The Commentators' View LIVE Show

11:55Ian Dennis:He'd never scored direct from a free kick, had he? No, he hadn't, no. In his career? That's right. And then scored two in the...

12:01John Murray:Yeah.

12:01Ian Dennis:Yeah, amazing. So for every one of those, you get one of these. And this was when I was trying to describe the opening goal or the aftermath of the opening goal in the Champions League final when we were in Munich, which was scored by Paris Saint-Germain's Atraf Hakimi. And there he was on the edge. As you said, Chris, free as a bird, and it is the year of the bird, as we keep being told, to pop it in on the edge of the box. And, I mean, they had their pickets pucked, pockets picked if I can spit it out there by PSG as you say, inside left, outside right, they didn't know where he was he was free as can be and popped it in the net it has been a feature of PSG, the longer the season most unlike Chris Sutton not to pounce on that could you say that again if you tried not the bit about Chris Sutton they get their pickets pocked so um when when do you actually start to turn your mind to the new season and i'm asking that question knowing very well what the answer is probably about three or four days before i mean

13:14John Murray:you never you never turn off i mean the first thing i used to do when i'd come in from school would get teletext or cfax on and type in page 301 for the football you know i just want to immerse myself in football i still watch the football channels now i still look at the bbc sport website you know still you know read the papers you're constantly soaking in the information but it's not properly until it gets to the when you get into the minutiae of it all three or four days before so i think it's important to switch off yeah a big thing as again those who listen

13:47Ian Dennis:to this podcast will know both ian and i do actually update our records so for all of the matches all the teams Premier League internationals quite a few other teams as well and that's quite I find that well it takes up a lot of my week yeah and this is a glorious time I find when you don't have to do that well you say

14:10John Murray:that they've got the Club World Cup well there is that yeah I've been updating my my computer notes now even and my Red Book as well yeah I got told tell them about the Red Book well the Red Book actually people John Murray thought today that he was coming here for the commentator. But this is your life.

14:32John Murray:And again, so now the 15 teenagers. Yeah. I didn't want to bring last year's book, just in case I lost it, because I'd still need it. But this is book 26. This is season 23, 24. But this is what I carry around with me all the times. And it's got every team, every player across the top, every game with every appearance substitute appearances goals yellow cards and I've done this since the late 90s so for the new season it'll be booked 28 so I've been updating this for Chelsea and Manchester City now for the Club World Cup so you never again that's just I don't know half an hour but it's another indication I'll just nip into the office and update it

15:17Ian Dennis:but it does take a long time doesn't it if you do that on a Monday that takes me most of a Monday it doesn't take me that long Takes me about an hour.

15:26John Murray:Now you can work out who probably makes the more mistakes of the two of us.

15:30Ian Dennis:And so while he does his like that, I've got a black file that I take with me to all of the matches, which I've carried for quite a long time now. And in actual fact, my bag round there, these days, I find my bag gets more attention than I do. Because that bag there is over a quarter of a century old. Because I got that bag as a free gift at the Ryder Cup at Brukline in 1999. And it's the best thing I've ever been given at a sporting event. And I still bring it everywhere with me. And even when we were at the end of the season in Slovakia, one of the young FA social media people, called George, I think his name is, was fascinated by this bag.

16:13Ian Dennis:Where did I get it from? What have I got in this bag? But that's where I keep my black file. And I do it on loose leaf paper. I just carry the two teams that are concerned around at a time.

16:26John Murray:I'd lose that. The loose leaf, I'd lose it. Yeah, well, I'd be worried I'd lose that. Yeah, I still might, yeah. And then you've lost everything. Well, it's like the floppy disk I turned up a few years ago for a game at Bramall Lane.

16:36Ian Dennis:Just explain the floppy disk.

16:39John Murray:So it's on my PC at home, and it's got every Premier League team, even every England squad, and it's got the name, the appearances, their age. there's just little bits of information like little bio details of every player and it's condensed onto my computer and I turned up at Bramall Lane and the day before I went to print it off the floppy disk crashed and I hadn't backed it up I know I actually didn't say oh said something a lot stronger I can tell you anyway since then I still get the floppy disk So I've got a new computer with an adapter now still for the floppy disk. The floppy disk still works, but I've got to back it up onto a USB.

