Jeff Stelling to leave Soccer Saturday at the end of this season

stop_shouting said:

carly burn said:

stop_shouting said:

Has he been cancelled or leaving on his own accord?

Not cancelled. It's his decision.
And he said he's not retiring. So if Minto ever decides to bugger off........

Interesting. Somethings obviously jarred him off, if it is in fact his decision. Not buying the whole want to let someone else have a go line.

Watching it last Saturday I got the feeling that something wasn't quite right with him. Stumbled over a number of words & not his usual fluent self. Hope there isnt any more to it than Jeff wanting to "take things easy" from now on but my 6th sense says there is (sadly) more to it. 

Got a feeling he already has something lined up.

Julian Warren will 100% get it - Jeff is an absolute legend.

whatever people think of the programme or the people on it, it’s still the ‘go to’ programme if you are at home and want to know the latest scores. The format will continue for a long while yet. 

I hope Garth Crooks gets it. He's brilliant. 

Would make sense to promote Warren into the Saturday slot.

They can then replace him in midweek with someone new to learn the ropes.

Wouldnt surprise me if SKY didnt do that though.

As long as the presenter knows what they're doing, i don't think many people would really care who it was.

I just hope Sky don't feel they must go all out to fill some kind of quota, as per that alleged email that was leaked back when Le Tissier and his gang were sacked.

Realistically Warren should be getting the job.

DaveMehmet said:

A real shame, think he’s great and his dad jokes with goal scorer’s names crack me up. A very hard act to follow. 

Some of the jokes he does with players names do make me chuckle

Way back i remember whenever Adam Stansfield scored, Jeff would say 'Lisa will be pleased'.

Weird isn't it how news like this makes you look back on things. Ever since I've been a kid for as long as I've loved football Jeff has been the face of Soccer Saturday and growing up I remember watching him every week for years. At the time we couldn't afford Sky however I remember SSN was free so it was my main source of football other than Match of the Day. I used to prefer the three hour build up and the guys chatting all things football to the games themselves sometimes.

Obviously as I've got older and work and childcare commitments take over I haven't watched it anywhere nearly as regularly, however I've always had a weird sense of comfort knowing if I'm at a loose end on a Saturday then I can switch Soccer Saturday on and know Jeff will be there chatting football. To present as long as he has done and maintain the same standards for all that time takes some doing. When I was a kid Soccer AM was a big deal but that has absolutley fallen off a cliff and gone through about 10 re-brands since then, yet Jeff is still going doing the same thing he's been doing for years. Football is a divisive industry sometimes but I doubt you'll find many people with a bad word to say about him.

As others have said I think this has been coming for a while, I remember him saying last year that he'd considered quitting when his fellow pundits were replaced but that they talked him out of it. He always struck me as very loyal to Sky and I remember thinking that decision to replace his mates must really have impacted him to come out with such a statement.

I do think Sky will have a big job on their hands replacing him, he is almost a one in a kind presenter who makes a format work that shouldn't really work. Presenter's nowadays tend to be very sleek and professional and I wonder if they will adjust the format to reflect that as opposed to trying to find someone who can replicate Jeff's style. I'll be honest I hope this comes with a shake up of the panel as well because some of them I find really hard work, how Sky came to the decision they needed fresh faces and a diverse panel but then somehow ended up with Tim Sherwood on every week is beyond me. 

Julian Warren is probably a good shout, a bit like the JJ situation in that he's been an understudy for years and probably feels like he's earned a shot. Not seen her name mentioned anywhere else but I wouldn't be surprised if Laura Woods was considered as well, she's got plenty of presenting experience behind her on Sky already and although I don't listen to it I've a few friends who say her radio show on Talksport is pretty decent as well. 

ValleyGary said:

The guy that does the midweek scores is brilliant and a ready replacement.

Geoff is a massive part of my growing up watching football just like someone like Motson. Absolute legend.

that was my first but couldn't think of his name.  I think he will do a good job. 

