Open all Mics

[TexasAndy]

Tuned in to BBC Scotland channel to watch this on Saturday.  It's a decent format with a scores teleprinter running similar to Final Score.  What really entertained me was the pantomime that surrounds Michael Stewart.  That man would argue with his shadow and just as I started to think it was annoying me I realised that Tom English has Michael on a string.  It was hilarious watching Tom wind him up with a glint in his eye, something you wouldn't quite pick up on the radio.  What made it even better was Michael Stewart was defending Hibs saying they had improved a lot since January window.  Allan Preston was saying he couldn't really see any improvement.  "But they have only lost to Rangers and Celtic since January" proclaimed Stewart to which English said "apart from the 3-0 loss to St Mirren".  Granted this bit was on the radio before the TV show started but as the Hibs game played out Tom English was toying with Stewart with that glint in his eye.  Entertaining watch.

[jamboozy]

Thanks for posting, I might tune into this the next time I can’t attend a game.👍

[Hansel]

I like Tom English. A clever and rational man. Seems to have a soft spot for hearts too.

 

Stewart, I used to like as a pundit but he seems to be trying to make a name for himself by being a contrarian. Also seems to always back Hibs. The way he openly held a grudge against Levein really stuck in my throat. Couldn’t put his feelings to one side and be objective whenever talking about Hearts or Levein was embarrassing.

[tiger Rudi]

13 minutes ago, TexasAndy said:

Tuned in to BBC Scotland channel to watch this on Saturday.  It's a decent format with a scores teleprinter running similar to Final Score.  What really entertained me was the pantomime that surrounds Michael Stewart.  That man would argue with his shadow and just as I started to think it was annoying me I realised that Tom English has Michael on a string.  It was hilarious watching Tom wind him up with a glint in his eye, something you wouldn't quite pick up on the radio.  What made it even better was Michael Stewart was defending Hibs saying they had improved a lot since January window.  Allan Preston was saying he couldn't really see any improvement.  "But they have only lost to Rangers and Celtic since January" proclaimed Stewart to which English said "apart from the 3-0 loss to St Mirren".  Granted this bit was on the radio before the TV show started but as the Hibs game played out Tom English was toying with Stewart with that glint in his eye.  Entertaining watch.

Yes I heard the bit on the radio when Stewart was proclaiming Hibs had improved. What a depressing day he must have had. Tom English proven right, Hibs defeated and to make it all even harder to stomach..... done over by none other than arch nemesis, Craig Levein!

Stewart must have been greetin'! He does come across as a total fud at times. 🤣

[Super_Hans]

Stewart, trying desperately to defend his point, even mentioned Hibs friendly win over Raith Rovers in the international break. English had him rattled.

Must have been fuming that a Levein managed side blew any argument he had for Hibs out the water 😂

[Saint Jambo]

Stewart made the show almost unlistenable on Saturday. I tune in to hear what is going on across the games. I like the 'all mics' format because it feels a bit more exciting and real time than just going around the grounds for updates. The chat when nothing much is happening is good too, but the main focus should be on the football that between 3pm and 4.45pm on a Saturday. Instead, possibly because of it now being on TV, the main focus now seems to be on the discussion between the pundits with the football updates and after thought. I really don't tune in to listen to Stewart yell "answer the question" repeatedly over the top of someone who is trying to answer the question or getting angry when someone later suggests he answers a question.

[CMc]

Really like Tom English. Writes and speaks very well. His match reports every time we win the Calcutta cup 😎 are always good value. 
 

Michael Stewart is trying to move into the Chris Sutton/Robbie Savage professional wind-up merchant role. Problem he has is that he winds himself up more than anybody else. English clearly sees this, lights the blue touch paper for shits and giggles and strolls off to get a coffee while the veins start throbbing. Then sits in the corner with a cigar and a wry smile while Stewart chews on the furniture. 
 

