They'll probably dig Paul "the computer' Cullen up again and pair him with "Capt. Suicidal" Tony Rae.

Personally, being serious, I think Carney will end up hosting it. With Eddie they have a rather unique situation where the match commentator sits in the studio and hosts the programme. I can't think of any other sport on TV where the match commentator does this. They will switch to a more standard format, Carney will host, Phil Clarke, Terry and Barry will provide inane jibber jabber in Wiganese and someone else will commentate on the match, maybe with a guest summariser in the box with them (hopefully Jon Wells or a guest coach). Bin Cummings completely, a total waste of time and oxygen. We already have 3 referees - one actually reffing the match and two in the video booth (do they still have two of them?), we don't need another one. Referees are like wrist watches, if you look at more than one then you can't ever get the right time.

O'Connor is McDermott without the knowledge, humour and delivery.

He's the Paddy McGuinness to his Peter Kay.

Yep. I like O'Connor, I've met him a few times and he's seemed a nice enough bloke who I'd happily spend a couple of hours with in the pub chatting about the game.

But he comes across really badly on TV.


Maybe terrible was a bit too far, but I just thought he kept going on about things that weren't happening on the pitch instead of commentating. Probably not helped by having the random cliche generator that is Terry O'Connor sat next to him.

Stevo makes me want to put my foot through the tv screen (on a par with the late Bill McLaren and Ray (Mr St Helens) French. Now watch games with sound turned off! Clarke is unbearable.

I would like to thank Stevo for a lot of what he has done for the sport in his career. But both he and Hemmings have more than had their day and become a bit of an embarrassment. Stevo's good work in service of a sport he loves is in dire danger of being forgotten amidst his buffoonery in the commentary box.

Phil Clarke remains an embarrassment, mainly to himself. He seems to enjoy his "professor" role despite not having the brain power to back it up and his abuse of statistics makes me cringe.

I quite like Brian Carney and Jon Wells though. Barrie Mac is good value, but probably in small doses.

I assume there is still no confirmation/link to their supposed departure and all this is just hope rather than reality?

However,I desperately hope it is true.