James Allen Under Pressure

[FIA]

Did anyone else notice James Allen cocking up a lot during the Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying. He said Alonso was the only former Bahrain GP winner in the field (Massa is there aswell), he thought Massa was Raikkonen in Q3 and he missed out Nakajima on the list of drivers knocked out in Q2, and many more. Is it me or is James Allen under pressure as he may not have a job by the end of the year with the F1 Broadcasting change?

[gloomyDAY]

Did anyone else notice James Allen cocking up a lot during the Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying. He said Alonso was the only former Bahrain GP winner in the field (Massa is there aswell), he thought Massa was Raikkonen in Q3 and he missed out Nakajima on the list of drivers knocked out in Q2, and many more. Is it me or is James Allen under pressure as he may not have a job by the end of the year with the F1 Broadcasting change?I think there's a collective prayer for Allen to get the boot!

Good riddance.

[Bezza]

"Will Massa do it....?!? Here he comes!!! And its gonna be...! Here he is! And Massa........."

"That was Raikkonen" - Brundle.

Classic. He tried to make it exciting and didn't back down until Brundle told him.

[SGWilko]

So James makes some commentary errors, big deal. Can I assume you could all do much better?

Muddly Talker, a name given to Murray because of his many faux pas, and apparently the sun beams out of his........

I'm not dissing Murray, I think he was the voice of F1, but there is nowt wrong with James.

JMHO

[BDunnell]

So James makes some commentary errors, big deal. Can I assume you could all do much better?

I take it you have never criticised the performance of someone in a job you don't do personally?



Muddly Talker, a name given to Murray because of his many faux pas, and apparently the sun beams out of his........

I'm not dissing Murray, I think he was the voice of F1, but there is nowt wrong with James.

JMHO

I actually agree that James Allen doesn't deserve the criticism he gets some of the time, but I think he was over-promoted and that a known safe pair of hands, i.e. Ben Edwards, would have been a better choice. The difficulty of any comparison with Murray Walker was that his mistakes (which were far fewer and further between than most people think) were generally endearing and amusing, and his enthusiasm was infectious. None of this can be said of Allen.

[Stuartf12007]

James Allen is pathetic.....You're Fired!

[grantb4]

Who's the dude that talks to Mark Blundell before and after the races?

[millencolin]

My personal opinion, James is pathetic! needs to get the boot. Bring in... hmmm...


Jeremy Shaw!!! hey.. why not?

[TMorel]

I'm sure when we've got Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson making our eardrums bleed we'll be all reminiscing about the good old days with Allen

[ozrevhead]

i thought it was unprofessional how he was harping on Massa's so called fast lap under yellow

If it was their precious LH they would of made excuses

[Knock-on]

Perhaps he can go on some other programms?

"James Allen, you are the weekest Link - Goodbye!"

"James - You're Fired!"

"James Allen, you have nothing I'm interested in so, I'm OUT!"

Sniff says it best though....

STOP THE COCK!!!!!!!

[BDunnell]

I'm sure when we've got Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson making our eardrums bleed we'll be all reminiscing about the good old days with Allen

I cannot imagine that the BBC will go down that road.

[Daniel]

I cannot imagine that the BBC will go down that road.
I agree. Hammond and/or Clarkson would be terrible. Car journalists aren't commentators ......

[BDunnell]

I agree. Hammond and/or Clarkson would be terrible. Car journalists aren't commentators ......

Or presenters of live sport, which I think is the role being touted. I don't believe it, personally.

[tinchote]

James Allen can be annoying at times. But I still have to find an F1 commentator who isn't.

[Daniel]

Or presenters of live sport, which I think is the role being touted. I don't believe it, personally.
Well I've never found Charlie Cox irritating. Although he's not an F1 commentator. Yet!

[markabilly]

All you people do on this forum is want to fire people...Allen max RD freddie and the list goes on and on and on.....

[tinchote]

All you people do on this forum is want to fire people...Allen max RD freddie and the list goes on and on and on.....

:D :up:

[ozrevhead]

well mark at best Allen is biased and at worst he is unprofessional

If your not good at what you do then people will want you to be stood down - its a fact of life

[BDunnell]

It is amusing how he used to be accused of pro-Schumacher bias...

[DazzlaF1]

My personal opinion, James is pathetic! needs to get the boot. Bring in... hmmm...


Jeremy Shaw!!! hey.. why not?

Aye, hes out of work now isnt he?

