Valid points, and I can see how you or other readers may think I’m not speaking from the heart. But trust me, I am. And will continue to do so.

My number one objective is to provide soccer fans with quality coverage of the Premier League from an American perspective.

If I do that and continue to reach more customers, then the advertising dollars will follow to help pay the bills.

But I’ll do so by speaking my mind and maintaining the trust I have with you, the readers.

Since the time I launched epltalk.com one year ago, I’ve been shared both critical and positive comments on the podcast and blog about Fox Soccer Channel, Setanta Sports, ITVN and GolTV.

For example, with ITVN, I was critical about the pains it took to get my set top box connected. Later I found out that the issue was with my local cable company.

Here are the facts: ITVN was a sponsor on this site during September and October, but they’re not currently an advertiser. I do have an ITVN banner on the top of this blog, but they’re not paying for its placement. Rather, it’s an affiliate program whereby I get paid a referral bonus each time someone signs up for ITVN from my site.

Hundreds of other sites are doing the same thing also including the2gs.com

Yes, ITVN was kind enough to send me a set top box when the Setanta service launched. But that hasn’t or will not in the future have an effect of what I think or write about ITVN.

Hopefully that addresses your concerns, and I trust that you’ll continue to visit the site and enjoy what we have to offer.

Again, no hard feelings, and I appreciate the honesty in your questioning.

Now let’s get back to enjoying another brilliant weekend of football!

Cheers,
The Gaffer

Do you pay for your ITVN subscription? If you don’t (or get a discount), then you really aren’t coming at it from the perspective of the rest of us.

If you started having a lot of problems with ITVN, would you share them here? If you did, you might risk losing the ad revenue.

Sometimes you have to make a choice — do I try to make money with this, or do I stay true to my heart and blog exactly what I think?

Obviously from a reader’s standpoint, I’d prefer the latter, but if I was you I can’t say I wouldn’t try to take the site’s success into some revenue. You obviously work hard at this and have a great site — why shouldn’t you reap the benefits of that?

Perhaps in the case of ITVN, you really do love the service and it just so happens that they want to advertise with you. BUT, that’s not always going to be the case, AND it is difficult for us as readers to know whether a post regarding ITVN or Setanta is an ad or actually your opinion (or both).

I’m even more impressed by your response to Steve’s comments above.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the feedback and honest criticism. Regarding the pomp, I’m really excited about this project (as you and the readers can probably tell) and it *is* a first in blogging, so why not point it out?

I’m also an avid fan of ITVN, so why should I hide my enthusiasm? Without the service, I’m unable to get Setanta Sports – which, right now, is the source for the majority of British football in America.

Sure, I could tone both things down a bit, but I’m just expressing how I feel.

No worries, though. You’re obviously expressing how you feel, and I appreciate the two-way flow of communication.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

I love this site but it really irks me when I have to put up with self-indulgent posts like this.

(Same goes for your absurdly selfish so-called “love” for ITVN)