Stewarts approach to commentary on open all mics is just the same as his midfield career. Attempt something over-ambitious he can’t quite execute and get himself tied in knots.  then shout at all of his colleagues and blame them for not being as clever as he is. Meanwhile the opposition have gone up the other end and scored. 

[RustyRightPeg]

Kenny McIntyre had Stewart rattled last week too. I think it's deliberate at this point.

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

Stewart has now set out his stall to be the Chris Sutton of the north. He always tries to take an opposite view to the other punters just for the hell of it and occasionally he has a point but most of it is his ego getting in the way. He tries to interrupt every discussion and usually succeeds in taking things off the rails when you want to hear what others think.

[naeclue]

I can’t listen anymore, I am just bored with it. The only thing that I learn is that Michael has a fragile ego. It’s barely covering much else. 
 

I stuck on the Scottish football podcast to hear some analysis of the Hearts v Killie match the other week, and the game wasn’t mentioned. Just however many minutes of “Ah’m right, you’r no”. 
 

It’s the same every week. 

[Geddyalexneil]

22 minutes ago, CMc said:

Really like Tom English. Writes and speaks very well. His match reports every time we win the Calcutta cup 😎 are always good value. 
 

Michael Stewart is trying to move into the Chris Sutton/Robbie Savage professional wind-up merchant role. Problem he has is that he winds himself up more than anybody else. English clearly sees this, lights the blue touch paper for shits and giggles and strolls off to get a coffee while the veins start throbbing. Then sits in the corner with a cigar and a wry smile while Stewart chews on the furniture. 
 

Stewarts approach to commentary on open all mics is just the same as his midfield career. Attempt something over-ambitious he can’t quite execute and get himself tied in knots.  then shout at all of his colleagues and blame them for not being as clever as he is. Meanwhile the opposition have gone up the other end and scored. 

The highlighted is one of the most accurate reviews I have ever read about anything.

Take a bow!

 

It also made me laugh quite loudly! So thank you.

[Gundermann]

1 hour ago, TexasAndy said:

Tuned in to BBC Scotland channel to watch this on Saturday.  It's a decent format with a scores teleprinter running similar to Final Score.  What really entertained me was the pantomime that surrounds Michael Stewart.  That man would argue with his shadow and just as I started to think it was annoying me I realised that Tom English has Michael on a string.  It was hilarious watching Tom wind him up with a glint in his eye, something you wouldn't quite pick up on the radio.  What made it even better was Michael Stewart was defending Hibs saying they had improved a lot since January window.  Allan Preston was saying he couldn't really see any improvement.  "But they have only lost to Rangers and Celtic since January" proclaimed Stewart to which English said "apart from the 3-0 loss to St Mirren".  Granted this bit was on the radio before the TV show started but as the Hibs game played out Tom English was toying with Stewart with that glint in his eye.  Entertaining watch.

 

Yes, it's excruciating. You described Stewart to a tee.

 

Others wind him up though.

It's like a playground and doesn't make for good listening. 

[a11ank]

Would have been great to see Stewarts face when Levein proclaimed "I luv it"!😍

[Deevers]

1 hour ago, TexasAndy said:

Tuned in to BBC Scotland channel to watch this on Saturday.  It's a decent format with a scores teleprinter running similar to Final Score.  What really entertained me was the pantomime that surrounds Michael Stewart.  That man would argue with his shadow and just as I started to think it was annoying me I realised that Tom English has Michael on a string.  It was hilarious watching Tom wind him up with a glint in his eye, something you wouldn't quite pick up on the radio.  What made it even better was Michael Stewart was defending Hibs saying they had improved a lot since January window.  Allan Preston was saying he couldn't really see any improvement.  "But they have only lost to Rangers and Celtic since January" proclaimed Stewart to which English said "apart from the 3-0 loss to St Mirren".  Granted this bit was on the radio before the TV show started but as the Hibs game played out Tom English was toying with Stewart with that glint in his eye.  Entertaining watch.

