- 4 Jun 08, 07:30 PM
Vienna
When none of the home nations qualified for Euro 2008, BBC Sport, as rights holders, had two options:
Either we could do what our predecessors were obliged to do in the same circumstances back in 1984 - sulk, lick our wounds, and scale the coverage back to a bare, begrudging minimum (only two live games were shown).
Or the other option, the one we've been allowed to take, is to cover the tournament comprehensively anyway and rejoice in what should be a great festival of football.
Every game will be live on BBC Radio 5 Live or Sports Extra, televised live on either BBC or ITV, while every game that BBC TV shows live will also be available to watch live on the BBC Sport website. Some action will also be available on your mobile phone.
After all, the '84 tournament, in common with most European Championships, was a wonderful event even without our participation. In fact, with the honourable exception of Euro 96, the UK's national sides have contributed very little to the tournament's illustrious history.
The BBC's marketing campaign "Euro 2008: who will you support?" seems to have struck exactly the right note. We're aware that not all the casual viewers we attract every other summer will flock to us this time, but, if you love your football, it would seem perverse not to follow many of the world's - and our domestic league's - best players throughout as open and entertaining a tournament as this one promises to be.
In fact, we've featured several them in our opening titles sequence, set to the 41st Symphony of an Austrian composer by the name of Mozart.
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We're in the process of setting ourselves up in a studio in downtown Vienna. We've established a production base in the International Broadcast Centre - for any film buffs among you, we're close to the Ferris Wheel from which Orson Welles philosophised so memorably in "The Third Man" - and will be sending reporters and commentators to various parts of Switzerland and Austria.
And, for the first time, we should be able to offer a genuinely multimedia package to the licence payer. "More platforms than a Bay City Rollers concert" could be the slogan if 1970s references were allowed in such a cutting-edge context. The contract we have with Uefa enables us to broadcast action both interactively and online (for example, via the iPlayer) as well via the traditional TV and radio outlets.
As I've frequently had to point out during the regular season, we do not have this contractual luxury with our week-in, week-out Premier League coverage, so this is a real opportunity for us to provide an expanded service.
We should also be able to maximise the value of all of our material. The technology now available to us will allow us to pool, say, a high-profile interview from a training camp so it can quickly appear on Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport website or the BBC News Channel.
At home or at work, those of you in the UK will be able to watch a wide range of material around the clock via the red button, online or on your mobiles - any action you've missed, classic Euro archive action, and interviews and feature material from our roving crews, for example.
We're also reprising a popular feature from the last World Cup with a daily behind-the-scenes look at our operation and off-duty talent (a kind of DVD extras feature) which we're calling "Match of the Day Unplugged".
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I'll try to provide what insight I can from a production point of view with a regular contribution to these blogs - a kind of "Match of the Day Undressed" (or "Unhinged") if you like. As one of the two editors who will be in charge of all the live and highlights shows, I will be at least partly answerable for the TV coverage, and working closely with those responsible for the rest of the BBC's output. So here's to a great tournament all round.
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Nice opening, good to see something different. Even though England aren't in it i'm sure this will be a cracking tournament and i'm really looking forward to it. Come one Oranjes!!!
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Got to admit I think the titles are awful.
They make it seem like there's only 5 teams in the competition.
And the cartoon idea is poor. Using video footage of past tournaments or getting some players in a studio to kick a ball about would have been much better.
Titles from four years ago easily beat these.
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Saw a prelude to these titles with the closer from Football Focus on Saturday and I'm sorry, but boring! Clichéd and parochial...are we to believe the only focus for watching the Euro's is to see the players of the premiership? I for one cant wait to see the likes of Ribery, Van Der Vaart, Quaresma, Petric, Benzema, Gomez to name but a few...not Gallas or Gatusso.
I really hope the coverage does not equate to the merits of the premiership and base itself on lazy punditry...
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Terrible, no other word. There is absolutely nothing there that symbolises the huge cultural impression that Austria and Switzerland have made to the world. Yet another smarmy, pathetic BBC attempt to make fun of 'the foreigners'. It's not England so let's make fun of them.
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I like the titles, though as a Gooner, I'd rather have seen Fabregas there instead of Gallas.
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lol. To think that once upon a time, footy wasn't the centre of the universe!! 1984 indeed. George would have been proud. Tigana, Platani - Goal! A repeat this time round, but the names will have been changed to protect the innocent.