[THE_LIBERATOR]

It is amusing how he used to be accused of pro-Schumacher bias...He did that this very day, alleging that Coulthard mysteriously slowed down at Spa '98.

[Phoenix]

All you people do on this forum is want to fire people...Allen max RD freddie and the list goes on and on and on.....

I think there is a fair reason to kick out S&Max, don't you?

[Phoenix]

He did that this very day, alleging that Coulthard mysteriously slowed down at Spa '98.

Using a previous incident to highlight a current one (that DC has now alluded to anyway), that alone is worthy of his head, shirley?

[BDunnell]

He did that this very day, alleging that Coulthard mysteriously slowed down at Spa '98.

I didn't view that as any sort of undue pro-Schumacher bias, because I didn't think he could ever have been accused of it. That reference today struck me as unnecessary because there was no parallel between that incident and the Hamilton/Alonso one.

[Mikeall]

James Allen doesn't care about the or what actually happened. He's a tabloid journalist and thinks in headlines and controversies. e.g.

"I'm sure this stories going to run and run, and you can read all about on on our class leading website itv-f1.com..." (referring to the Alonso-Hamilton-brake-test-gate-controversy-fiasco...)

No doubt next week he'll write an article recapping everything that happened last year and between the two and comment on that despite it was a complete accident it adds to all long list of incidents between the two. He might even go as far to mention the great rivalries of Senna-Prost and Mansell-Piquet which went on long after they stopped being teammates.

Considering it was a race that Massa won without spinning, without Trulli holding up the field, Webber not actually being unlucky and all the British drivers being absolutely rubbish he may have to do something than cut and paste every other F1 column anyone's ever written.

[FIA]

James Allen doesn't care about the or what actually happened. He's a tabloid journalist and thinks in headlines and controversies.

For that reason he should be replaced, Tabloids and Newspaper Articles spreading rubbish are not good for F1.

[Phoenix]

For that reason he should be replaced, Tabloids and Newspaper Articles spreading rubbish are not good for F1.

Trouble is, and quite worrying also, is that a good percentage of the rubbish turns out to be true...

[Mikeall]

I meant he's like a tabloid journalist, its annoying because you know full well he could be telling you what's going on in a race but he'd rather say the same thing over and over again. Everyone knows Massa hadn't finished a race before today (one of which was an engine failure) it had been covered extensively throughout qualifying and the build up to the race.

[millencolin]

Aye, hes out of work now isnt he?

He was here in AUstralia for the GP, working with our host broadcaster (network 10) as an expert commentator sort of role, and he did an excellent job.

During his time doing the commentary for the Champ Car international feed, he was very good at his job and I heard no one complain about him. In fact all I read was praise (although it was on the somewhat biased CCF forum). But I found his commentary to be of a very high standard. And he worked extremely well with his Co-Commentator, James Hinchcliffe.

Shaw and Hinchie for '09! :p :

[woody2goody]

James Allen is a good writer, but not a good commentator.

I agree that he commentates in a tabloidy sort of way, but I suppose most sports commentators do these days.

Another gaffe today was when he said that Button v Coulthard was Barrichello and Fisichella, when the (19) D Coulthard-J Button (20) caption had been up for about 20 seconds. Although he did call the DC-Jenson crash correctly.

And his comparison of Alonso-Hamilton with Schumacher-Coulthard was stupid because the latter happened coming out of Blanchimont (not a slow corner as James put it).

As for 2009, why not Charlie Cox or Ben Edwards, with Martin Brundle of course, or maybe John Watson again. I think Damon Hill could be another good choice. As for presenting, I don't know, but Jeremy Clarkson does know his F1. However it would be hard to imagine him being serious all the time :) David Croft who does the radio commentary knows his stuff too.

As for James, I don't see why he couldn't do a pit lane or presenting job for the BBC. I suppose it depends if Steve Rider wants to carry on - if he does then he will have to go to the BBC.

[millencolin]

or maybe John Watson again.

NO please no! his A1GP commentary is just... woeful! It is worse than Allen! Everytime i turn on the a1gp, if my dad walked past and happens to hear his voice, no doubt he will say 'oh god no not that idiotic twat again'... trust me for my old man to say something along the lines of that is rare because half the time he barely listens to the commentary.

[Azumanga Davo]

James Allen is a good writer, but not a good commentator.

I agree that he commentates in a tabloidy sort of way, but I suppose most sports commentators do these days.

