The show has really gone downhill in the last few weeks. They've gotten lazy, especially Cohen, who takes more days off than a political appointee. The insult of having a dirtbag like Howard Rogers on multiple times in a row points out the disrespect they have for listeners. And Cohen has settled back in to his attacks on Liverpool people when no one is interested. And going the cheapo route replacing known journalists with bloggers so they wont have to pay is indicative of the direction of the show. Really disappointing and needs to change or the payers wont be re-upping.
I disagree. Putting aside the Liverpool attacks (which I usually just skip over now) and having Howard on the show (I never listened to WSD, but even the few shows he was on I wasn't a fan), I think there is at least an attempt to try to broaden its scope of football coverage to more than just the Premier League, which I see as a good thing. More Bundesliga, Ligue 1, MLS coverage, more team specific bloggers. Also, most of those "known journalists" you mention are pretty over-rated, so I don't fault WFD for picking up a few bloggers who are just as knowledgeable as the journalists and are interested in pitching their sites/podcasts, which then gets more hits from exposure, and saves WFD a few bucks in the process. I also really like Sayed Otaru(?) their African correspondent, who is supposed to get his own podcast attached to the show this year as well. Clearly though, its a YMMV situation, so since it's a pay model, if you don't like, then you can decline re-subscription.
I think the show has settled down into a cultured forum for truly world soccer. I think Steven personally has really put the time in to diversify his knowledge outside of premiere league soccer. I think they have developed a foundation of knowledge and views that make their views something I like to consider. I am just fine with out "known" journalists because many of them don't make good radio, tell you what you would only not know if you had been in solitary confinement for a month. I applaud Steven for trying to find the interesting and hungry voices that are working hard to share their knowledge. The Liverpool rants are childish, but this condition of Steven's is far less pervasive (he tweeted that Kenny has proven he really can take the team up notches in quality this past weekend) and is about two minutes of a show when he feels the need to point something out, which is not often. Their different takes on the game though is what makes it worth listening to me. I am curious, what alternative do you have in mind?
I disagree. Yes, there’s been the hiccup in the last few weeks of them moving studios. But I assume it’s just a temporary blip and it seems to have been remedied in the last few days. I think it’s a little bit hypocritical to bitch about what Cohen says and then say he’s not on often enough. And I’m fine with Howard so long as it’s in small doses. In fact, I think the show is significantly better than when it was World Soccer Daily. It’s more about journalists who actually know what they’re talking about and can provide insight and less about fans all repeating the same ignorant slams. (If I wanted a show that was all about ranting fans, I’d just listen to 606) I also think they’ve done a great job of being WORLD Football Daily. It used to be 90% Premier League and a smattering of everything else. Now, the Premier League is still #1 but it doesn’t suffocate everything else. They’ve done a much better job of covering other leagues and are not nearly as condescending about MLS as they used to be. I think it’s the most broad-minded soccer podcast out there by a country mile. I think people who only care about the PL may be annoyed at this change but the rest of us are happy. It’s well worth the money I paid and I have no qualms about renewing my subscription in a few weeks.
As some one who has listened to WFD from the start and who also was a BIG fan of WSD I will say WFD is better I love the gust that are on yes some are not the best but you cant please all of us some people will like the gust and some will be like can this guy shut up I would like to hear maybe 1 or 2 more calls from fans Kenney adds a lot and I love the banter. If I had to rank the show 1 out of 10 I would give it an 8.
I won't go so far as to say the show is going downhill but... yes, Steven is taking too many days off. I understand they have business to conduct, but there are 22 other hours in the day for him to do stuff. I pay for Steven and Kenny, if they need to sell ad space don't do it at the expense of the consumer. I will applaud them for letting us know a few weeks back that he would be taking off and they went and got some co-hosts. Now onto my next complaint... The Kenny only shows have to stop! Everytime I hear his voice out of the open I feel like I should stop listening right that second. On Friday he opened the show with like a five minute ramble on everything going on in the world of soccer... it was absolutely terrible radio. He just took notes on everything going on the upcoming weekend and blurted it all out, it was the perfect example information overload. Obviously it's hard to have a discussion with yourself... but if I wanted a bunch of stats and lineups I'd go read that stuff on my own.
The stupid thing is that Rafa his producer has a mike and is perfectly capable conversing about soccer. Kenny does a good job and interviews but Steve is an entertainer first which is why the two are perfect foils.
This show IMO is not as good as the Nick Geber days. I agree Rafa should at least Steven when he's not there. Solo shows are not really shows. They're monologues because of the lack of callers.
I am so glad some one boat up how the show is not that grate when it is Kenny is alone I have to say I think the show sucks when it is 1 parson hosting and that is it. It is like they are talking to them self’s but with people listing. As for Stevin taking time of like this I think it is getting to much ok I understand that some times he has no chose may it be he is sick or some thing else but doing business at the time of the show is not good. Like I side in my first post in this third I think it is worth the money and I do love the show also how they will put some funny things in so it dose not sound like a funnel but they do need to understand that we are paying for this and because of that they need to put on a good show. If I rember back when they said they ware coming back on soon after a suten grope of nut case fans put an end to WSD a lot of people ware not that happy that you ware going to have to pay well now that people pay we expert more and 1 parson show dose not cut it. One thing that has been borthing me a bit about the show is that they said when they started doing the show that staff meetings would be abele to watch now its not the end of the world but if they have stop doing that they should tell people. I hope that they do read this therd the show is good but this therd will give them an idea on what needs to get better. 1 more thing they should do is maybe come each may when the season is over in Europe what they should do is send out an online survey to people like what they think of the show.