17:23John Murray:And earlier this season, January the 15th, my Liverpool pen picks crashed on my floppy disk. But there I was feeling quite smug. That is back on the USB. So I rescued the situation. All was retrieved. So you've heard a bit of our commentary. Next, we're going to hear from one of our summarizers on what it's like working with us. Good evening, everyone. It's Pat Nevin here and I'm one of the lucky ones who works with Radio 5 alongside John Murray and Ian Dennis. You know that John Murray, he's the one that makes Jarvis Cocker look like a sumo wrestler, long and skinny, far too skinny. And of course Ian Dennis, he's the one that's in the Eric Markham look-alike competition and losing quite badly.

18:08What can tell you about both of these two. Well when we're travelling, a big big important part of it is travelling. If you're going by a flight don't go with John Murray because it will go wrong. It always goes wrong. He misses flights, the flights are cancelled, there's always delays. If there's a flight that has to be caught with another one forget it it's going to be missed. The baggage that's not going to end up in the right country. Never ever does and of course there's plenty of times when you look at him you think where is that passport where is that wallet of course it's been nicked so it's a tough guy to travel with but when he gets there he's great fun where is Denno?

18:45Totally and utterly trustworthy he'll never let you down if you've got a 6 a.m flight just go into the bar at 3.30 and he'll be there waiting for you absolutely no doubt about it at all always there you just need to make sure you can prise him out that bar and get them to the airport and it'll be okay. I suppose the real question is, and I think it's the one you'll want to know, who is the best? Well I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm a pundit. That's my job. I've got to tell the truth. None of this sitting on the fence. Get it out there, get it straight and be absolutely honest even though it's going to hurt one or the other of them that is the job of the pundit so i'm going to tell you now no time to lose this is the one glass of wine yeah all right okay i'll get back to you now

19:39Ian Dennis:very good we're very fortunate aren't we with the summarizers that we work with yes we are

19:44John Murray:yeah you know we've been blessed down the years jimmy armfield graham taylor terry butcher Chris Waddle and even Mark Lawrenson and even now we've got Chris Sutton Matt Upson Rob Green Pat Paul Robinson Stephen Warnock Michael Brown

20:01Ian Dennis:Michael Brown naughty Michael Brown Sheffield United

20:04John Murray:Last time I did a game at Bramall Lane I was in the commentary position and I felt something sort of like I thought what was that and he's on the road behind me and he's got these hard-boiled sweets and he's throwing them at me during the commentary trying to he's a nightmare at times. That was self-editing, by the way. That's not a false start. Although, Pat, when we were in Russia, because when we went to the World Cup in 2018, we were given teams, weren't we? And I travelled around Russia with Pat. And I've got to say, he had me on toast, which obviously would make maybe the footballing glossary, because he would just wind me up constantly.

20:42John Murray:I'd left my jacket on one of the internal flights, and we had to wait an hour as we'd landed back at the, I think it was in Moscow. So we had to wait an hour to eventually retrieve the jacket. I tried to get back myself and I was forcefully told, nyet. Anyway, I put it in the back of the car that took us back to the hotel and when I got to the hotel, I thought, oh God, I've left the jacket in the back of the car. So I called our fixer Maria and I said, I'm really sorry, this doesn't happen to me normally. And she said, don't worry, we'll retrieve it from the vehicle the next day and then pat knocked on my door and he said what time we're going out i said i don't know whatever time seven seven thirty i didn't know at the time but he got the jacket draped as like a weight of wood with the the white towel and eventually it clocked what he'd done he'd nicked it so i thought i'd get him back the next day only pat would read a book about the size like that it was down at breakfast dostoyevsky and the passport was underneath his passport was underneath so i thought that's definitely pat so i lifted the book took the passport and went to my room.

21:47John Murray:Maria called me and she said, have you taken Pat's passport? I said, yes, but don't tell him. And she said, I can't do that. So my efforts to wind him up completely fell flat. We're in a jazz bar in St. Petersburg and this guy came up to me and he went, are you Ian Dennis? And I thought,

22:06Ian Dennis:how mad's that?