Stewart continually comes across as petulant and petty minded even when he’s trying to make a valid point.  I think a few folk have realised that if you question his points of view on things you get an irrational response from him.  It’s pretty funny listening to him ranting and raving and not realising he’s being wound up.

[Spellczech]

I like the way that if you see Michael Stewart around town you can look at him for a second too long (that will be 2 seconds) and he'll look at you as if he wants to know he's been recognised. I've done it 3-4 times now. Never spoken to him.

[Alex MacDonald]

The whole programme has become unlistenable OF/Glasgow centric tosh since McIntyre took over. It was far from perfect with Richard Gordon at the helm, but at least it had some kind of focus. Now it’s an embarrassment, and a sad state of affairs for our national broadcaster. I remember when Bob Crampsey was a pundit back in the day, early to mid 90’s, somebody worth listening to. Now it just exists to focus on 2 teams even more than ever.

[CMc]

8 minutes ago, Deevers said:

Stewart continually comes across as petulant and petty minded even when he’s trying to make a valid point.  I think a few folk have realised that if you question his points of view on things you get an irrational response from him.  It’s pretty funny listening to him ranting and raving and not realising he’s being wound up.

Yep. Turning into the Karl Pilkington of the show. 

[ehcaley]

Erse,sitting eating his dinner,did he forget it was on telly🤔

[May one-six]

43 minutes ago, All roads lead to Gorgie said:

Stewart has now set out his stall to be the Chris Sutton of the north. He always tries to take an opposite view to the other punters just for the hell of it and occasionally he has a point but most of it is his ego getting in the way. He tries to interrupt every discussion and usually succeeds in taking things off the rails when you want to hear what others think.

It's probably an unpopular opinion on here, but Chris Sutton is a far more entertaining pundit and wind-up merchant than Michael Stewart. He doesn't hide that fact that he's a Celtic fan, but he's ready to slag them when he feels it's justified and he's one of the few English commentators who seems to appreciate Scottish football as a whole and doesn't look down his nose at it.

[Jack Torrance]

Will need to watch it now to see if Stewart still points at others, as much as he did when he was on the football pitch.

[Cambo_Jambo]

1 hour ago, Hansel said:

I like Tom English. A clever and rational man. Seems to have a soft spot for hearts too.

 

Stewart, I used to like as a pundit but he seems to be trying to make a name for himself by being a contrarian. Also seems to always back Hibs. The way he openly held a grudge against Levein really stuck in my throat. Couldn’t put his feelings to one side and be objective whenever talking about Hearts or Levein was embarrassing.

Tom English is genuinely the only sports journo in Scotland that doesn't kowtow to the powers that be. Regularly critical of both the Old Firm and the SPFL as well as BBC mantras like Hibs being a 'good football' team.

 

For somebody that's also a fan of rugby, he's consistently the only voice that expects more of Scottish Rugby and the SRU.

 

Lots of time for him.

[Tynecastlesmychurch]

Honestly, you could put Michael Stewart in a room with nothing but a mirror, and an argument would break out! 

[kingantti1874]

Can’t bear the guy to be honest, so aggressive and contrary as suggested above.

 

frequently presents his argument based on what his view of the rules should be rather than the actual rules.

 

My favourite from recent months .  that can’t be a booking or a red card as the ball was dead.  Really Michael ? 
 

 

[wavydavy]

1 hour ago, Hansel said:

I like Tom English. A clever and rational man. Seems to have a soft spot for hearts too.

 

Stewart, I used to like as a pundit but he seems to be trying to make a name for himself by being a contrarian. Also seems to always back Hibs. The way he openly held a grudge against Levein really stuck in my throat. Couldn’t put his feelings to one side and be objective whenever talking about Hearts or Levein was embarrassing.

 

I reserve judgement on him. I think he is an Independent Journalist who says what he is expected to say and sees an easy target in Stewart and can play him to get the reaction he wants.

 

Not that clever really as most of us could do exactly the same with Stewart.

