Webchat with Clive Tyldesley: Tuesday 20 May, Midday - 1pm

[RachelMumsnet]

We're gearing up for World Cup 2014 at Mumsnet HQ - we've got ourselves a table football in the office, Georgemumsnet is getting ready to sort out the office sweep-stake and next week we've got 2014 Fifa World cup commentator Clive Tyldesley joining us for a webchat before he heads off to Brazil.

Clive took over as ITV's principle commentator when the late Brian Moore retired after the 1998 World Cup finals. After stepping into the hot seat he won the industry's most prestigious award, 'The Royal Television Society Sports Commentator of the Year' an unprecedented four times in the space of seven years.

If any of your dcs are Fifa fanatics, you will be familiar with Clive's voice. (I often think he's actually living somewhere upstairs in our house) so we're very much looking forward meeting the man himself. Come and chat to Clive on Tuesday at midday or if you can't join in with the live chat, post up your question to him on this thread ahead of the webchat.

Hi Clive,
Are you worried about Steven Gerrard's state of mind for the world cup, following on from that slip, it's hard to imagine that he wouldn't be affected - it's really the stuff of his worst nightmare, isn't it?

@EdwinDrood

Hi Clive,

Thanks for coming in and talking to us!

Who are you backing for the Champions League final?

ITV do not pay me any more for getting the score right before the game. They sack me if I get it wrong after the game. I'm not a betting man. This will sound crass, but I just hope it's a great final and goes to extra time and penalties so that we get more viewers! And you all have the problem of trying to convince your young children it's time for bed –let them stay up!

Hi Clive - what's your trick for remembering the names of all the players in the games you have to commentate on? How far in advance of a world cup do you set about learning them? For example, I'm wondering if you could tell me who'll be playing right back for Iran or left wing for the Ivory Coast right now?

@duffy

Hi Clive, Are you worried about Stephen Gerrard's state of mind for the world cup, following on from that slip, it's hard to imagine that he wouldn't be affected - it's really the stuff of his worst nightmare, isn't it?

I think that all great sportsmen and women have to learn to deal with disappointment and defeat before anything else. There is nothing more inevitable about competition than set-backs. I think Steven Gerrard is a truly great footballer, a great professional and will be keen to get an opportunity to put that particular mistake behind him as soon as possible - what better way than to lead his team at a World Cup Finals in Brazil.

Hi Clive,

Which footballer do you think has the most fun name to say?

And one more... Of all the stadia you have been to over the years, which is your favourite and why?

Thanks!

Hi Clive! How excited are you about Brazil? Have you been before? And what'll be the first thing you do when you get there

Hi Clive

Do you do your own research when it comes to all the stats that are read out or do you have a team that does it for you?

Hi Clive. I'm interested in how much of the country you get to see when you go there to commentate on a major tournament. Do you get a lot of time to go an explore? Or is it all work, work work?

@ReallyFuckingFedUp

Fédération Internationale de Football Association amothersplace

With the Richard Scudamore scandal in the news, what are your views on sexism in football? Were you surprised by his comments or is sexism and racism endemic in football?

This is a big topic and a big issue and I hate the fact that it has been reduced to an endless debate about the contents of a puerile and personal email. There are far more important discussions to be had about sexism, racism and homophobic attitudes within football and that is why I am happy to be actively involved with the Kick It Out organisation, because these matters need full time and serious attention. I am pleased that at least these revelations have brought about an investigation of the possibility of wider ranging sexist behaviour within the Premier League. It is a process that all organisations and offices should be encouraged to undertake. Whether that process has been adequately carried out in this instance is a matter for debate. But at least it is happening and it might not have been without the courage of the whistle blower.

Hi Clive,

How do you feel about the way football has changed in the recent years, particularly in regard to players diving?

My husband and I enjoy watching most sports but I have found football increasingly less enjoyable to watch as the players throw themselves to the ground so often. After the London Olympics, which we watched avidly, I found watching premie league players behaving so unsportingly very hard to bear and wondered if you feel it also embarrasses the game?