22:08John Murray:And I went, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he started, can I have your autograph? And I thought, He winded me up. Turned out that Pat had told him. That's Ian Dennis. I'll buy you a drink just going. As if you'd be in St. Petersburg, you Ian Dennis. Well, you never know Ian. That World Service. Actually, the World Service. Sorry to interrupt. We were in Ghana in 2008. Spent four weeks there. Wonderful country. African nations. And on the way out through sort of like passport control, there was Mark Bright and there was myself and Russell Fuller who's now the tennis correspondent but he worked for Sports World at the time so I walked through first of all stamped it and you go Mark Bright passport stamped it on he goes all of a sudden Russell Fuller Russell was just everyone came to a standstill and Mark Bright was going Russell Fuller what about me and that was because

23:06Ian Dennis:Russell presented the World Service Saturday afternoon programme. And I mean, the audience on a Saturday afternoon, it's hundreds of millions, isn't it?

23:16John Murray:Well, I remember we were driving down from Takaradi to Accra. It was about a four-hour car journey down the coast. And we picked up the World Service, and you were doing Liverpool against Haventon Waterlooville. And we were driving to Accra, the sun was shining, clear blue sky, and yet I'm taken home and listening to the radio commentary. And that's the beauty again of radio is that you can be anywhere and it's just you and what you're listening to. And now every Saturday, when I do the three o 'clock commentary, when the World Service join us, I always say, wherever you are in the world, it's a pleasure to have your company.

23:50John Murray:Because I can relate to that feeling when I was in Accra. And I think that's just the beauty of the World Service. And that's why I say it every Saturday.

23:58Ian Dennis:But relating back to the podcast, those who listen to the commentator's view will know that we have the clash of the commentator. he said through gritted teeth and also the great glossary of football commentary and that's what we're going to do now normally we do it the other way around but first of all for this special edition it's the great glossary first and for those who don't know this is where we add listener suggestions of football specific commentary terms and phrases to add to our collection so we will be keen to hear your contributions if you have them, but just to run you through, and if you've got the list Ian, have you got the list?

24:40Ian Dennis:No. No, you haven't got the list. It's at the bottom isn't it? You have to. So these are some of the phrases, so if we do one between us so things like, after you Claude. Yeah. Aplomb. All Premier League affair. Denied by the woodwork. Brandished, one of my favourites. Honeymoon period. The honeymoon period. Commentator's curse. Good touch for a big man. Yeah. Fellow countrymen was one that we included. Roy of the Rovers stuff. Languishing. Throw their cap on it.

25:17John Murray:Relegation six pointer. And possibly one of the most popular for those who've listened to the podcast,

25:23Ian Dennis:Where the Owl Sleeps. Where the Owl Sleeps, which has been, since we started doing this, which was just before Christmas, wasn't it? where the owl sleeps which is uh another phrase for that would be the postage stamp so if a shot goes in what we would call the postage stamp where did that come from was that brazil where the yeah somewhere in south america yeah yeah um and my personal favorite and again it went back to right at the start was the small matter of yeah and the reason that that's my favorite was that we've all continued to take that on and actually our colleagues in other sports have also started using the small matter of and of course this is when it's something like manchester city against liverpool it's the small matter of manchester city against liverpool it's now become a bit of

26:13John Murray:a cliche hasn't it it does yeah yeah but very deliberately woven into the uh into the i prefer the commentator's curse because a lot of what i tend to say i tend to curse a lot of things during my career. Yeah. Steel City Derby, of course. A small matter of. Yes. Yes. Well, depends what happens with Sheffield Wednesday.

26:33Ian Dennis:Well, it's a very good point. Bit raw there. Sorry. So, for new suggestions, we will go to our studio audience in a moment or two. But let's start with a special message from a familiar voice. Hello, everyone. Alistair Bruce Ball here. devastated not to be with you today. I'm really sorry to miss the small matter of our first live show but hopefully this is only a prelude to the world tour whenever that may be. I know Ian's got big plans. Unlike John I am going to be listening when this is out as a podcast so do be careful what you say today. I've got one term for you all to be put up for discussion for the glossary and I've got a question for John and Ian as well so deal with these whenever you want.

