Last Saturday I presented my first ever Match Of The Day. I know what you're thinking... you turned on at 10:20pm and Gary Lineker was sitting on the sofa.
But while the MOTD overlord was doing his usual business down in that there London, the new Salford studio was being tested up north.
Moving an operation like MOTD to an entirely different location is quite a task so our job was to test all the facilities in the new place and make sure that all the technology worked a treat.
The new studio is the same place that Football Focus comes from, just as it did in London. The cameras are the same too, but all the lighting changes, and MOTD also has its own rather snazzy set of graphics which I'm sure you will like. Sadly I can't tell you anything about that yet because I would be skinned alive by a high-level ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ executive.
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The last time I went to watch Norwich City, Darren Huckerby was marauding down the wing for the Canaries. Last weekend, he was sitting in the stands as his former club prepared to take on Swansea in the . It's all going very nicely on the pitch for Paul Lambert's side at the moment, while the Norfolk welcome is as warm as ever.
The day before Saturday's game at Carrow Road, which is where came from last weekend, I got the opportunity to promote the programme on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Look East and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Norfolk's Football Show.
A very friendly taxi driver, who also a big Norwich fan, delivered me to my destinations. He had an in-depth knowledge of the team's tactics and recent results but couldn't remember the names of any players.
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Well, there is no doubt that Joseph Anthony Barton divides opinion.
On Saturday's show we got tuning in to see the on the sofa. We also got the most number of complaints.
I can assure you that all of them were read carefully but I can also say that - even though I understood them - I disagreed with each one.
The complaints all followed a similar theme: why would we dream of having someone like Mr Barton on the show considering some of the things he has done in his past?
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A busy week this week. There has been the appearance of on on Saturday to prepare for and I returned to my old university in Sheffield to speak to a gaggle of journalism students.
There were about 150 budding hacks and hackesses in the room and many questions were fired my way. By far the most regular query I receive is about getting into the world of broadcasting and how to wedge one's foot in the journalistic doorway.
If you've been reading this blog since the start, you may remember a few years back I spoke about the advice I was given by Des Lynam when I sent him a letter at the age of 11.
For those of you who don't know Des - shame on you - he was a moustachioed Gary Lineker. For those of you don't know what a letter is - shame on you - it's what your nan sends you when you get your A Level results.
Mr Lynam's advice still rings true: get your school qualifications, do a degree in something like history or English and then do a post-graduate course in the area of journalism you are interested in. That's not the only way in but it can put you in the best possible position.
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Welcome comrades. This blog is all about giving you an insight into how Football Focus comes together each week. I do pop up across the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s sporting output so there may be the occasional reference to something other than the beautiful game too.
Have a read and feel free to join in with your comments and questions brothers and sisters.
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