No Nick Halling

I have just seen this on the OOH forum its a day or so old but No Nick Halling on Sky this season.
Can anyone add more details?

Shambles if true, the guy is all knowledge

this is a disgrace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there will be riots in the streets , civil unrest, society as we know it will be destroyed!!!!!!!!!!

on a serious note im not happy with this, i enjoyed his insight and knowledge,
but please sky whatever you do, do not get bradley van pelt!!!

I have to say I'm not a fan of his if he is replaced by Mike Carlson or Jeff Rhinebold that would be ok, somebody with more knowledge of how plays are run what to look for from players and the technical side of the game.
Agree no more van pelt

There's no-one in UK with more knowledge of the game and the only way you get better is by recruiting a US based expert and they're not going to do 22 weeks of UK-US returns every week.
He's been the face of the show for 15+ years, of course the show will go on but he is a massive loss

I'll get over it.

Probably get Colin Murray.

I wonder what he'll do instead, we may see him on the BBC's Super Bowl coverage as he currently does commentary for The Football League Show.

Personally I would have liked to see someone with a better knowledge of the X and O side of things than Halling but I suppose you get that form the commentary. Regardless of whether you liked Halling or not the question that Grizzly puts forward is a good one: Which UK based analyst can you get to do a better job? There is a lack of good game analysts in the US never mind over here IMO.

Never a big fan but like people have said who's better?

NFLUK.com News: http://www.nfluk.com/news/nfl-broadcast-bootcamp-15611.html

Mike Carlson by a country mile. Personable and great knowledge of the game. Get him as the colour guy, get an established presenter with real studio skills for Cable and bring in guests as before (except Van Pelt - what is it with that guys neck?). Jeff Rheinbold won;t do it as he;s coaching again in the US.

Don't get me wrong, there are far worse alternatives to Cable and Halling, but I think the show needs more polish. I also think they need to get more ex British players and coaches involved and gently promote the British game some more.

Reinbold was the best pundit they had imo. Such a shame that he's going to be big into his coaching but he offered real in-depth analysis of each play.

I'm not too sad that Nick is leaving, I'll be honest. Yeah he had good knowledge of the game but the guy was just a total personality nightmare on the show. Despite the validity of what he was saying, they guy just annoyed me!

I like Halling, he does a good job with the sky boxing commentary too. Has he been completely dropped by Sky then?

wow_junky wrote:I like Halling, he does a good job with the sky boxing commentary too. Has he been completely dropped by Sky then?

Saw some stuff on twitter saying he will be getting a bigger job on the boxing front, this might not be true though.

I heard Halling was going full time boxing, presumably with Sky.

The show may need polishing but it also needs a UK accent, fans won't relate to the game if the broadcast team are all American, Halling was perfect, I don't see the sport reaching out and gaining more fans unless there's a British accent in there.
So long as Sky don't go with that spotty 14 year old idiot who covered the superbowl on BBC......

Grizzly wrote:The show may need polishing but it also needs a UK accent, fans won't relate to the game if the broadcast team are all American, Halling was perfect, I don't see the sport reaching out and gaining more fans unless there's a British accent in there.

I would hope that both long term fans and newcomers to the game would be able to appreciate improved/good content regardless of accent but I can see where you're coming from, just as long as it's not Neil Reynolds.

"Former NFL players Rocky Boiman and Nick Ferguson have been selected to serve as studio analysts for a 2011 NFL regular-season Sunday on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom."
http://nfllabor.com/2011/06/23/former-players-rocky-boiman-nick-ferguson-earn-u-k-studio-analyst-posts-for-2011-regular-season-sunday/

Good spot Derby, but I can't help thinking it's a mistake.
By that I mean a mistake on Skys part in failing to have a Brit presenting

Grizzly from the sounds of it they're just doing one Sunday not the whole season.

Not sure how important having a Brit on it is, I'll still watch if no British people present it they need guys who know what they're talking about.

I think it needs a Brit. Watched a great programme Sky did on the TV coverage on NFL fromthe 80's on 4 to the current day on sky.... 4 lost a lot of viewers when they dropped the Brit anchor in favour of a yank in the mid 80's....

I think it'll be different to hook new viewers. People will turn it on & think what is this American rubbish... With a Brit there initially it brings a bit of familiarity

I'd do it...

Its not enough to be a crustacean that can type, you now want to be the first to present a TV show? :P

I can see the argument for a British presenter, but I don't think its crucial. Though, I bet Gary Imlach is available and he wouldn't be a bad choice.

Gary Imlach?

Someone better tell him to dress better and sort his hair out if he's gonna go for a job during daytime hours.

You ever worked nights? Its hard looking your best when all you want to do is sleep!

Pr4wn wrote:I'd do it...

Oh god that would go so "well".

Hey, you don't know me... I could be a natural!

Yeah, but a natural what? :P

Born Killer? Disaster?

I'd like to think I'd do a better job than Halling, he really used to make me cringe sometimes.

Pr4wn wrote:Born Killer? Disaster?

I'd like to think I'd do a better job than Halling, he really used to make me cringe sometimes.

I was about to call you a natural disaster . Just in case though maybe you should send them a CV?

Sometimes? I remember a few times seeing Rheinbold with a pained "What am I doing here?" expression on his face. He was OK with some of his knowledge and observation around the league set up etc. but his lack of X's and O's knowledge was badly shown up so many times. And his commentary during the half time highlights!

Sometimes? I remember a few times seeing Rheinbold with a pained "What am I doing here?" expression on his face. He was OK with some of his knowledge and observation around the league set up etc. but his lack of X's and O's knowledge was badly shown up so many times. And his commentary during the half time highlights!

Skins: I guess that's why they're bringing in Rocky Boiman and Nick Ferguson from the NFL Broadcast Boot Camp, but it sounds like they'll only have one Sunday each on Sky.

It was that dreaded catchphrase "And it's time for Nick.... to do his thaaang"

Dear God...

Yeah I always found it funny that Kevin was a basketball coach and yet found it hard to find something to say when he had to ad lib. I can imaging his time outs "Err, yeah, well, err, you, the Guard err, you need to.." Bzzz sorry coach time outs over.

He looked spectacularly funny riding that Texas Longhorn too...