27:22My term for the glossary is a team that likes to play football. Now we all know what that means. You know, that's a team that plays good football, that likes to get the ball down and play. It's an attractive style. But we say a team that likes to play football. Well, every team is playing football. That is the sport. They're just playing different versions of it. So should that go in the great glossary of football commentary? And my question for John and Ian is, which is the one stadium you've never commentated at that you would really like to do so wherever that may be in the world. Have a great show.

27:58Had a game of golf with Hair Chapman, no less, last week. He sends his regards and he told me to tell you all he's delighted that the pod is going strong. See you soon.

28:08John Murray:I'm sure he is. I'll just say Ali can't be that devastated. At least Pat made the effort and did a video.

28:15Ian Dennis:Well, Ali's on his holidays. He's probably still in bed.

28:18John Murray:I know. It wouldn't take much just to a little voice. Well, I suppose it wouldn't.

28:21Ian Dennis:For those who don't know, Herr Chapman, Mark Chapman, we've kind of taken to... I think that was since Germany, wasn't it? Yeah. So when we were in Germany at the Euros last summer... Bit of a clue in the hair bit. Yes. If Mark was coming to whichever match we were at, just because we were in Germany, we started referring to him as Herr Chapman, which it just felt right, didn't it? Do you know what I mean? I can't say why it is that it felt right it just felt right

28:50John Murray:but if you ever bump into him refer to him as Hair Chapman

28:54Ian Dennis:oh yes and the other thing if you ever bump into him tell him how much you enjoy listening to the Commentator's View podcast

29:00John Murray:yeah that's very important he refers to it as the Last of the Summer Wine podcast I was half expecting with us being in Yorkshire that he could have had that when we walked out

29:09Ian Dennis:as a theme tune unfortunately by coming here all of the older listeners you've backed that up haven't you anyway Ali's question about grounds you haven't been at

29:19John Murray:I'd probably like to do one in South America I think maybe Argentina something like Boca Juniors or something like that yeah I think that would be yeah

29:27Ian Dennis:I'd love to do that La Bombonera

29:29John Murray:yeah

29:30Ian Dennis:what about you Valencia is one I've never done never done Valencia you've done that several times haven't you

29:36John Murray:Miss Dyer

29:36Ian Dennis:Miss Dyer yeah

29:37John Murray:in fact when England played Andorra the other week it's Espanyol's ground I think I worked out that was my 15th Spanish stadium that I'd commentated at.

29:46Ian Dennis:I've also not commentated at Bilbao, which you went to twice this season. Yeah. And Real Sociedad, not been there either. Yeah. Any others? Not been to? Italian ones?

30:02John Murray:I've done all the main ones in Italy. Have you? Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I'm saying is I'd go stretch. Maybe do that on the world tour.

30:08Ian Dennis:Maybe. Maybe there's an idea for you.

30:11John Murray:Yeah, but the first football club in the world was Sheffield FC, wasn't it? It was. So the first stop-off point for the world tour is Sheffield. Perfect. It's in the stars.

30:24Ian Dennis:You're such a crawler. And going back to the glossary, what about a team that likes to play football? Are we going to include that? Well, let's ask the audience. Oh, that's a very good idea. And of course, the reason that these phrases get into the glossary is that they have to be football-specific. So he's been very clever there, hasn't he? Yes. By including a phrase that has the word football in it.

30:52John Murray:Yeah, yeah. I'm tending to think yes, but we'll go with a show of hands if you think it should be included or not. That's quite overwhelming, that, isn't it? Well, hang on a minute.

31:01Ian Dennis:Who thinks it shouldn't go in? Oh, it is quite... LAUGHTER There was one dissent. That light's blinding you now. so as I mentioned I'd love to hear some suggestions from the audience and I think Matt is going to take a microphone is he Matt is pointing he's our editor so that's what they do

31:21John Murray:they point to other people we've got a gentleman there in the middle with the glasses and what's your name sir my name is Sean go on then fire away Sean okay so um when someone is playing a pass and it's uh had a bit of finesse on it maybe you might describe it as the uh the word cute have you ever heard of that? Cute. Yes.

31:38Ian Dennis:Yeah. So, what do we think? A cute pass.