 

I saw him (English) at one of the Hearts Shareholders Dinners when he was a guest speaker and I don't share your view that he has a soft spot for Hearts. He did however comment on Stewart saying that he loved him dearly despite their on air disputes.

 

His first love is Rugby Union and he loves having a go at Gregor Townsend and Scotland whenever he has the slightest opportunity but he is always praising his beloved Ireland.

 

Quite sad really that one of the best sports journalists in Scotland is an Irishman.

[micole]

Used to quite like MS, but it is all getting a bit tedious now. He seems to go out of his way to be controversial and cannot get his point across without acrimony with anyone who disagrees with his view, I have no problem with someone being passionate but he goes beyond the pale IMO.

[swm]

24 minutes ago, Alex MacDonald said:

The whole programme has become unlistenable OF/Glasgow centric tosh since McIntyre took over. It was far from perfect with Richard Gordon at the helm, but at least it had some kind of focus. Now it’s an embarrassment, and a sad state of affairs for our national broadcaster. I remember when Bob Crampsey was a pundit back in the day, early to mid 90’s, somebody worth listening to. Now it just exists to focus on 2 teams even more than ever.

Spot on.  Mcintyres constant chuckling on topics that are at a schoolboy level...warnock et al.  

[jamboinglasgow]

52 minutes ago, CMc said:

Really like Tom English. Writes and speaks very well. His match reports every time we win the Calcutta cup 😎 are always good value. 
 

Michael Stewart is trying to move into the Chris Sutton/Robbie Savage professional wind-up merchant role. Problem he has is that he winds himself up more than anybody else. English clearly sees this, lights the blue touch paper for shits and giggles and strolls off to get a coffee while the veins start throbbing. Then sits in the corner with a cigar and a wry smile while Stewart chews on the furniture. 
 

Stewarts approach to commentary on open all mics is just the same as his midfield career. Attempt something over-ambitious he can’t quite execute and get himself tied in knots.  then shout at all of his colleagues and blame them for not being as clever as he is. Meanwhile the opposition have gone up the other end and scored. 

 

A big problem for Stewart if he wants to be like Sutton or Savage is that he has no sense of humour. Even the serious pundits like Keane and Neville, do have a laugh at times. Stewart takes himself too seriously and just can admit when he is wrong.

 

Completely agree with your last paragraph.

[Go for it 1308]

Can I be completely thick? Where do I watch this open all mics and what time?

[Go for it 1308]

Just now, Go for it 1308 said:

Can I be completely thick? Where do I watch this open all mics and what time?

Ps. Is it on bbc iplayer?

[Bull's-eye]

I think heidless has done a fantastic job deflecting away from the the fact that he was an absolutely awful footballer.

 

 

 

 

 

[Go for it 1308]

11 minutes ago, Go for it 1308 said:

Ps. Is it on bbc iplayer?

Pps...ignore my previous posts....I'm officially thick. Watching it on iplayer now🙄

[Turkishcap]

Watched and enjoyed it, bit different I suppose.

[hmfc_liam06]

1 hour ago, Spellczech said:

I like the way that if you see Michael Stewart around town you can look at him for a second too long (that will be 2 seconds) and he'll look at you as if he wants to know he's been recognised. I've done it 3-4 times now. Never spoken to him.

 

Done similar one time when I was over the west coast playing golf. I was waiting on the first tee, he was approaching the 18th green. He looked at me as if I was about to start fawning over him

 

Also, his attitude/personality isn't just reserved for the cameras it seems. He come across as a total dick that day as well.

[karipidis]

49 minutes ago, micole said:

Used to quite like MS, but it is all getting a bit tedious now. He seems to go out of his way to be controversial and cannot get his point across without acrimony with anyone who disagrees with his view, I have no problem with someone being passionate but he goes beyond the pale IMO.

Completely agree, he's become excruciating to listen to. No surprise he is rarely on Sportscene anymore. 

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

Michael seems to have lost the plot these last few weeks.

