At the time of writing, ITV have already hosted the opening game of World Cup 2010 and the opening England game. Now, the Great British public are eagerly anticipating ITV's next big game between Germany and Australia, two nations close to many English hearts. The first three big games in a row have all gone to the channel, who for the past couple of years have been boasting FA Cup rights and all England home games, not to mention their customary share of Champions League games with Sky. So three days in, how's it all going for them?
In the run up to South Africa, ITV have understandably been trying to alert us all that there's a bit of footie on this summer, as well as crowbarring in the names of tournaments, teams and players already being shown on Channel 3. All this information has come in the form of an advert with the slogan "We Are Football United". As if an amoeba-brained employee of the station has computer generated the phrase from the words "inspire", "football" and "team", it's perhaps the worst slogan of any television company since BBC's Frank The Friday Fish, advertising the BBC1 Friday comedy lineup a few years back.
Still, never judge a book by it's cover and all that. Who have ITV got in to present this time? The famous footballing mind himself, Adrian Chiles. After being offered a deal rumoured to be in the millions, Chiles packed what little charisma, wit and football knowledge he had in a bag and left the BBC for "The Brighter Side", as ITV claim in yet another cliched, over-metaphorical advert. And if it wasn't for the fact that Chiles was competing with the Beeb's Gary Linekar - fans' favourite as a profilic England goalscorer and the most recognizable sports presenter on British television - Chiles might just be able to pull off a few West Brom anecdotes and get away with the fact he has the charm of a yogurt.
The pundits are better, maybe? Hmm. This time around, ITV have faithfully reinvested in football legend(?) Andy Townsend, Mr. Interesting himself, Gareth Southgate and former England boss, Kevin Keegan who once banged on about Liverpool "thinking two plus two is four with their strikers... really it could equal three, or maybe even five" and came out with the classic "well, some people would call that typical City, which really annoys me. But then that's just typical City". ITV must be hoping that the former Newcastle boss doesn't talk too much rubbish for the next few weeks, but after his relapse yesterday of Messi "not producing in an Argentinia shirt", it could be squeaky bum time for bosses.
It's no wonder Eon relinquished their sponsorship of the FA Cup. Do yourself a favour, and watch the final on BBC.
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