31:42John Murray:Could you... That's not the same as a cute angle, is it? No, because that would be... Well, I got you there, didn't I?

31:49Ian Dennis:Nearly. Nearly.

31:51John Murray:Make sure that's staying in, by the way.

31:54Ian Dennis:So, a cute pass. Should that be in the glossary or not? Who says hands up for yes, hands up for no? I'm afraid, Sean, that's been given the thumbs down.

32:05John Murray:Yeah. I guess it could be another sport, couldn't it? It could. A cute pass. Anybody else? Two more behind you, Matt. How about two good feet?

32:14Ian Dennis:You hear that one a lot. Sorry, what was your name? Peter. Hello, Peter. Yes, I've got you now. Two good feet? Is that in there? It might be. Well, Ian has a look. No, it's not in there. It's not in there. So who thinks two good feet should be in? We've got a cultured left foot. Oh, yeah, that's quite strong. It is strong. Who thinks no? Well, that's in. Yeah. Well, you've got it straight in, Peter.

32:39John Murray:And I think it was on the other side of you, Matt, as well.

32:41Ian Dennis:Hi. I don't know if you can do derogatory terms. Phil. Phil. Hi, Phil. Hi. I don't know if you can do derogatory terms or if you guys do. Well, we're about to find out.

32:52John Murray:John gives me plenty, but that's normally off air.

32:54Ian Dennis:But if somebody's having a real mare, we always used to use the phrase, he's got two left feet. He's got two left feet? More feet? He's got two left feet. We probably wouldn't say that, would we? Anyway, who thinks we should include that two left feet? Who thinks no? It's going one way, this. I'm afraid that's been given the two left feet when you suggested that one. So two good feet goes in. Two good feet goes in, but two left feet. To be honest, when we're commentating on matches in the World Cup and the Champions League, it's not terribly likely, is it, that we'd say that somebody looks like they had two left feet?

33:32Ian Dennis:No, no.

33:33John Murray:Any others? Oh, yeah, one on the far side. Oh, here we go. Hiya. My name's Tim. Hi, Tim.

33:39Ian Dennis:So I'm not sure if this one's already in, but everyone knows what it is. Route 1. Do you know, I don't think that's in there. It's not, no.

33:45John Murray:How strange. We've got Rasp It for the R's. We've got Rasping Shot. Red wine, not white wine. What? When did that get in? I don't remember that. That's part of your shopping list, isn't it?

34:01John Murray:relegation six pointer rooted at the bottom roy of the rovers stuff oh yeah so who thinks

34:06Ian Dennis:route one should be in yeah that's that's the biggest thumb and does anyone think it shouldn't be in no this is well there's the one dissenting voice but i'm afraid that's saying that was an excellent suggestion that route one yes and um the red wine and white wine and this was a very good one again do you remember no i don't well clearly not the the this was why is it always when managers talk about meeting the other manager after a match it's always a glass of red wine it's never a glass of white wine what is it about white wine i don't know i don't know but anyway

34:43John Murray:get closer to the action with live commentary from the world's greatest sporting events on bbc sounds It is all over. Bulls on edge, port behind. Including Cricket, Super League, Women's Euros 2025, Wimbledon, Formula One and much more. It's all ice to the lights and foot to the floor. Oh, what a stunner. Drop shots. Winner. On 5 Sports Extra, Sports Extra 2 and Sports Extra 3. Listen, only on BBC Sounds. Pop quiz. What's in your kid's lunchbox? At Whole Foods Market, they've already done the studying. Over 300 food ingredients are banned from their shelves. No hydronated fats in the peanut butter and no high fructose corn syrup in the cookies.

35:32And for sandwiches, there are no synthetic nitrates or nitrites in any of their deli meat. So you can pack lunch boxes with peace of mind. Get back to school ready at Whole Foods Market.

35:54John Murray:It's your favourite part of the pod now, John. It is time for Clash of the Commentators. And you finished bottom of the leaderboard. You only had three wins from 14. You don't need reminding, but you actually finished with 10 defeats in a row. I got seven from 14. And Ali, the champion who couldn't be bothered to turn up today, 11 from 14. Yeah.

