and spare the rest from the tintin quiffed cretin.spoony? right...danny baker has the gravitas to make him worth a listen and is prepared to step outside the comfort zone

Too right. Danny Baker is a genuine fan who mainly devoted his show to the theme of being a fan, rather than just having fans ringing in saying "our manager has lost the plot" etc. Tim Lovejoy, by contrast, was rather neatly summed up in WSC's review of his book about football...

"First, it’s clear that being Tim Lovejoy requires a very special blend of arrogance and ignorance. When he’s not listing his media achievements with a breathtaking lack of guile, he’s sneering at those “sad” enough to take an interest in football history, revealing his utter cluelessness about life outside the Premier League (in a section called “Know Your Silverware”, he refers to “League Three”) and making sundry gaffes, major and minor. He names Johan Cruyff as his all-time favourite player, then admits he’s only seen that five-second World Cup clip of the Cruyff turn"

“The hardest thing about leaving ­Soccer AM,” he says regretfully, “is the thought that I might no longer be influencing the game.”
http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/145/29/

[The Reverend]

Just to make it clear, I have no time for Spoony and less for Lovejoy.

I just prefer to listen to radio that is more about football and less about the whims of the presenter.

[Kitsondinho]

Oh dear God.

I would rather listen to Spoony and Lovejoy than this cretin. FFS, even Alan Green is less offensive. The 606 phone-ins should be about football, gathering the views and experiences of fans coming away from the matches.

Not some pseudo-intellectual-quasi-comic investigation into callers' best reasons for not having the proper footy kit ahead of the U16 county cup final.

RIP Saturday mornings.

lovejoy? take him all for yourself and spare the rest from the tintin quiffed cretin.spoony? right...danny baker has the gravitas to make him worth a listen and is prepared to step outside the comfort zone

Too right. Danny Baker is a genuine fan who mainly devoted his show to the theme of being a fan, rather than just having fans ringing in saying "our manager has lost the plot" etc. Tim Lovejoy, by contrast, was rather neatly summed up in WSC's review of his book about football...

"First, it’s clear that being Tim Lovejoy requires a very special blend of arrogance and ignorance. When he’s not listing his media achievements with a breathtaking lack of guile, he’s sneering at those “sad” enough to take an interest in football history, revealing his utter cluelessness about life outside the Premier League (in a section called “Know Your Silverware”, he refers to “League Three”) and making sundry gaffes, major and minor. He names Johan Cruyff as his all-time favourite player, then admits he’s only seen that five-second World Cup clip of the Cruyff turn"

“The hardest thing about leaving ­Soccer AM,” he says regretfully, “is the thought that I might no longer be influencing the game.”
http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/145/29/

Reading that review has made my day..........as the return of Danny Baker on saturday made my day then......

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Just to make it clear, I have no time for Spoony and less for Lovejoy.

I just prefer to listen to radio that is more about football and less about the whims of the presenter.

the whole point of Danny Baker's 606 (evening) show was that it wasn't about fans ringing in and moaning, as there were more than enough of those types of shows. It deliberately, to use the football cliche "set its stall out" to not be a football review phone-in.

It's actually very hard to do that without issuing a list of themes/categories for that night's show, as it's very unlikely that listeners will come up with interesting ideas spontanteously.

[Winvey]

Love Danny Baker's 606.

The footballers names version of Bohemian Rhapsody is Quality!!

[Silver Fox]

Tales of wooden bow ties >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fans of the big 4 calling in to beef about how they're so hard done by by refs

[The Reverend]

Tales of wooden bow ties >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fans of the big 4 calling in to beef about how they're so hard done by by refs

Maybe (and I'm the first to criticise the big4centric media) but I enjoy hearing Watford fans 'phoning in to moan about the phantom goal or Burnley fans tales of wayward parachutists.

Just to make it clear, I have no time for Spoony and less for Lovejoy.

I just prefer to listen to radio that is more about football and less about the whims of the presenter.

the whole point of Danny Baker's 606 (evening) show was that it wasn't about fans ringing in and moaning, as there were more than enough of those types of shows. It deliberately, to use the football cliche "set its stall out" to not be a football review phone-in.

Baker has his place - not 606. Maybe I was a little harsh in my original post. Saturday mornings would sit better with me.

[Royal Rother]

Which is where his new show is. Glad that's all settled then.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Anyone who ever calls a phone in should be shot, we'd have a much better country.

Did have to listen to 606 in a mates car on Sunday and Marcotti is well worth a listen too. Just destroyed anyone who talked rubbish (which was about 95% of callers).