Thanks!

@BananaHammock23

Hi Clive. Who's the best commentator in your view? (obviously apart from yourself...)

My favourite commentator is sadly no longer with us, and even more sadly will not be known to many of you. I am not a particularly big American football fan, but I was immediately struck by the tone, the timing and the perspective that Pat Summerall brought to my chosen profession. If you are interested in sports broadcasting, YouTube him and just listen to the succinct economical and understated way he conveyed drama and interacted with his famous co-commentator, John Madden.

@GozerTheGozerian

Hi Clive. We all know what an emotional roller coaster it is watching England; sometimes I can hardly bear to watch. It feels like more of an ordeal than enjoyment!!

How do you manage to stay professional when commentating on games where you really care about the result? Do you have to stop yourself shouting at the referee or players when they do something daft?

I'd be an absolute nightmare - complete incoherent rambling - so you do a marvellous job staying focussed!

If I had a pound for everytime I'd been asked who I support, I probably would not be sitting here now. I would be with my wife in the Bahamas. The truth is, I am most emotionally involved with games involving the people I know, like and respect in the game. Many of them are genuinely close friends. As an Englishman, I naturally want England to do well at a World Cup, but under the management of such a class individual as Roy Hodgson - intelligent, earnest, caring, respectful - I will find it difficult to contain my emotions if the team play well for him.

@Yiska

Extremely high brow question here Clive... (hello btw)

Top snacks while watching football on telly?

Haut Medoc

Clive, who's your favourite footballer playing today in terms of personality? Is there anyone who's simply just a really really nice person and deserves a shout out for that considering all the bad press footballers get ooh and most misunderstood?!

Hi Clive,

Why do you think England punch below their weight on the football field? Why have we not won anything since '66!

Hi Clive,

Do you ever find it hard to switch off from the job and find yourself internally commentating every day tasks like driving or doing the food shop?

@Crumblemum

Please say something about Richard Scudamore. Of course anyone's free to have sexist views or tell really naff jokes, but I really don't think they should be free to continue, completely unsanctioned in their job, when their job involves promoting equality.

Millions of women watch football every week, the women's game is going from strength to strength and we're meant to be bidding for the women's world cup. Please say something in support of all the women football fans who were really pi**ed off by the original comments and the completely archaic way the Premier League responded.

I think there are considerably more significant issues surrounding attitudes towards women within football which are in danger of becoming overshadowed by the endless column inches and broadcast hours dedicated to this one matter. I genuinely believe that at the same level of scrutiny that is applied to what prominent figures within football say and do to other industries and cultures within our country that the environment for minorities of one kind or another would be a lot healthier, even in my own business I hear Jeremy Clarkson routinely say things on Top Gear that would get me sacked. There is already a lot of scrutiny of a sport which has produced a multi-racial national team that has done as much as anything to break down some of the traditional barriers that I grew up with.

Hello!

Do you actually record lines for the Fifa game, or do they just use existing ones?

hi clive my DP is a huge football obssesive and he wanted me to ask you "how do you keep on talking for 90 minutes during a game when nothing much is happening?"

i imagine it takes some practise...

also do you think we would ever see a female commentator?

@CliveTyldesley

[quote Crumblemum] Please say something about Richard Scudamore. Of course anyone's free to have sexist views or tell really naff jokes, but I really don't think they should be free to continue, completely unsanctioned in their job, when their job involves promoting equality.

Millions of women watch football every week, the women's game is going from strength to strength and we're meant to be bidding for the women's world cup. Please say something in support of all the women football fans who were really pi**ed off by the original comments and the completely archaic way the Premier League responded.