36:16Ian Dennis:Things took a terrible turn, didn't they, in Clash of the Commentators? Yeah. I don't know what went wrong, but I'm very much rooted to the bottom of the table. Yeah. I know what went wrong.

36:25John Murray:You lost too many. I know. I couldn't come up with any of the answers. But now we're going to welcome our producer, Nathan. This is the brains behind the whole thing. He does all the hard work. I want to say...

36:37John Murray:He's going to help us for the proceedings for this special edition. Well, that's very kind. Thank you very much. Round of applause for Ian Dennis and John Murray.

36:50Yeah.

36:52Ian Dennis:You haven't heard us do this yet. Yeah, so will it be jubilation for John, or will Dano cause yet more devastation in Clash of the Commentators? Who's cheering for Ian Dennis? And for John Murray? It's more like it. Definitely louder for the correspondent. Rooting for the underdog, yeah. so here's how it works clash of the commentators i will give john and ian a question and they will take turns to give as many correct answers as they can in the space of 30 seconds and it's a little bit like mr and mrs so one of the guys will go backstage while the other does their quiz and head to a kind of soundproof booth if you like so the big question who would like to go first well he's already taken his earpiece out and intense is there yeah he looked a little bit John Shuttleworth there, didn't he?

37:43Ian Dennis:Yeah, local reference. So Ian Dennis is gone, so I think we are just about ready to go. Are you ready, John? I feel like I'm in mastermind. Chair's the wrong colour, I think, for that. So the World Tour, John, the TCV World Tour, has started here in sunny Sheffield in South Yorkshire. So I want you to name as many Yorkshire football teams in the top seven tiers. Top seven tiers? As you can. There are 17 1-7 possible answers across the North, West, South Yorkshire and East Riding. So Yorkshire football teams in the top seven tiers and your time starts now. Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City, Rotherham, Barnsley, Tadcaster, Doncaster Rovers Geisley Grimsby Town oh no hang on that's not Yorkshire oh gosh Bradford City

38:59Ian Dennis:I don't think it's quite enough are you happy with that performance? I don't think it's quite enough okay well we can let Ian Dennis back in our senior football reporter. I've got an issue with this already. There were, I can tell you, a couple of wrong answers in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll come back to those. Let's come back to those. Yeah. So welcome Ian Dennis back to the stage. Right.

39:23Ian, I think this will be a challenge for you.

39:26Ian Dennis:Yeah. Just bear in mind, this is Ian who grew up in Yorkshire and is effectively an honour. Sorry. Is effectively a Yorkshireman, really. An adopted Yorkshireman. Yeah.

39:36John Murray:Yeah. So, Ian, are you ready? The Commentators View World Tour has started here in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Yeah. I want you to name as many Yorkshire football teams in the top seven tiers as you can. There are 17, one-seven possible answers across North, West, South Yorkshire and East Riding. So, Yorkshire football teams... Seven tiers. In the top seven tiers of English football, and your time starts now. Well, we'll start with Middlesbrough. that's controversial, York City, Bradford City, Halifax Town, Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, Rotherham, Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, Hull City, Harrogate Town, Seven Tears.

40:28John Murray:I can't think of the other ones. Wow.

40:40John Murray:Did you say Middlesbrough?

40:42Ian Dennis:Two I didn't say. OK, the final scores. John Murray, 10. Ian Zenes, 12. Oh!

40:53John Murray:Boo! Boo! The losing run goes on.

41:00Ian Dennis:Yes, it does. 11 defeats in a row. 11 in a row. dear oh dear so you both got the two Sheffield clubs which is a good start Tad Castor and Grimsby were incorrect didn't say Doncaster didn't say Doncaster from Dano but all of your answers were correct I think Ian so well done Ian Dennis the winner of Clash of the Commentations

41:25Ian Dennis:won by Yorkshire's Ian Dennis says John Murray who lives in Yorkshire and has done for many years and who didn't say Harrogate Town did you not? no which he will not be forgetting right we have some incredible emails don't we to this podcast which come from all over the world and actually I must say I find that the best part of it I certainly don't find Clash of the Commentators the best part of it but the emails I love yeah

42:00John Murray:from places as far as Thailand, New Zealand. We're big in America, supposedly.