Carter said:

I love him, although too often when he says "and the deadlocks been broken at the Valley, but by who? Over to Chris Kamara" 

"Yeah and its the visitors who take the lead Jeff" oh ffs 

I've got a story about Jeff Stelling, I was on my way to buy some LED disco lights when I was still in the mobile disco game and saw him at South Mimms, now this wasn't entirely shocking as I'd hear him mention in am interview thats where he goes to do all his research for the Saturday. My mate I was with got a nudge in the ribs as we were queuing up for some motorway service station slop and I said look, thats Jeff Stelling, from soccer Saturday and countdown, shall we go and say hello. My mate looked over and said to me I'd lost my marbles as it didn't look anything like him (it was 100% Jeff Stelling) so I had another look and by this time he had probably clocked me and was either preparing himself to smile through gritted teeth or tensing himself up st the prospect of a couple of muppets distracting him. 

I decided to go for it and took him over a coffee and a kitkat as a gesture of goodwill and said hello, didn't want to disturb him but "I love your jokes and knowledge of the game Jeff" and he couldn't have been nicer and laughed his head off and thanked me for the sustenance (no sugar in coffee for Jeff) he asked who I supported, told him Charlton and he asked if I was going to the game at the weekend, told him yes I definitely was. And he said to keep an eye on the young Portuguese kid united had just signed as between me and him could well be the real deal if he can handle getting kicked. I thanked him, he also gave me a nap to back someone like Leicester that weekend which I followed and won. 

Good man Jeff Stelling

Never did rate Nani 

Macronate said:

Carter said:

I love him, although too often when he says "and the deadlocks been broken at the Valley, but by who? Over to Chris Kamara" 

"Yeah and its the visitors who take the lead Jeff" oh ffs 

I've got a story about Jeff Stelling, I was on my way to buy some LED disco lights when I was still in the mobile disco game and saw him at South Mimms, now this wasn't entirely shocking as I'd hear him mention in am interview thats where he goes to do all his research for the Saturday. My mate I was with got a nudge in the ribs as we were queuing up for some motorway service station slop and I said look, thats Jeff Stelling, from soccer Saturday and countdown, shall we go and say hello. My mate looked over and said to me I'd lost my marbles as it didn't look anything like him (it was 100% Jeff Stelling) so I had another look and by this time he had probably clocked me and was either preparing himself to smile through gritted teeth or tensing himself up st the prospect of a couple of muppets distracting him. 

I decided to go for it and took him over a coffee and a kitkat as a gesture of goodwill and said hello, didn't want to disturb him but "I love your jokes and knowledge of the game Jeff" and he couldn't have been nicer and laughed his head off and thanked me for the sustenance (no sugar in coffee for Jeff) he asked who I supported, told him Charlton and he asked if I was going to the game at the weekend, told him yes I definitely was. And he said to keep an eye on the young Portuguese kid united had just signed as between me and him could well be the real deal if he can handle getting kicked. I thanked him, he also gave me a nap to back someone like Leicester that weekend which I followed and won. 

Good man Jeff Stelling

Who was the young Portuguese kid? 

Did he go on to make a name for himself?

Nani

And hopefully they don’t use any PL club supporting / connected numpty and end up blanking the rest of football

Carter said:

I've got a story about Jeff Stelling, I was on my way to buy some LED disco lights when I was still in the mobile disco game and saw him at South Mimms, now this wasn't entirely shocking as I'd hear him mention in am interview thats where he goes to do all his research for the Saturday. 

ForeverAddickted said:

cafctom said:

In any kind of live TV or entertainment product, the best content always comes from those people who you can tell just absolutely love what they are doing. And Jeff Stelling is the epitome of that. 

Jeff's book is a good one as well talking about the show... Apparently would go work at Winchester Services at times so he could research various bits of information in the local news so he was prepped if something happened in that game.

Hang on, what? He used to go to motorway service stations to do research? How did that work? I can think of far better places to go.

JohnnyH2 said:

Off_it said:

Carter said:

I've got a story about Jeff Stelling, I was on my way to buy some LED disco lights when I was still in the mobile disco game and saw him at South Mimms, now this wasn't entirely shocking as I'd hear him mention in am interview thats where he goes to do all his research for the Saturday. 

ForeverAddickted said:

cafctom said:

In any kind of live TV or entertainment product, the best content always comes from those people who you can tell just absolutely love what they are doing. And Jeff Stelling is the epitome of that. 

Jeff's book is a good one as well talking about the show... Apparently would go work at Winchester Services at times so he could research various bits of information in the local news so he was prepped if something happened in that game.

Hang on, what? He used to go to motorway service stations to do research? How did that work? I can think of far better places to go.

In his autobiography he said it was more peaceful than being at home with his family

What, just sitting at a service station all day? Wow, that seems a bit .....odd.