All that being said, although the first 1/2 hour were tough to take as an Arsenal fan, great show today.
How would you guys make the show better? Just have a guaranteed S&K 5 days a week and it's all good? Also, what do you LIKE about the show?
the one thing i would do to make the show beter is maybe bring on more mangers. i do think the show is grate but like all other shows ther is room to make it beter now do i think the show sucks no but just small things could get beter.
Steven and Kenny together all time isn't a must but better communication with the listeners about when they'll be gone is a start... then like they did a few weeks back, prepare in advance to have a co-host ready. On the subject of what I like about the show I would say the interviews, I personally like the regular correspondents... the more they have someone regulary on the more info it seems that I can soak up. I really liked it when they had Gallagher or Poll on to talk officiating weekly and Robbie Earle is sorely missed. Steven and Kenny are a great team, but once again if someone needs to be left to do the show by themselves it has to be Steven, Kenny's statistical/facts aren't interesting enough to hold a whole show. I think overall I'm just a bit disappointed in the overall product over the last few months... admittedly they botched the studio move and it just seems like the quality guests aren't on a regularly and the promises of extra shows never really came about aside from the Italian soccer show.
I like the show lately. There's a much greater variety of guests than just the standard newspaper and TV people (who are great, but bloggers and others add a different dynamic which is useful). Yes, the new people don't always come off. There was one guy this week who was obviously very nervous. But when you try new things, not every single thing necessarily works but they're trying not to let the show get stale. I do agree that a solo host really doesn't work. Kenny's very insightful and detailed but it's better radio when it supplements Steven or prods a guest than on its own. Steven on his own just rams his theories relentlessly during a whole show which, even when I agree with him (which I usually do) gets tiresome fast. I think they do get a lot of coaches. Heck, I just listened to both Kinnear and Schmid a few days ago. I agree with an above poster that I LOVED when they brought in Gallagher and Poll and hope they can find another ex-ref to bring in time to time. They were a tremendous addition. I like that the show is less listener driven than it used to be. The vox pop stuff bores me because most fans just parrot what they read online or on TV anyways so go straight to the source.
I like the fact that Kenny knows soccer outside of England in the last four decades which makes it a much more respectable source of football punditry. Steve only recently has expanded outside of the UK and it shows (Barcelona is the best team that has ever played the game, etc.). What Steve does bring is an incredible interest in people and a sense for the whole success of projects like the MLS, etc from all perspectives. He is an interesting general critic and complements Kenny's vertical football view very well. One thing they could do is put up well designed polls on their site. I would be really interested in things like should Wenger resign, what the WFD community thinks pollwise.
Show is going to be making a "big" announcment, according to them, either tomorrow or Friday. Don't know what's going to happen but they are makingit sound intriuging.
Very cool to see this forum and I promise to look here more often. Rafa here, the show's EP. fyi, i read all the comments and just wanted to say that it is appreciated. even the not so kind one as we are always looking to better the show. as you all probably know by now, cohen is leaving. with that said, we are looking for a new co-host. I'll be trying to get on more personally to help Kenny in the meantime, but most of it will be to point out stuff on the site which people could check out aside from the podcast or live show. any help with co-host suggestions or even if you wanted to try out for the co-host position, you can get a hold of me through the show email. whether you like the show or not, thanks for caring enough to voice your opinions. i was a listener of the old show before starting as an intern so this show means the world to me and it's history and legacy is something that weighs heavy on the brain regularly.
Nice to hear from you Rafa. I have not tuned in this week. I am tuning in on weekends with my iPhone more lately due to a busy schedule. I think this change is going to invigorate the show. Looking forward to Kenny finding his right match. I think it has to be someone with high energy with witty banter and knowledgeable. Dream job; good luck.
Hey thanks for the grate work i am going to email the show later. i dont no any one or could i do it but i i would like to give my input on the show and what kind of parson it needs agene thank you for the hard work all of you do at WFD.
No to pile on Kenny... I'm going to try and embrace this change, but he is the king of long meandering speeches that are full of useless facts. I think I've said it before, but it's like he reads game previews all night before a show then just rattles off all of his notes and it turns into drivel. Just as Kenny kept Steven in line... Steven kept Kenny from sounding like someone was reading me the baseball prospectus. C'mon WFD crew, find a good co-host!
Trust me, we wan to find the best host possible. I've said in other replies in other forums that we've had several guests who were interested, but I am dead set on having an in studio co-host five days a week. Have you boys caught any of the most recent auditions? What do you think of Sophie Nicolaou? @soccerdiva on twitter. It'd be cool to get feed back on who you think should be the next co-host with Kenny. And if you have an suggestion for people we haven't tried, let me know.
Really disappointed that the show had Phil Schoen on the show and didn't ask him what is going on w/GOL TV losing the La Liga contract or even making reference that this is likely the last El Classico on GOL TV as we know it. When Ken and Steve were running the show they seemed to be more interested in the business of the game and how it is delivered to us in the States than Marty and Soph. Sure he will probably say no comment but I still feel like the question should been asked and maybe we would get a public answer from someone at GOL about what to expect. I don't get to listen to the show as much as I used to even though I still subscribe but has the topic of La Liga and Serie A going to a group from Qatar in the Summer been broached on the show? If so can someone point me in the right direction of when it was discussed or a sports TV biz expert been on the air to talk about what is going on and if that topic hasn't been brought up why hasn't it yet?
got to laugh at this thread, i'm sure we all WISH things were back to the first post, instead of the garbage wfd has turned into