42:07Ian Dennis:Scandinavia.

42:08John Murray:Scandinavia. Very popular in Scandinavia.

42:09Ian Dennis:And Eastern Europe as well, strangely enough. You're big in Copenhagen, aren't you? I am. Very big in Copenhagen. And the Baltic generally.

42:19John Murray:Actually, wherever he goes, he's quiet. Wait till you see him stand up.

42:23Ian Dennis:So today, instead of that, we're going to have some live interaction from the good people of Sheffield and the surrounding areas. So this is like question time. We're going to go to Louise. Where's Louise? Have you got your hand up? In fact, you can see it down here at the front. Hello, Louise. Where are you from? I'm from in the middle of Derby and Nottingham. OK. I'm a Derby fan. Very much the surrounding areas. Definitely not a Forest fan. Right, good. We've made that clear. So what's your question, Louise? Well, my question actually was going to be who's the trickiest footballer you've ever interviewed, but I thought, I'm not sure you'll answer that.

43:02Ian Dennis:I've got a couple of answers for that. So I've gone for who's the nicest, but choose whichever question you want to answer.

43:08John Murray:Okay. The trickiest was David O 'Leary. Really didn't enjoy speaking with him. And that was in your local radio days

43:15Ian Dennis:where you probably had to speak to him three times a week. Probably more than that. Probably six times a week.

43:20John Murray:Yeah. It's funny, you know, with the persona of people on television and when you'd see certain people think oh he's what a nice fella with say kenny dalgleish people go he must be really tricky kenny dalgleish was an absolute joy to deal with i had the pleasure of dealing with him when he was at newcastle united he'd phone you up or his office would phone you up the day before the sign so-and-so andreas anderson come down the next day do the interview on the proviso that you keep that interview back for 24 hours. There was a real trust that worked both ways. He was a joy to deal with. Paul Jewell as well was very, very good.

43:53John Murray:Got to say, Chris Wilder when dealt with Chris was absolutely top notch. Can't believe that Sheffield United got rid of him. Really think that's a harsh sacking. But in answer to your question, David O 'Leary was the trickiest.

44:08Ian Dennis:I find a few of the very modern players are actually quite tricky in that I think we went through a spell which was great for us where the young players were very very media trained and and when we're you know unnatural almost natural broadcast aren't they the modern the modern generation but I think we're almost just sort of got to the end of that when some young players have realized that actually if you want to keep yourself to yourself you don't give much away and so therefore brilliant football although he is Cole Palmer is a very very very hard interview and actually at the under-21s, I interviewed James McAtee, who was also, of course he played here, didn't he?

44:53Ian Dennis:Who also was very much a man of few words and nicest one, easiest, brilliant to deal with, by a mile, Gareth Southgate.

45:04John Murray:Oh, dream. Yeah. Absolute dream.

45:07Ian Dennis:Yeah. So any other questions? So we've got Rory, I think. Thank you, Louise. Thank you for that question. Rory, where are you? oh he's just down here yes second row rory seen rory once did i yes he's gonna he's not gonna ask for your autograph again it was a selfie actually rory come on come on let's have your question i'd just like to know if you've got any memories of commentating at both bramwell lane and hillsborough and which is the best gantry to operate out of or if they're both terrible which i imagine they probably are I've got one from Hillsborough last year in was it last year or the year before the FA Cup when Newcastle came to play Sheffield Wednesday that was a terrific match and also what I remember about that day was Chris Waddle who's our summariser and I mean I know how popular Chris is with Sheffield Wednesday supporters obviously came through at Newcastle and I've been to Marseille with Chris where he is absolutely adored That is an incredible experience, going to Marseille with Chris.

46:10Ian Dennis:However, that day for Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle, it was honestly, it was like walking in with Elvis Presley. It was amazing.

46:19John Murray:Bramble Lane? Have you got a Bramble Lane? Well, Bramble Lane's changed it, but we used to be actually on the top gantry, and you had to actually stand up there because of the way that the bars ran in front of the gantry, and it was quite an awkward position to deal with as well, and the Wi-Fi didn't tend to work very well up there either. So I'm pleased now that they're back in the press box, a little bit lower down in the main stand.

