Within the last 12 months, you’ve done a lot to enhance your product and the growth of the game. The launch of the HD channel and Fox Soccer Plus, while not by any means perfect, have been a major plus. The announcement of the new Fox Soccer Tonight program is another good step for the network. But after the addition of ESPN to the EPL fray last season, it has highlighted many areas you could improve on in your coverage. Here are a few suggestions for the coming season:

Start your match telecasts at the correct time.

I’ll have to say, it impressed me that from the start of ESPN’s PL coverage, they would cut into whatever program was running at 2:55 PM to have ample time to show the lineups and a bit of the buildup for a 3 PM kickoff. In England (and Europe), a 3 PM kickoff means that at precisely 3 PM, the match kicks off! So why then do your 10 AM ET telecasts start exactly at 10 AM, leaving no time for any buildup at all? Invariably, you will squeeze in the lineups and either go to commercial or to the kickoff, meaning we’re left watching the match on a two to four minute delay. Yes, 2-4 minutes isn’t a big deal, but you’re a soccer channel! European soccer is the main reason we tune in. Please, Fox: start your coverage a bit early. I shouldn’t be able to find an illegal stream of the match online that is minutes ahead of what’s on my TV.

“You are watching FSC, in HD”

Luckily, I’ve been able to largely avoid FSC during the summer, and therefore haven’t had to hear much of this abomination of an advertisement. But when I hear it for the 20th time by next week and involuntarily throw my remote through my LCD out of anger, should I send the bill to you or to Comcast?

Warren Barton.

Look, I’m sure he’s a nice guy. But two years on, he’s still a statue on television. Every time he looks into the camera, I feel like he’s staring daggers right through me. Maybe spring for some acting classes for him; give him a beer before he goes on, something. Although I do have fun with a drinking game I came up with for every time he says “as well” in his analysis (he once said it 19 times during just the two starting lineups).

Pop-Up Ads

I don’t entirely blame you on this one. I’m sure making a sport with few commercials survive on a channel with a limited budget isn’t possible without them. But I think I speak for everyone when I say that they’re extremely distracting, especially when they pop up during play. At least wait for the stoppages (injury, goal kick, free kick, whatever) to display them. And please remove that “HD” tag from the corner of the screen. It’s like you’re mocking us.

Sincerely (I swear),
Phil

What other suggestions would you have to improve FSC and FS+ for the future?

So for the entire 2009-10 season of the Champions League coverage on Fox Soccer Channel, soccer analysts Bobby McMahon and Warren Barton have worked incredibly hard to hone their skills, study the teams and deliver some of the best homegrown soccer analysis we’ve ever seen on television Stateside. So, what do they get for their hard work? They get replaced for the Champions League Final with LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena and NFL analyst Curt Menefee.

It’s possible that Barton and McMahon will still be involved on the Fox Soccer Channel pre-game show before the game is broadcast live on the regular Fox channel across the United States. But still, I believe Fox’s decision to bring in Arena and Menefee stinks.

Arena is not a soccer pundit and he is not a great speaker. Menefee is a NFL talking head but, according to Fox’s official press release is “a long-time aficionado of international soccer.” That’s news to me. But still, I don’t think he could do half the job that a Barton or McMahon could do. Rounding out the cast of characters for the Champions League Final will be Eric Wynalda who will retain his role and will sit alongside Menefee and Arena.

I’m quite puzzled by Fox’s decision to favor Arena and Menefee. Who are they trying to appeal to? Are mainstream Americans who watch sports but never watch soccer going to suddenly watch the Champions League Final because Menefee is on television? And while Arena is a brilliant coach, are more soccer fans going to watch the game because Arena is now one of the analysts? Sure, Arena adds credibility but we don’t want big names in those chairs, we want experts.

Perhaps that’s precisely the reason that Barton and McMahon weren’t chosen… because Fox Corporate felt they had to pull in the big guns for the final. To me, this feels like what ESPN did for the 2006 World Cup when they brought Dave O’Brien in to pull in American viewers. While Menefee isn’t going to be commentating (thank god it’ll be Tyler and Gray), it’s still a poor move by Fox and a slap in the face to soccer fans throughout the United States who have appreciated Bobby McMahon and Warren Barton.