A particular lol has to go to the guy who was trying to claim Downing should be playing tomoz. He gave him just enough rope to hang himself, then started dropping bombs. Same with some clown trying to claim Ledley King was better than Rio or JT....

These people need putting in their place. But is it any surprise when you consider the rubbish spouted by the media? Most of whom in my experience, know very little about what they write or say as gospel.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Baker >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Radio silence >>>>>>>>>> Lovejoy

[Royal Rother]

Anyone who ever calls a phone in should be shot, we'd have a much better country.

Did have to listen to 606 in a mates car on Sunday and Marcotti is well worth a listen too. Just destroyed anyone who talked rubbish (which was about 95% of callers).

A particular lol has to go to the guy who was trying to claim Downing should be playing tomoz. He gave him just enough rope to hang himself, then started dropping bombs. Same with some clown trying to claim Ledley King was better than Rio or JT....

These people need putting in their place. But is it any surprise when you consider the rubbish spouted by the media? Most of whom in my experience, know very little about what they write or say as gospel.

I like Marcotti a lot - he had the misfortune to share a studio with Steve Claridge last season and you could feel his pain as he had to bite his tongue rather than rip him apart time after time. The odd audible smirk was quite enough to illustrate what he thought of Claridge.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Absolutely agree about Marcotti...

His Wiki entry says

Gabriele Marcotti (born July 28, 1973 in Milan) is an Italian sports journalist and presenter.

Born in Italy and now based in London, he was raised in Chicago, Poland, Germany, New York and Japan. He is fluent in Italian, English, German and Japanese. Marcotti obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, New York.

Marcotti is known in the US for his work in Sports Illustrated, he also writes for Champions Magazine, The Times in England and the Sunday Herald in Scotland, having previously written for The Daily Mail and The Financial Times. In Italy he is a columnist for La Stampa and Il Corriere dello Sport.

After working for talkSPORT radio for six years, Marcotti switched to BBC Radio 5 Live, co-presenting the Friday edition of Five Live Sport alongside Mark Pougatch to preview the weekend’s fixtures in the Premier League and beyond. He often appears on the sports betting television station, SportsXchange and is sometimes interviewed on Sky Sports News and BBC's Football Focus, particularly when big stories break on Italian football such as the 2006 match-fixing scandal.

It is said that Marcotti himself supports Monza, though he admits that, as a boy, he was an Inter fan. He is also a Chelsea season ticket holder, although that does not necessarily imply that he is fan of the club. Despite rumors indicating otherwise, Marcotti has never claimed that Diego Maradona is the greatest footballer to ever grace the game, even though he has written extensively about that subject.

Marcotti has co-written three books: Paolo Di Canio's autobiography (1999), The Italian Job (2006), written in conjunction with Gianluca Vialli and "Capello: Portrait of a Winner" (2008), an unauthorized biography of the England manager, Fabio Capello. The Italian Job was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. "Capello:Portrait of a Winner" was nominated for the National Sporting Club's British Sports Book of the Year award in the Football category.

He took over the job as host of The Times' podcast, TheGame, in August 2007, along with Guillem Balague, replacing Danny Kelly. He had previously been a main contributor to the podcast for 2006-2007 season. In the current run of podcasts (2008-2009 season) he remains a prominent contributor to the programme, although Phil Jupitus took over as the host.

A "pundit" with some sense and knowledge about him - let's hope the BBC use him as part of their WC team next summer rather than being wasted anywhere else.

[Hoop Blah]

I find Marcotti a bit up his own arse at times to be honest.

Far too keen to try and belittle anything that isn't putting English football down and used to find him too confrontational on the Times podcast a few years back.

He has a very good knowledge of players, the economics and politics of the worldwide game but I think he's one of those that's tried to complicate and intellectualise football too much over the last few years.

As Shankly said, it's a simple game made complicated by people who should know better.

(I actually used to like Claridge on the few times I saw him on 'You're on Sky Sports')

Baker, Lofty and even Mellor were OK on 606. When Baker did it the whole blend was pretty good, and it was like an online WSC or a decent fanzine. These days I never listen to it as they're all TalkSport/Sky style phone in's about dodgy decisions and sacking the managers. Proper borefests.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Will always remember someone ringing Mellor on 606 and just saying 'you're a oxf*rd.'

He was always too pro Chelsea for me.

[Terminal Boardom]

At least Danny Baker goes outside the box. One of the best phone ins he did was based on strange locations where people had played football. I think Ark has a story about this and St. Petersburg. The more routine phone ins on everyday life also worked for me as he would pinpoint something very obvious and take the piss. One such was serving suggestions on food labels.