46:40Ian Dennis:We are now looking for a show of hands. Well, there's one right down here at the front. Sorry, what's your name? Sarah from Coventry. Hi, Sarah. So my question is, how has it decided who gets which matches? And are you ever jealous of either each other or the rest of the guys as to which matches you've been awarded? Thank you. I think Hare Chapman decides, doesn't he?

47:01John Murray:He'd like to decide. no Sarah John as correspondent will always have first dibs and then we pick up the scraps after that

47:13Ian Dennis:fortunately there's enough to go round and long may that continue but of course you'll always do the 3 o 'clock match on a Saturday afternoon

47:22John Murray:so I always do the 3 o 'clock which means I do the scores as well as the commentary so regardless of the weekend I know I'm always doing the 3 o 'clock occasionally I'll do a Sunday one if John's on holiday.

47:34Ian Dennis:I think we've got time for one more question. Here we are in the fourth, fifth row. What's your name? Hi, I'm John. Hello, John. From Sheffield. There's clearly a lot of preparation into what you do. So if you ever have to fill, I imagine there's a wealth of information that you could probably use to fill a little bit of time. I just wondered if there was anything that came so out of the blue, which, you know, something tragic, you know, like Fabrice Mwamba, who thankfully survived, you know, his heart attack on the pitch. How do you prepare for something so unexpected like that? Is there like a backup plan that you kind of, Sky or the TV may be able to cut to adverts, but obviously you guys on the radio, how do you deal with something so unexpected like that and kind of react to it and deal with it?

48:19John Murray:Well, I did the commentary on Fabrice Mwamba when he had the cardiac arrest. They were playing Bolton at White Hart Lane and I was working with David Pleat and it was quite clear that there was something wrong. And equally, with our training, you're told always to advise a little bit of caution, first of all. But it was quite clear that we were commentating on the medics trying to save him when he was fighting for his life. And it's a little bit... I always say commentary is a little bit like catchphrase in Roy Walker. You say what you see. And that day, myself and David were commentating on his resuscitation on the pitch.

49:02John Murray:It's something I'll never forget. And to be honest with you, things like that, nothing can prepare you for it, but you've just got to try and describe the mood in the stadium, what's going on in front of you. There's always something happening. Part of my commentary training, I was taken down by the banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle, and this guy called Laurie Bloomfield just said, right, commentate. I said, on what? He said, just commentate. and I had to commentate for a minute and then another technique that I still do is to this day, if you drive past me I think he's talking to himself I commentate on what I see and every time I say er I stop and start again so I'm driving down the road, I've got a lamppost on the right I've got a parked car, red parked car on the left da da da da da and every time I say er and it just gives you an ability just to talk because that's what we what's been a bit unusual today is having a script We don't work off scripts when we're doing a commentary.

49:57John Murray:But for that case, with Fabrice Mwamba, we just had to basically describe what we were seeing until we got the word from the studio that, OK, we're handing back now.

50:06Ian Dennis:I mean, we might be football commentators, but we are journalistically trained, aren't we? And all of the experience that we've built up over the years, I think, does help you to deal with incidents that happen that you aren't expecting. but that is the nature of football commentary and I think you go to any match actually in the back of your mind thinking that absolutely anything could happen and you've got to deal with it and that is it massive thank you to everyone for turning up to see us we appreciate it very much don't we

50:43John Murray:thank you very much for your time

50:47Ian Dennis:you can find each and every episode of the commentator's view on the football daily feed on BBC Sounds.

51:14From my very first game, I knew that I wanted to be a goalkeeper. The buzz and the adrenaline that I got from it. The dream was to always represent my country. Mary Earps is desperate to impress. I remember saying, I know I've got what it takes. A crucial save from Earps! You have to be obsessed. Mary Earps with a super save. You just look at some of the saves that she makes. Not everyone can do that. I really had no idea really how far I would go. The Englands are undone at the day! It felt like my world was ending. That was the moment I was in pieces on the kitchen floor. You have to hit rock bottom to understand what you really want.

51:50Mary would put herself in front of anything and feel like she could stop it. I've done something that I'd always dreamed of doing that I never knew if I would get the opportunity to do.