[Super_Hans]

55 minutes ago, swm said:

Spot on.  Mcintyres constant chuckling on topics that are at a schoolboy level...warnock et al.  

He's an embarrassment. Almost as embarrassing as having Susie McCabe play her 3 favourite songs when all you want is some post match reaction.

Seriously, wtf is that all about?

[Pasquale for King]

2 hours ago, TexasAndy said:

Tuned in to BBC Scotland channel to watch this on Saturday.  It's a decent format with a scores teleprinter running similar to Final Score.  What really entertained me was the pantomime that surrounds Michael Stewart.  That man would argue with his shadow and just as I started to think it was annoying me I realised that Tom English has Michael on a string.  It was hilarious watching Tom wind him up with a glint in his eye, something you wouldn't quite pick up on the radio.  What made it even better was Michael Stewart was defending Hibs saying they had improved a lot since January window.  Allan Preston was saying he couldn't really see any improvement.  "But they have only lost to Rangers and Celtic since January" proclaimed Stewart to which English said "apart from the 3-0 loss to St Mirren".  Granted this bit was on the radio before the TV show started but as the Hibs game played out Tom English was toying with Stewart with that glint in his eye.  Entertaining watch.

I caught a bit of it, Stewart really does go to bat for Hibs and his defence of Montgomery was weird considering he rightly slated Johnson. 
Why wouldn’t you wind him up, especially when it’s CLs team beating Hibs 😆. 

[Pasquale for King]

52 minutes ago, jamboinglasgow said:

 

A big problem for Stewart if he wants to be like Sutton or Savage is that he has no sense of humour. Even the serious pundits like Keane and Neville, do have a laugh at times. Stewart takes himself too seriously and just can admit when he is wrong.

 

Completely agree with your last paragraph.

He also said the critique of his career by Keane was a good laugh, not sure if it was tbh. 

[boag1874]

2 hours ago, CMc said:

Really like Tom English. Writes and speaks very well. His match reports every time we win the Calcutta cup 😎 are always good value. 
 

Michael Stewart is trying to move into the Chris Sutton/Robbie Savage professional wind-up merchant role. Problem he has is that he winds himself up more than anybody else. English clearly sees this, lights the blue touch paper for shits and giggles and strolls off to get a coffee while the veins start throbbing. Then sits in the corner with a cigar and a wry smile while Stewart chews on the furniture. 
 

Stewarts approach to commentary on open all mics is just the same as his midfield career. Attempt something over-ambitious he can’t quite execute and get himself tied in knots.  then shout at all of his colleagues and blame them for not being as clever as he is. Meanwhile the opposition have gone up the other end and scored. 

Beautiful analogy

[boag1874]

1 hour ago, May one-six said:

It's probably an unpopular opinion on here, but Chris Sutton is a far more entertaining pundit and wind-up merchant than Michael Stewart. He doesn't hide that fact that he's a Celtic fan, but he's ready to slag them when he feels it's justified and he's one of the few English commentators who seems to appreciate Scottish football as a whole and doesn't look down his nose at it.

Suttons a decent pundit. He’s a total WUM and is unbelievably biased towards Celtic (plays it up imo) but he also comes away with good analysis most of the time when not baiting his colleagues.

[heartsfan]

Can't bear Michael Stewart theese days but Tom English is superb .... especially loved his This Sporting Life Podcast where he interviewed many Sporting Greats (and some not so great). Wish he would do more but looks like he is not gonna. Last one was Willie Miller last May. If any of you haven't listened to the interviews I highly recommend it.

[Hansel]

3 hours ago, CMc said:

Really like Tom English. Writes and speaks very well. His match reports every time we win the Calcutta cup 😎 are always good value. 
 

Michael Stewart is trying to move into the Chris Sutton/Robbie Savage professional wind-up merchant role. Problem he has is that he winds himself up more than anybody else. English clearly sees this, lights the blue touch paper for shits and giggles and strolls off to get a coffee while the veins start throbbing. Then sits in the corner with a cigar and a wry smile while Stewart chews on the furniture. 
 

