The decline of Radio Derby (?)

[Gritstone Ram]

I think they do ok. Even if I don't like what I'm hearing it is usually a true reflection of the way the game is going.

[Derby blood]

Radio Derby do a good job, I like it when they get passionate like supporters, but Radio Derby will never be as good as when Graham Richards was on , he was brilliant, the best commentator EVER. Loved listening to him, he could make a s**** game sound good, the Forest 4-1 win back in 1979, I was only 8 and will never forgot that day, he made it so so exciting.

[PistoldPete2]

I don't listen to it. 

[ChildrenOfSkaro]

2 hours ago, LazloW said:

I've added a question mark to the title statement for two reasons; firstly, some might not consider RD is in a state of decline or others might think its been this bad for years.  Others might think its great.

I only listen to RD for away games (half fan) and for immediate post match reaction after home games, when I often realise that I've been watching a different game altogether to the presenters.  I am an unashamed happy clapper, so perhaps my natural instinct is to rail against those who seek to highlight and emphasise the team's failings. But...

Yesterday was probably the last straw for away games.  I realise it was another poor away performance and they are there to tell us what is happening.  I don't mind or object to them telling us what they might consider to be an honest reflection of what they are seeing. However, Ed Dawes in particular is starting to drive me insane with his editorial comments and personal opinions on the game and on players in particular.  Ramage is there to be the expert pundit and summariser; while he repeats himself constantly and seems to only want us to play one way (running around a lot, kicking people and hitting it long) at least he has played the game.  Ed Dawes is a fan with a microphone; he is no more qualified to pass his opinion on about individual players or anything else than any of us, but he has a position of some responsibility as he is the main conduit for a lot of fans who probably never see us play. For that reason, I don't want to hear that he hasn't been impressed with Tom Huddlestone (for example) since he came (which, by the way, translates and creeps into his commentary... "turns like the titanic" was one description given).  All very colourful, but not exactly objective.  This type of thing is also why I can't stand the likes of Alan Green.

Some people might quite like this approach, but I want the commentators to be objective and to paint an accurate picture of what is happening on the pitch, without more subjective opinions colouring that picture and without those opinions being expressed so vehemently.  When he breaks away from telling us what is happening to shout/scream things like "they're just not working hard enough Craig!", to me that is not the voice of a professional commentator, it is the voice of a whiny fan.  Even if what he is saying is true, its not for him to say (in my opinion). It is for the pundit to put this out there (again, hopefully, constructively).  Good commentators would draw this out from the pundit, but when they get on their mardy little rolls, they also manage to wind each other up into a frenzy, which just gets shouty and comes across as quite unprofessional at times.  

In my experience, RD have never been happier than when the team is struggling, but even going back to Graham Richards and Ian Hall, I always thought there was some objectivity and constructive criticism in there.  At the moment, it just seems to be the same reactive and unconsidered stuff you get on the internet.  To me, its almost as if its done on purpose to drive the infamous "listener derived content" they have to pursue after games. Wind people up and set them free.

I must emphasise that I'm not suggesting that RD are to blame for us losing, or that RD should sugar coat anything or that we played so much better than RD said we did.  I just consider that RD's current approach to commentary, particularly when we are playing poorly, is not conducive to any form of enjoyment of what is supposed to be a form of entertainment afterall.  Losing is painful enough, without the commentary being torturous as well. 

Still, as some people will no doubt pointout, I don't have to listen and I probably shant for a while.  Nonetheless, I needed to get it off my chest.  Apologies if there are threads already in place to do this.  Feel free to merge, delete or whatever.

I have supported DCFC for over 45 years. Many moons ago I had a season ticket, but now living in darkest Kent my only means of following the Rams is by paying for the Rams Audio thingy which means being forced to listen to 'there's goals here' , 'not good enough' etc etc. The comments you make are true (to me) but I worry about losing my only contact with matches so I put up with it. Graham Richards was soooo much better than the current lot but would he come back? Perhaps, perhaps not. Something needs to change but please not lose RD.

[Abu Derby]

I quite enjoy the commentary with Ed and Ramsge. Has anybody ever heard the competition?

They are describing the game as they see it, and of course are going to get carried away because they want Derby to succeed. It's up to the listener to form their own opinions or switch the radio off. 

As for the decline of Radio Derby in general, I agree. Unless you are well into you 90's the choice of music is diobolical. As for the "presenters" ........

Colin Bloomfield stood out like a beacon, god rest his soul. He was light years ahead of the rest. 

[ariotofmyown]

I enjoy listening to them. Don't take themselves too seriously but really want us to win at the same time. I often genuinely laugh as I think their bantz is pretty sick at times.

They aren't as good as Sir Graham and Gibbo, but everything was better back in the day.

 

[KCG]

2 hours ago, Angry Ram said:

What did you expect of them from yesterday's performance? I'm sorry but if they are watching crap, what are they supposed to tell the listener? It's all right everyone, I'm sure we will be okay against Brum but this game is mildly annoying as we are hoofing it up the pitch. But never mind I am sure In a minute Gary will do some thing about it and we will win. If a team is failing as you say, they surely have to communicate that. 

Dont take this the wrong way but sometimes you happy clappers seem to think that if it's not spoken about it will just go away and a bad performance never happened. Well it doesn't go away and a crap performance is still a crap performance. They are not employees of DCFC they are there to report, warts and all. To be fair I have heard them be very positive when things are going well.

