As a regular viewer of the La Liga games every weekend on World Sport, its very sad to see Paul leaving the booth. I waited with anticipation each week for their commentary as much as I anticipated the games themselves. In my opinion, the best commentary duo on TV here in North America. Good luck to Paul in his new endevour..... His writeup from worldsporthd.com: By Paul Giblin January 28th It was very foggy in Bilbao this morning. A strange kind of fog that hung low in the valleys (ie where the airport is) and left the hilltops in bright clear sunlight. Planes were delayed, or in some cases abandoned so that TV reporters could travel home by bus and avoid the nerve jangling sensation of turbulence. OK; I know I am a coward, but I HATE flying. But as I sat back in the comfy bus seat, plugged in my headphones and dug out my book, I couldn't help but reflect on how the weather can indeed be a metaphor for many things in life, especially football. Trust and Englishman to start talking about the weather I suppose, but on Sunday night't showing, Barca are lost in a deep grey fog at the moments, while their bitter and eternal rivals Real Madrid are indeed standing on the hilltops, bathing in bright sunlight.We were starting to get the impression that this was going to be Real Madrid's a few weeks back. That feeling was strengthened after their win in the Camp Nou, which left them seven points clear at the top of the table. After a thrilling win over Villarreal coupled with Barca's slip up in San Mames, that lead is now up to nine points.However, it is not just the fact they are nine clear that is so significant, it is the way both sides are currently playing. Against Athletic, Barcelona looked as if they were willing to sit on a 1-0 lead and hope for the best. Suffice to say it didn't work out for them and Athletic made them pay.Although we have to give credit to Athletic for showing guts and digging deep to fight back, Barca had virtually nothing in common with the side that swept its way to two consecutive league titles. Despite all of their talent, they looked nervous and played like a small club.It was as if you could see them thinking Let's see if we can hold on. An intent highlighted by the entry of Edmilson into the game in the second half. Madrid on the other hand produced a thrilling end to end game against Villarreal. We saw how good Villarreal are a fortnight ago when they destroyed Valencia, but Madrid's attitude was You score three and we will score four. That is the attitude of Champions. On a personal note now and the match in San Mames was my penultimate for World Sport. I have been given the chance to return to work in my hometown of Kingston Upon Hull, in the North of England and it's not often you get the offer to return home to work.It is indeed the sort of offer you just cannot refuse. So next weekend's game, wherever it is, will be my swansong. I will be sad to leave as commentating matches week in week out has been a blast and a lot of fun. But I know I am leaving you in the safe and very capable hands of Mr Sid Lowe and who knows I may even get the odd guest appearance now and then. As I say it's been a blast. Thank's for all your support and for one last time. Cheers PAUL. PS The only thing I wont miss is the flying.
Interesting! Who will replace him? He is doing the games in Spain, right? When he said flying, did he mean he was flying from England or in Spain?
I find it strange that World Sport HD would let Paul leave mid way through the season? He must have been under contract till the end of the season?
Yeah, it´s a shame, maybe a good option could be this guy, what´s his name?, Paul Breem Turner, I would think even better. Let´s hope they dont put one of the freaks for over hear.
Yeah, your right, he is good, his name is Paul Breen Turner (i thought it was "green" for a long time) and he is on Gol TV at certain times!
I can confirm that Paul and Sid were always in the stadiums for their broadcasts. I think that even the GOL TV, FSC, ESPN, et al commentators would sound halfway decent if they were in the stadiums rather than in a studio. As far as flying, I think Paul did more flying within Spain rather than from England to Spain. Not sure where his home in Spain is but he is a HUGE Bilbao fan and has often mentioned his Spanish girlfriend on air. His blogs and newspapaer pieces are always filed from Spain and his partner, Sid Lowe is a regular contributer from Spain to the Guardian newspaper. Rather than being commentators for everything and anything their broadcaster owned, they specifically do La Liga coverage and were experts on the league and their players. The "swansong" will be this Sunday at 11:00am ET between Zaragosa and Paul's beloved Bilbao squad. SA
Well, hopefully the new guy works as well with Sid as Paul did. They were a great combination and a joy to listen to on weekends. I'll definitely miss the exuberance and Paul's voice becoming a higher pitch when something exciting was going on.
Yes, really bad, and the other guy to poor, and it´s not a question of time, it´s just not him. What a shame