Stewarts approach to commentary on open all mics is just the same as his midfield career. Attempt something over-ambitious he can’t quite execute and get himself tied in knots.  then shout at all of his colleagues and blame them for not being as clever as he is. Meanwhile the opposition have gone up the other end and scored. 

Spot on. 

[Daktari]

3 hours ago, CMc said:

Really like Tom English. Writes and speaks very well. His match reports every time we win the Calcutta cup 😎 are always good value. 

 

I can recommend his book 'The Grudge' about the 1990 Grand Slam winning team. Balanced, but informative and funny. Told from the perspective of people who were actually there.

[BlueRiver]

1 hour ago, boag1874 said:

Suttons a decent pundit. He’s a total WUM and is unbelievably biased towards Celtic (plays it up imo) but he also comes away with good analysis most of the time when not baiting his colleagues.

 

He's a hard listen though if it's a Celtic game you're watching. 

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

3 hours ago, May one-six said:

It's probably an unpopular opinion on here, but Chris Sutton is a far more entertaining pundit and wind-up merchant than Michael Stewart. He doesn't hide that fact that he's a Celtic fan, but he's ready to slag them when he feels it's justified and he's one of the few English commentators who seems to appreciate Scottish football as a whole and doesn't look down his nose at it.

I agree, a lot of the things Sutton says is purely for entertainment but Stewart's take on things is just because he can't see the opposite views to his own. He is now complaining about tackling in the game being outlawed when he often waved his hands in the air when someone came within five yards of him. 😄

[May one-six]

2 minutes ago, All roads lead to Gorgie said:

I agree, a lot of the things Sutton says is purely for entertainment but Stewart's take on things is just because he can't see the opposite views to his own. He is now complaining about tackling in the game being outlawed when he often waved his hands in the air when someone came within five yards of him. 😄

Yup. Stewart is fast becoming - or has already become - an unfunny parody of an opinionated pundit.

[TexasAndy]

3 hours ago, Go for it 1308 said:

Ps. Is it on bbc iplayer?

On iplayer and BBC Scotland channel at 3pm Saturday

[RobbofordGHC]

5 hours ago, CMc said:

Really like Tom English. Writes and speaks very well. His match reports every time we win the Calcutta cup 😎 are always good value. 
 

Michael Stewart is trying to move into the Chris Sutton/Robbie Savage professional wind-up merchant role. Problem he has is that he winds himself up more than anybody else. English clearly sees this, lights the blue touch paper for shits and giggles and strolls off to get a coffee while the veins start throbbing. Then sits in the corner with a cigar and a wry smile while Stewart chews on the furniture. 
 

Stewarts approach to commentary on open all mics is just the same as his midfield career. Attempt something over-ambitious he can’t quite execute and get himself tied in knots.  then shout at all of his colleagues and blame them for not being as clever as he is. Meanwhile the opposition have gone up the other end and scored. 

Stewarts playing career perfectly summed up in your last paragraph..

[Lone Striker]

5 hours ago, RustyRightPeg said:

Kenny McIntyre had Stewart rattled last week too. I think it's deliberate at this point.

Yeah, I listened on the way home from the Killie game.   They were disagreeing about the level of manager ABerdeen should appoint - whether a managerial job in  L1 or lower Championship in England was more attractive than Aberdeen.  MS just became unhinged and started accusing KMcI of talking b0ll0cks and contradicting himself - he just couldn't let it go without demanding an apology !!!     I think he had a go  at Tom English too, but you could tell that Tom was baiting him deliberately.     

 

Agree with most of the posts above. MS is mildly entertaining & listenable up to a point, but just becomes very  irritating after that.  Much like his playing career.       😃

 

 

[Hearts_fan]

I like Stewart but at times he is a fud. There might be more to it in the background, but his altercation with Rory Loy on Saturday was cringe. “Oh my god he repeated literally about 10 times. Cringe, and extremely rude at times. But I do respect him most of the time.