Or, maybe it’s Fox feeling as if they have to add American voices to their Champions League Final coverage instead of an Englishman and Scot? Especially when it’s Fox’s first-ever soccer broadcast.

If I had to make a guess, this decision feels like it was made by Fox Sports instead of Fox Soccer Channel. And what does Fox Sports know about soccer?

Whatever their reasoning, and we may never find out what they were really thinking, it’s a poor decision. America needs experts like McMahon and Barton, and it would have done a brilliant job on Fox that would have done a service to the sport in this country.

Fox, what were you thinking?!

Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts Champions League in the United States. Their presentation’s main studio analysts, Warren Barton and Bobby McMahon, joined me on Tuesday to discuss their show; specifically, their preparation, the show’s level of analysis, the choices made in presenting new players and teams to an audience, and the effect of losing the competition’s English Premier League teams.

What would you do if you were in charge of Fox Soccer Channel’s TV coverage? The dilemma is that you’re trying to establish your own brand and to build an audience with your own personnel, but soccer fans — as you’ll probably agree — are difficult people to please. We always want perfection.

A perfect example is this past Saturday’s England against Kazakhstan World Cup Qualifier that was shown live on Fox Soccer Channel. Hosts Nick Webster and Warren Barton did a fine job in the beginning of the show with expert analysis and discussion. But when the game started, soccer fans were startled to hear that Webster and Barton continued their discussion into the game and didn’t hand over the commentary, as is customary, to the international feed — which would have been Clive Tyldesley and Gary Stevens.

While Webster is a decent analyst, he is no soccer commentator. So instead of commentating the game, it feeled like Webster and Barton were simply talking over the game and providing their analysis. Webster’s style improved later when he began commentating on the game itself, but I always had the feeling that I was missing out on something — that one of the commentators from the international feed would have been able to impart some wisdom that Webster would have missed.

The dilemma for Fox is that GolTV does the same thing but with better results. Few people seem to complain when Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen commentate on the World Cup qualifiers that GolTV broadcast. It’s quite rare that GolTV will broadcast the commentators from the international feed.

So what would you do if you were Fox and you wanted to feature your commentators? Would you have someone like Max Bretos or Christian Miles do the main commentary instead, and have Webster and Barton provide the studio analysis only? Or would you suggest something different? Let us know by clicking the comments link below and sharing your thoughts.

The opening day of the new 2008/2009 Premier League season is over, and there was plenty of entertainment in store. We’ll share our opinions of what we saw on the pitch over the next few days. But first, for viewers in the United States, I want to share my thoughts on the coverage from Setanta Sports and Fox Soccer Channel.

Without a doubt, Setanta Sports showed today why they’re a must-see channel for followers of the Premier League in the States. First, they had the exclusive TV rights to the Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion season opener. Despite some technical problems in the first minute, the rest of the TV coverage was flawless.

Second, the network showed live coverage of the two biggest storylines from the day: the sensational performance by Middlesbrough in their throughly deserved 2-1 win against Tottenham, and the surprise 2-1 win by Hull City over Fulham.

Third, the pre-game, half-time and post-match analysis by Setanta Sports is simply better than that offered by Fox Soccer Channel. We’ll discuss that in more detail later in this article.

Fox Soccer Channel, in contrast, showed two matches: Everton’s 3-2 loss against Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool’s 1-0 win against Sunderland. The second half of the Everton against Blackburn game was very entertaining with plenty of chances from both sides to win the game including a header by Premier League debutant Jose Baxter, the 16-year-old for Everton. As far as entertainment value, the game wasn’t as good as Middlesbrough against Spurs, but it was definitely watchable and had a stunning finale.

For Fox, the 12:30pm ET/5:30pm GMT kickoff always seems to be cursed. It’s very rare that the match shown in that timeslot entertains, and this was no exception. Apart from one moment of brilliance by Fernando Torres deep in the second half that led to the goal, the game was pretty tense and filled with an avalanche of sloppy mistakes by Liverpool. Sunderland battled hard and deserved to at least get a point out of the game.

