5-STAR? NOT YET BUT LET IT GROW

SCATTERGUN highlights, 70s league tables, confused guests – Channel 5’s debut offering was a mad old maelstrom.

Football League

Tonight certainly left viewers in a spin and, judging by the invective spewed on social media, not in a good way.

But let’s give these guys a chance. Yes, much went awry. Jumping between divisions didn’t work and 38 minutes of footage in an 85-minute programme is not enough.

But much went right, too. Kelly Cates is one of the most natural presenters around. Our own Adam Virgo was insightful. Even the studio audience might work if you put a mic on them.

And remember, the BBC’s Football League

Show was hardly perfect – thanks mainly to an antisocial midnight time slot and a relentless barrage of 30-second highlights that made sitting through Leagues One and Two a test of endurance.

Any attempt to cover the Football League is fundamentally hamstrung by sheer volume. It is impossible to be as slick or as detailed as Match of the Day when you’re ramming 30-odd games into an hour-anda-half.

For the BBC, the classic pundit-on-a-sofa method proved a workable but uninspiring fit, their pundits so pressed for time that any analysis was shorter than Gary Coleman.

Channel 5 have bravely tried to mix things up and that deserves respect. With a coherent running order and a stronger focus on the Championship, the doubters will soon be won over.