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they are just... awful. it's like the BBC have decided as there are no home nations in it to just make it a light fanciful joke with some wussy chamber music and silly cartoons.
really should have taken the other approach of trying to add some passion to a tournament most of us don't care about, but instead they're simply saying, 'yeah, we don't care either'
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The music does not fit at all - of all Mozart's great symphonies you chose this one. It's too light-hearted, and this coupled with the cartoon idea makes it seem to be poking fun at the tournament rather than celebrating it.
C'mon BBC, we want Nessun Dorma over some video footage of the players and stadiums, not this patronising rubbish.
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Generally I like the BBC opening sequence for major tournaments. I think it's a good idea to use the Classical Music, just seem to fit in my opinion (the Andrea Bocelli one from a few years ago was absolutely awesome). However these are great. The music doesn't build you to that crescendo(??) the way it usually does. The cartoons fail because of this as much as anything else for me. Suppose for the BBC, they need to wait and see what the rivals come up with, namely how good will the ITV's be? Everyone knows that the better of the two will be the remembered soundtrack of the tournament.
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Typically dreary BBC titles for what's being touted as a spectacular event. jamesycottar was spot on: 'parochial'. Can't the 'creatives' come up with anything better than the unbelievably lazy cliches of Mozart, trading cards and a pitiful take on every Nike advert of the past 10 years?
Here's a tip for BBC resourcing: pretty soon there will be 3 complete muppets on the job market - just watch The Apprentice next week to assess your next batch of marketing geniuses.
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Not a patch on this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Q6WVSGqdA
I still remember the excitement I felt when this tune came on during the 1982 world cup.
Ever since Nessun Dorma in 1990 the BBC football tournament themes have all got very drippy - I personally don't think classical music is suited to football.
How about composing a great new track with a pounding drumbeat and a catchy tune like in the good old days?
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Re: Post No. 2
"Even though England aren't in it i'm sure this will be a cracking tournament..."
Surely you meant to say "Because" instead of "Even though".
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The sequence is OK, but the music choice is terrible, that's some really obscure Mozart you've picked there. Why not something uplifting, powerful and exciting? Why not Overture to The Marriage of Figaro with some classic goals? That would have been far better - more recognisable and much more "moldable" to football moments.
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I find the title sequence quite poor in comparison with the title sequences from previous tournaments. Not so much on the visuals but on the choice of music. France 98 was my favourite title sequence and had incredibly dramatic and atmospheric music which enter my thoughts whenever I think about that tournament. Italia 90 was musically if not visually great and I also enjoyed Euro 2000's title sequence. I think this is instantly forgetable and as some have already pointed out the music is far too jovial for a passionate and dramatic sporting event. What a waste of Lavelle's production skills!
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I think the BBC are usually very good at football world cup and euroopean championship theme tunes.
But this year Euro 2008 opening tittles are in my view not very good. I think the remixed version of mozart does really fit the animation on screen. I think the animation is very good. The promblem is this remixed theme tune does not sound very good.
Still its great to hear you covering the championships in a really compenhensive well. Im sure your provide great coverage.
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I was quite disappointed with the title sequence. I watched the web programme about how it was made. The makers were saying how they sampled all the possible sounds to make the music but sadly to me it sounded fake and like a home keyboard. Their intention was no doubt good but it just didn't deliver. A real shame really. There is no hook to the section of music chosen either. No-one will be humming it like the 1982 titles to the world cup or 1990 as other bloggers have said.
Graphics are nice, but why Gallas? I didn't recognise him until a fellow blogger said his name.
Sequence rating - sorry to all those people who worked obviously hard on it - 5/10.
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Utter toss.
The best title sequences rouse the senses with some evocative pictures, like maybe Van Basten's Volley in '88, Jensen's bullet in '92 or Suker's chip in '96.
Playing cards of 'players we think you might know', along with the obvious Mozart fudged in don't really have the same effect. Classical music goes well with goals, but only as long as you use a tune that sticks in the head, like Beethoven's Ode to Joy in '92.
The titles look like they belong to a daytime football related t.v. quiz show hosted by Henry Kelly.
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"Or the other option, the one we've been allowed to take, is to cover the tournament comprehensively anyway and rejoice in what should be a great festival of football."
This is surely because you are contractually obliged to show games live on BBC1, not because you want to.