But while the Everton match thrilled and the Liverpool match bored, Fox has other issues to worry about. First, if someone already has Setanta Sports, they’re never going to watch the 9:30am ET Fox Soccer Match Day show because the 7:45am ET match doesn’t end until 9:50am ET. Second, the stiffness that Christian Miles and Warren Barton evoke by wearing suits and ties is in direct contrast to the comfortable and laid back banter that Setanta Sports features with Paul Dempsey and Pat Dolan.

The issue with Fox’s show is that hosts Christian Miles and Warren Barton are too polished, too squeaky clean, too scripted and don’t give the viewer many, if any, reasons to watch.

While Fox’s hosts are too nice to each other, Dempsey and Dolan banter back and forth, engage in more spirited arguments and are definitely more watchable.

Other benefits of Setanta’s coverage is that during half-time of the 10am ET/3pm GMT kickoff, the network provides half-time match reports from reporters around the grounds so you get more than just the scores which Fox provides. As an aside, Fox can’t even get the scorelines correct. At half-time, they showed Bolton beating Stoke 1-0 when the half-time score was actually 3-0.

The other challenge for Fox is that at the same time they’re providing previews and analysis between the Noon and 12:30pm ET timeslot in the run-up to the kickoff between Liverpool and Sunderland, Setanta Sports today expanded its coverage and kept the cameras running from their Dublin studio to provide more match analysis, even up to the point of the sides coming out of the tunnel.

When you’re faced between Setanta’s pre-match analysis compared to Fox, you have to go with Setanta each time — which is worrying news for FSC.

One last point and this is something that has upset a lot of Fox Soccer Channel viewers in the past. When Fox shows games live, they need to be shown live. For the Sunderland against Liverpool match, Fox started the kick-off almost two minutes after the game had actually started. For those of you who watch games on DVR, that’s not a problem. But when fans around the world are chatting online or trying to listen to the radio coverage of the game from Sirius Satellite, it’s a massive problem when you know a goal is going to be scored two minutes before you even see it on television!

There’s no excuse why Fox can’t show the games live, or delayed by a few seconds. Fox has 30 minutes to get in as many commercials and previews between Noon and 12:30pm ET, so to show the game delayed by two minutes is absolutely unacceptable.

I’ve finally figured out the biggest difference between Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports. If you’re a passionate follower of the Premier League or one of its 20 teams, the difference between both TV networks is Setanta is meant for die-hard football fans while Fox Soccer Channel is aimed at relative newcomers to the sport or league.

Fox’s coverage is dumbed down, while you usually learn something with what Setanta provides.

What are your thoughts about the opening day coverage from Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports? Share your feedback below by clicking the comments link.

Former Newcastle and Wimbledon defender Warren Barton will make his Fox Soccer Channel debut this Saturday as analyst for Fox Soccer Match Day.

If you had the pleasure of watching Newcastle shine in the late 90s under Kevin Keegan, you’ll no doubt remember the probing runs by Barton down the wing where he was an integral part of the Toon’s success. During his time at Newcastle, Barton made his England debut in the infamous match that was abandoned due to hooliganism.

These are just a few of the topics that we cover with Barton in an exclusive interview. Play it via your browser below or download it from iTunes for your convenience.

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U.S. TV network Fox Soccer Channel will feature a new co-host and analyst for its Fox Soccer Match Day beginning Saturday, August 16, when former Wimbledon, Newcastle United and England defender Warren Barton joins the network.

At Wimbledon, Barton made 180 appearances during the club’s hugely successful period from 1990 to 1995 when he played on the same side as other team members such as Vinnie Jones, Dennis Wise, John Fashanu and Lawrie Sanchez. When Barton moved from Wimbledon to Newcastle, he became the most expensive defender in English football at that time.

Barton’s broadcast experience has included work for ITV in England.

Last season, Fox Soccer Match Day featured Andy Houlihan from Sky Sports. EPL Talk has now learned that Houlihan has a full-time position with National Public Radio (NPR) and will not be involved with Fox Soccer Channel in a presenter role this season.

The new season of Fox Soccer Match Day is scheduled to debut on Saturday, August 16 at 9:30am ET/6:30am PT.