I have to agree with this. I do get the feeling that some fans want to hear nothing but positivity. I feel the club has interfered far too much in how Radio Derby covers Derby County over the years and I hope this isn't another salvo being fired. Graham Richards used to tell it how it was and most of us loved his passion, but there were those at Derby County who did not.

I want my commentators to tell me why Derby aren't playing well and who's not playing well. How can I possibly form my own picture if the commentator is blandly describing the game?

[Ninos]

It's commentary and it's free so who gives a flying monkeys? We have serious on field issues that we can concern ourselves with - rather than focusing on media which is a nonsensical and irrelevant worry. 

[Guest]

Dawes can be a bit grating but be careful what you wish for. I recall DCFC trialling their own in-house audio commentary (for us non Derbyshire residents) in the Burton home fixture last season and it was pathetic, I turned off at HT. 

There are far worse other local radio commentaries around and be grateful we have OB, the next Mark Chapman in the making. Very good at what he does and eventually destined for bigger things.

 

[Mistaram]

1 hour ago, Angry Ram said:

They have 95 mins to fill. I want to hear their passion, their opinions. I might not agree with it at some points but they are not there to be sterile.. Who would listen if it was like a politically correct party broadcast? Football is about passion, it creates debate and opinions will differ. Maybe we need radio happy clapper that plays nice music in the background..

I get your point and I guess we are polar opposites 

Great post Angry 

[mumblemumble]

I fell out of love with Radio Derby after they chose a Burton game over Derby.

[Owd miner]

I reckon I might put mi name forward ....Gi it sum proper commentary from a real Derby fan. Mind ya I dunt want it clashing with pigeon club. 

[MackworthRamIsGod]

I thought Rammage told it like it was and sounded as frustrated as me.

Although it sounded like he has beef with Rowett.

[DRBee]

4 hours ago, JoetheRam said:

Totally agree with the opening post.

The problem with a lead commentator that projects personal opinion is that it doesn't pay the audience any respect.

If something is bad (or good) we can make our own minds up about what that means.

Proper commentary - "Johnson gives the ball away and Bristol City regain possession".

Bad commentary - "Johnson gives the ball away, his passing is awful!"

We know giving the ball away is bad, you don't need to impose the rest onto us.

The commentator is there to describe the action. It is the pundits role to give an opinion on the team and an appraisal of individual players.

 

Just a minor point   . if its an away game how can we make up our own minds if we can't see for ourselves?

R derby commentary is fine .. have you listened to any other BBC local radio commentaries cos they are usually far worse. ? 

It seems likely that our miserable collapse yesterday justifies some negative description. 

 

[Carl Sagan]

2 hours ago, LazloW said:

In my experience, RD have never been happier than when the team is struggling, but even going back to Graham Richards and Ian Hall, I always thought there was some objectivity and constructive criticism in there.  At the moment, it just seems to be the same reactive and unconsidered stuff you get on the internet.  To me, its almost as if its done on purpose to drive the infamous "listener derived content" they have to pursue after games. Wind people up and set them free.

For me this is the crux of it. I too am a happy clapper but know many people who just like a good moan and are never happier that when they can say, "I told you that was going to happen".

[Ewe Ram]

My in-laws only listen to RD commentary and don't go to games. They usually have a very different opinion of our team and play then we do who go to games. This is formed by Ed and Craig. I used to quite like their efforts but I'm stopping listening too. I can't stand how hysterical Ed gets when the ball goes into the opposition box. Every time you expect a goal (ok this may have been close to the truth yesterday), but that's not exactly how it is. Craig is moany and I don't really care what they think, I want to know what's happening. If Craig is a footballing oracle how come he was a second rate player? The needle between the two is not funny, it's cringey  

The Rams TV commentary of pre season wasn't even a commentary, it was rambling on about all sorts but no actual commentary. They never even identified the opposition players. 

Radio Derby is only one small step up from hospital radio, awful music, awful sound levels and average broadcasters (OB excepted, he's actually good). 

[RoyMac5]

12 minutes ago, Ewe Ram said:

The Rams TV commentary of pre season wasn't even a commentary, it was rambling on about all sorts but no actual commentary. They never even identified the opposition players. 

If myself re-assessing and now preferring that though. They've got better too, in the U23s game they did id the players and commentate too. If there was a choice I'd now fook RD off because of Dawes & Ramage.

[Ewe Ram]

3 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

If myself re-assessing and now preferring that though. They've got better too, in the U23s game they did id the players and commentate too. If there was a choice I'd now fook RD off because of Dawes & Ramage.

I will re-assess it myself now then, thanks. I haven't enjoyed listening since Ross Fletcher left, apart from the all too brief spell Colin Bloomfield had. 

[Mafiabob]

Don't think people realise how lucky we are to have commentary..... or even an objective view..... 

[RoyMac5]

Just now, Mafiabob said:

Don't think people realise how lucky we are to have commentary..... or even an objective view..... 

Not counting myself lucky when their commo is mostly rubbish tbh. I used to enjoy listening to RD although Big Rogers ups and downs got a bit much too. As for objective, only in the sense that they aren't paid to big the club up, but they are certainly biased.