If you had a choice I'm sure that most games would have been shunted to BBC3 instead of having Austria vs Poland or such games on BBC1 in primetime slots.
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Does anyone remember when BBC TV was the place to find highly respectable analytical coverage of sport? Having endured the terribly condascending 'who will you support?' campaign in the last week and the oh so predictable insight from Lineker, Hansen and Shearer on the footbal
focus preview, I fear that the Beeb has finally decided to chase the casual fan (and the larger audience) rather than provide a service to the real sports fan. Some of us don't need a gimmick to be glued to what is probably the most entertaining and difficult to win tournaments in world football, so we've been watching ITV's thorough preview series or keeping up to date on the latest Euro 2008 news on Uefa's website. I suspect I won't have to wait too long for reference to England in saturday's opener or the experts identifying Premier League 'stars' as the key players to watch, so I'll make sure I switch to Radio Five Live at half and full time. Whilst I appreciate that genuine football fans are in the minority now that the armchair follower is king, but its a shame that we're forced to spend our days on the excellent BBC Sport website or listening to Five Live for the latest sports news and expert opinion
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I'm sorry, I have to agree with those who say this introduction is poor. It would be suitable for the likes of Fantasy Football and other light hearted programs whereby the cartoon would be fitting. The intro to France 98 and to some extent Germany 2006 was able to generate passion and excitement which is sadly lacking from this attempt. Disappointed.
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What worries me is that tens or hundreds of thousands of taxpayers pounds will have been paid to some "advertising" guru who has never been to a game of football in his life to come up with this sort of nonsense.
"The home nations are out, we could easily have pulled the plug on coverage so be grateful" is an utterly dispicable attitude to take.
Football (and better football at that) exists outwith this island, and if more people realised that then perhaps we would have a team in the tournament.
As a Scotsman, I dont really care what happens in Euro 2008 as long as England arent mentioned by the commentators/pundits/presenters. None of the home nations qualified so forget about them and talk about the games in hand!
As a gambling man, I would say it is 33/1 that this comment gets shown.
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Frankly we didn't deserve to be there anyhow.
As an Englishman living in the Netherlands for the last 20 years I am obviously supporting Oranje.
I will be enjoying the tournement whatever as I love football.
Whenever possible I will be watching on the BBC, always my main choice when it comes to sport.
Lets just hope it will be a problem free competition and full of entertainment!
I have an outiders bet on Portugal
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Dear oh dear oh dear. The titles are an embarrassment. Cliched, kitsch, unimaginative and patronising.
In the 'MOTD Unplugged' video the producer responsible said he wanted to avoid stereotypes like clocks and alps...so what do we have? Clocks, alps, opera...! It might not have been so bad had there been some inkling of appreciation of the modern Austria and Switzerland. I'm sure the host nations will want to use the tournament to prove themselves modern, vibrant cultures. These titles only serve to portray us as ignorant and out of touch with Europe today.
And as for the music...it's like the tacky, annoying midi clips you find behind personal websites. Apparently Unkle were approached for a mix because a CD recording couldn't be used...isn't that what the BBC concert orchestra's for?
Hoping for much better with the Olympic titles.
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Once again the BBC has shown how totally out of touch they are with British football fans.
It's time for heads to roll and for the Government to get involved by sweeping out all the old BBC cronies and employing people who know what they are doing.
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The animation is quite cool, I like that aspect of it although it does remove the dramatic side of things. The music is just awful though, what were you thinking?!
I do agree with some of the other comments - if any home nation was in the competition, would the sequence be anything like this? And what about all those non-Premiership stars?! Aren't the a large part of it?
Kudos for trying something new, but it does seem a little half assed.
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Excellent opening sequence!
I don't understand why so many people are complaining - actually it's not so many is it? Just the vocal minority.
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Well done to the BBC for supporting EK 2008.
As a worldwide brand, it should support these things -- particularly those European.
The haters are always the same -- unfortunately, the internet gives them a soapbox, when before they just had their cats.
Here's to some great coverage!
(That is, when I'm not having to tune into the Dutch or German channels :) )
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Sorry to annoy all the moners out there but I like it, its different and a new kind of sequence of which we ain't seen before i think...Yes it don't beat some of the great openings in the past (for me Italia 90) but its still good, I'll be watching the coverage and don't really care who is showing what (tho I do prefer the Beeb's presenters and pundit's).