I think there are considerably more significant issues surrounding attitudes towards women within football which are in danger of becoming overshadowed by the endless column inches and broadcast hours dedicated to this one matter. I genuinely believe that at the same level of scrutiny that is applied to what prominent figures within football say and do to other industries and cultures within our country that the environment for minorities of one kind or another would be a lot healthier, even in my own business I hear Jeremy Clarkson routinely say things on Top Gear that would get me sacked. There is already a lot of scrutiny of a sport which has produced a multi-racial national team that has done as much as anything to break down some of the traditional barriers that I grew up with.[/quote]

In one sense women's football has never been in a healthier state in this country. The Premier League is extending, the national team is successful and players like Kelly Smith have probably never had a higher profile. But the evidence suggests that participation in the game by women is suffering in a slight decline at the moment. It is easy to jump to headline conclusions about this but like all of the serious issues within the game, it needs proper investigation before we make knee-jerk statements. In my business, there have never been more female football reporters in press boxes and on TV screens and yet despite Jacqui Oatley's initial breakthrough on Match of the Day, no female football commentator has been able to establish herself at a national level. I do genuinely believe that this will happen, and although it is incumbent upon senior figures within broadcasting - myself included - to encourage and school potential commentators, it will be more lasting if the change happens organically and naturally by a truly outstanding female broadcaster emerging that the nation wants to hear from, instead of me!

@Katn

hi clive my DP is a huge football obssesive and he wanted me to ask you "how do you keep on talking for 90 minutes during a game when nothing much is happening?"

i imagine it takes some practise...

also do you think we would ever see a female commentator?

I think the key is to not talk when there's nothing much happening! People often ask me the main difference between radio and TV broadcasting - the answer is simple, in TV you are nothing like as important because it is a picture medium - we are the accompaniment to the main event. I often liken it to background music in a restaurant - if you go into an Indian restaurant and there is generic Indian music playing, you hardly notice it. If you went into an Italian restaurant and they were playing Indian music, you would probably complain. I've got the be the right music for the right restaurant and that sometimes means just shutting the hell up! The best piece of commentary I've ever done - the 6 seconds of silence between Ole Solskjaer scoring in 1999 and me saying anything at all.

@basgetti

Hi Clive. What is the most memorable or exciting game you have commentated on?

I love football and I love my job. It is all I've ever wanted to do from my early teens, but it is a job and so the best games have been the ones that have furthered my career. In that sense, the Champions League finals of 1999 and 2005 probably qualify as the most memorable of my career. So far!

@eggsandham

Hi Clive. Thanks for coming on here. I'm a Manchester United fan so of course remember your commentary from the 1999 Cup Final so well. I've always wanted to ask you - what on earth possessed you to say "Name on the trophy" after we'd equalised? Do you have ESP?

That line worked for me that night. 5 years later England led France by a single goal going into the final moments of a vital European Championship game in Lisbon, and the French coach was about to join Tottenham as their new manager. I said something to the effect of 'the poor guy is going to walk into every ground in the country next season to chants of 1-0, 1-0'. Three minutes later France had won 2-1 - it was my fault. If Bayern had equalised and gone on to beat United, you wouldn't have the same opinion of me, would you?!

@noidles

Can you give us your prediction for who's going to win the World Cup? (If it isn't England, of course...)

I think Argentina have got the best players and the most important man at the finals might be the former Sheffield United player, Alex Sabella. Even without Carlos Tevez he has 6 or 7 of the most talented attacking players in the tournament at his disposal. His mistake may be to try to shoehorn more than 3 of them into his starting 11. He will have some egos to manage but also some of the most gifted attacking players in Brazil this summer. How he uses them may determine if Argentina fulfil their potential. Good luck, Alex!

@WhatUsain

Hi Clive,

Do you ever find it hard to switch off from the job and find yourself internally commentating every day tasks like driving or doing the food shop?

I am genuinely lucky to have a very happy home and family life and even luckier to have a wonderful wife who can take or leave football so that's what we do when I get home. We are far more passionate about Breaking Bad and Dexter than we are about Match of the Day - sorry Gary!