Another gaffe today was when he said that Button v Coulthard was Barrichello and Fisichella, when the (19) D Coulthard-J Button (20) caption had been up for about 20 seconds. Although he did call the DC-Jenson crash correctly.

And his comparison of Alonso-Hamilton with Schumacher-Coulthard was stupid because the latter happened coming out of Blanchimont (not a slow corner as James put it).

As for 2009, why not Charlie Cox or Ben Edwards, with Martin Brundle of course, or maybe John Watson again. I think Damon Hill could be another good choice. As for presenting, I don't know, but Jeremy Clarkson does know his F1. However it would be hard to imagine him being serious all the time :) David Croft who does the radio commentary knows his stuff too.

As for James, I don't see why he couldn't do a pit lane or presenting job for the BBC. I suppose it depends if Steve Rider wants to carry on - if he does then he will have to go to the BBC.

I'm very sure I recall a time when Damon did have a day in the box and was very good at it, anyone correct me on the date though?

[Mark]

Anthony Davidson was also quite good when he commentated for the Hungarian GP in 2006. Perhaps they could consider him if he doesn't have a drive next year?!

Apparently Hammond is being lined up for the breakfast show on Radio 2.

[wedge]

James Allen doesn't care about the or what actually happened. He's a tabloid journalist and thinks in headlines and controversies. e.g.

"I'm sure this stories going to run and run, and you can read all about on on our class leading website itv-f1.com..." (referring to the Alonso-Hamilton-brake-test-gate-controversy-fiasco...)

No doubt next week he'll write an article recapping everything that happened last year and between the two and comment on that despite it was a complete accident it adds to all long list of incidents between the two. He might even go as far to mention the great rivalries of Senna-Prost and Mansell-Piquet which went on long after they stopped being teammates.

Considering it was a race that Massa won without spinning, without Trulli holding up the field, Webber not actually being unlucky and all the British drivers being absolutely rubbish he may have to do something than cut and paste every other F1 column anyone's ever written.

http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=James_Allen&id=42261

It's quite easy to jump to conclusions when the race just started! The thing with motor racing is that in order to analyse things requires de-briefs and reviews from drivers and teams at the end of a race.

[markabilly]

Well there is Peter Windsor, another Brit tv talker who worships the great Hamilton and wishes he was his popa, and on and so on, in the most pompus manner.
Funny is that Hobbs, when sober and awake, is no better, but when otherwise, has some great witty things to say.
but usually I just tune out most of what they say, esp since i now mostly tape the race and fast forward big chunks.

[maxu05]

I would love to see Rowan Atkinson take over. Think about the comments he would make. Perhaps he could commentate with Baldrick next to him. Rowan is a passionate car lover, and I am sure he would follow F1 and be knowledgeable as to what's going on.

[Azumanga Davo]

I would love to see Rowan Atkinson take over. Think about the comments he would make. Perhaps he could commentate with Baldrick next to him. Rowan is a passionate car lover, and I am sure he would follow F1 and be knowledgeable as to what's going on.

On this basis alone, can we have Jay Kay and the Sultan of Brunei, both lovers of fine automobiles? ;)

[Spoonbender]

The BBC commentators next year will be Martin Brundle and David Coulthard. The pre-amble wil be covered by Richard Hammond (has some experience, drove last years Renault or was it the year before?) and a woman (it's BBC, they'll have to fit a woman in somewhere, probably Sue Barker) In the pits will be either Roland Rat or Zig & Zag, once again it's just one of the formats that all BBC shows follow. James Allen has already signed a contract for a cookery program on the God Channel on Sky, called "No stranger to the sweet trolley".

If the BBC are sharp, they'd get Derek Acora & Clay Regazzoni.

(Yes, I know Clay is dead, but he did commentate for RaiUno in the 80's, and being deceased wouldn't matter since Derek could 'pass on' Clay's commentary)

[woody2goody]

If the BBC are sharp, they'd get Derek Acora & Clay Regazzoni.

(Yes, I know Clay is dead, but he did commentate for RaiUno in the 80's, and being deceased wouldn't matter since Derek could 'pass on' Clay's commentary)

He he he...

Damon Hill was Hungary in '05 was it? I hope Brundle does it on the BBC still. As for Hammond I think Clarkson would be better for F1 because he actually gives a damn about it. Coulthard wouldn't be terrible but I reckon he'll still be in F1 next year.

[mstillhere]

So James makes some commentary errors, big deal. Can I assume you could all do much better?JMHO

Absolutely!!