And I bet all those who have moaned (just read above) you'll all be watching the games and not really caring afterwards about the titles
Roll on the Olympics and no doubt more moans about the titles, the sets and the coverage !! but not from me.
Keep up the good work Paul
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I made the mistake of reading the comments before watching the video, but fortunately I wasn't put off. I can see why people have made certain complaints - the piece of music you have chosen is not the most instantly recognizable, and the cartoon motif will take some time to get used to - but I must say that I quite enjoyed the opening sequence. It was light-hearted and amusing - some way away from the histrionic coverage we often get of these tournaments, which seems to suggest that football is the modern-day equivalent to all-out warfare.
Bravo..
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Why is everyone going on about the title sequence? Who the hell cares? Not really important is it.
What is important is that one of the best football tournaments in the world is starting in a couple of days. I know people who say they will not watch because England are not there. Well, they are not football supporters. If you love football, you will watch.
Love the idea of games being available on the iPlayer. Should allow me to watch every game should there be any clashes with the naff soaps the girlfriend will want on.
Couple of questions for Paul. Firstly, I will agree with others here in that I really do not want to see a heavy focus on the Premier League players. Please tell me the team will focus on others (message 4 mentioned a few).
Secondly, love the "MOTD Unplugged" concept. When will this be on and where?
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Really who cares, no Uk sides are in the tournement and no amount of flashy titles and promos by the TV channels are really going to persuade me and millions of others to have anything but a quick 5 min look at the final to see who has won the tournement.
Roll on the 2008/2009 season.
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its all about the music with these titles, something a little jazzy like basement jaxx did the job last time very well but sadly the music, although trying to be traditional, is dull!
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You don't need fancy opening titles - you proabably don't need any opening titles at all. Euro 2008 will only be watched by football fans, so you don't need to appeal to anyone else.
You should have just cut to the the quick, forgot about fancy openings and saved taxpayers the money that is spent on these things (ditto for swimmings hippos et al)
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Fair teh middlin - message 28: As 'keith gladders' rightly pointed out in message 19, the BBC are contractually obliged to show all the games on prime time t.v., because the coverage was bid for before England went out. Shunting games onto digital channels out of the way was not part of the agreement. Trying to suggest they had a choice but did 'the right thing' to try and earn kudos is pathetic. There should never have been a question over whther they showed the tournament in full. Never.
And as for the people who are suggesting, 'wearecity' in particular, that no home nations make the Euro's pointless, it's that kind of narrow minded arrogance towards the perceived quality of our own game, and a refusal to learn from other countries, that has left us with a national team with only three kinds of players: tough defenders, fast strikers and 'roy of the rovers' midfielders. And where has that got us? we're not in the Euros, there are 16 teams better than us in Europe at the moment.
If you truly loved football, you'd be watching. If you just love English football, you should still be watching.
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I read the comments on this page before watching I was expecting something awful, but I really like the title sequence, its fun, exciting and I think by the end of the tournament most people will have come to love it.
I think the accusations of having only premiership players on the screen is just plain wrong. Admitedly 4 of the 6 players shown are from the premiership, but of those I would have only replaced Gallas (with perhaps Thuram) as a representative of France.
The other 5 players shown are perfect choices: Ballack - captain of the pre-tournament favourites. Gatuso - highly recognisable player from the current world champions. Torres - about the most exciting striker in Europe at the moment. Ronaldo - widely recognised as currently the best player in the world. Finally Van Basten - manager of one of the tournaments big teams and scorer of one of the finest goals in the championships history.
To me, that four of those featured play in the Premiership demonstrates the strength of the league (or at least its top four) rather than any parochialism on behalf the BBC
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"Trying to suggest they had a choice but did 'the right thing' to try and earn kudos is pathetic. There should never have been a question over whther they showed the tournament in full. Never."
Oh well, as long as it's on the telly.
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Im instantly reminded of the opening titles of Have I Got News For You, the style of which is suited to the satirical news quiz...
And as expected, because England arent in the tournament, the main focus throughout will be the players that play for Premiership teams.
I have got a stopwatch ready for Saturday, to see how many SECONDS it takes Lineker et al to say the word "England".
Also, I'm waiting for the first reference of "England could have beaten this lot" after a poor match.
The only thing the titles miss are pen knives and Toblerone.
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Lowest common denominator, probably aimed at part-time premiership fans but not one for the true fan.
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I have to say that I enjoyed the "light-heartednes" of the titles. Football is a game of passion and fun. Nothing annoys me more than football coverage that builds up a game as a battle of life or death. The music is a little underwhelming, I would have prefered to see you take a chance on some more modern music, or an original theme. This link with classical music and football confuses me. Football is a modern game, full on high technology and advanced science - why this constant link with the past (I get the whole Austria - Mozart link but this is not about the venue, it is about the game). Good selection of stars to show the talent on display with one exception. Gallas. Why pick him? Not the best defender in the tournament, not the best French defender. Torres - yes. Ronaldo - yes. Ballack - yes. Gattuso - excellent a big yes. But Gallas? Thuram? Henry? for France. So many great keepers if you want a defensive choice. So apart from that and the music I like the titles. And I look forward to a great tournament packed with great stars - just make sure the Premiership bias is not too strong.
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This is so so awful, it is unimaginative and uninspiring, the Cartoon's are a terrible terrible idea and the music choice doesnt match.
It wont ruin the football for me but ill have to cover my eyes and ears everytime this comes on.
I also cant beleive they've made the effort to make a 'behind the scenes' video! WHY??? Its rubbish, nobody cares!!
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I like the concept...
I just don't like the fact, as others have mentioned before me, that the titles focus on five or six teams when I believe the tournament to be so open and a mix of varying ideas and cultures. Nor does it do anything to reflect the Swiss/Austrian influence.
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Who will I support? No-one. I couldn't care less as there is no home interest and no amount of cajoling from the BBC will change my mind. And I don't agree that I'm not a true football supporter, (i watch most of my games live, not in an armchair), I just can't get too excited about being a neutral.
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Remember these euro 2004 adverts = genius + great animation. Puts the euro 2008 intro to shame. No premiership biases just the best players. Although an England bias with both Owen and Beckham but I must admit seeing that beckham Greece goal again and again is no bad thing. Raul Picasso nice.
The current intro lacks emotion, which I think is one of the key ingredients of these tournaments. Just because England are not in the euros does not mean that we cannot feel any emotion, I for one will get goose bumps at the sight of amazing goals breathtaking skills and raw emotion even if it does not involve my own country (although it does help). They could at least featured a Greek to I mean they are the champions! Shame. Lets hope the football detracts from the intro it always does!
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These titles are terrible. Oh for the ones from World Cup '98. The music sounds like it was put together on a £100 kid's keyboard, it's not a stirring piece either. The graphics are unimaginitive, and also look pretty cheap.
We expect better from the BBC than this rubbish.
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For those criticising Gallas, though I did say I'd replace him with Fabregas, I think the BBC wanted representatives from the Big 4, as they're the only clubs casual fans care about, so they needed someone from Arsenal, and a Spanish player (Torres of Liverpool) was taken. They could have had Van Persie.
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I hate it, I didn't know Jonathan Ross played for Spain?
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I am at work and cant see the title's but can't wait to see them!!
Honk Honk!!
They've caused quite a stir!
I think it is fantastic that the BBC is offering such great coverage of the competition. I would literally riot if they did'nt. Football is football and the international stage is pure footy cream!!!
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The title sequence is irrelevant, as the second most important international tournament starts, once again England won,t be there. Lots of England fans believe we failed to qualify from one of the weakest groups while under the stewardship of Steve McClaren. For the BBC to recruit Mr McClaren as an expert pundit on the tournament will certainly alienate many fans and viewers of the BBC,s coverage. I have always watched BBC,s coverage of major footballing events as far back as 1966 and have never been disappointed with the output, because of Steve McClarens inclusion I have had to give serios thought to my allegiance to the BBC,s coverage of the tournament
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The title sequence is irrelevant, as the second most important international tournament starts, once again England won,t be there. Lots of England fans believe we failed to qualify from one of the weakest groups while under the stewardship of Steve McClaren. For the BBC to recruit Mr McClaren as an expert pundit on the tournament will certainly alienate many fans and viewers of the BBC,s coverage. I have always watched BBC,s coverage of major footballing events as far back as 1966 and have never been disappointed with the output, because of Steve McClarens inclusion I have had to give serious thought to my allegiance to the BBC,s coverage of the tournament
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