Fan Channel Fatigue (self-indulgent post alert)

jem

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So watching Andy Mitten's fantastic interview with Joe on Stretford Paddock, it suddenly occurred to me why I am going through an extended period of fan channel fatigue, particularly during the transfer season. So many of these channels (United Stand, United View to an extent, Alice Talks Football, FUTV) are simply servicing the same obsessive pulses that fuel my social media addiction. They are serving up oral clickbait, which the Youtube algorithm then leverages to push me on to the next video (I know this isn't exactly a profound take.)

So why did the Mitten interview change that? Because the very reason I started watching the United Stand during the pandemic was that it offered me a virtual (albeit non-participative) chance to engage in the fan discussion and debate. For a Canadian United fan who has never set foot in Manchester, it was nice to be able to eavesdrop on the kind of discussions I always imagined taking place in the pubs after the game. This is why I still like to watch the fans forum on United Stand, where the likes of Ricky (despite some outlandish takes) discuss what they've seen on the pitch (tellingly Goldbridge is never part of these.) It's why I check out Talk of The Devils (despite Anka and Mitten being hard watches at times.) Hearing Mitten talk today about the difficulty in choosing the greatest 25 players was fascinating; a window into the thought process of a life-long fan, the likes of whom I never get the chance to meet in person. When he talked about the joy of producing his magazine, it came across as 100% authentic.

The transfer updates on the aforementioned channels offer none of this nuance; instead it's Alice recycling the words of parasites like Romano, or Beth chatting with Ben Jacobs, who basically spends the whole time saying that he gets the fan frustration but that he has nothing to report (so why get him on the show?) It's Goldbridge spewing manufactured rage with increasingly forced analogies. It's the same watching those channels where fans of the big 6 (Abby Summers, Flex, Rory, etc.) just relentlessly banter each other to the point where you feel like you're watching a live-action reenactment of an IG comments section.

A while back I started to alter my Instagram habits, clicking on recipes, guitar videos and cute pet clips, in an attempt to game the algorithm. Recently, I have been trying to do the same with United online content; more Talk of The Devils (and Stretford Paddock when the the likes of McKola and Howson aren't on); less United Stand. Anyways, apologies for the long, self-indulgent post!
 
Stretford Paddock is a great watch when we're winning games. I first discovered them in late 2020 when we were top of the league for a bit. The giddiness from the presenters was a nice replacement during lockdown when we were unable to have those same conversations in-person with fellow United fans. I don't watch much of their content during the summer months when there's no competitive club football to talk about, as they have no choice but to recycle transfer rumours. Joe & Jay seem like genuinely good blokes who can be pretty funny. None of the other fans channels interest me. At least Paddock have in-person conversations with journalists in their studio, rather than sitting by themselves in their spare room with a crappy green screen behind them.
 
Gabriel Djemba-Bebe said:
Stretford Paddock is a great watch when we're winning games. I first discovered them in late 2020 when we were top of the league for a bit. The giddiness from the presenters was a nice replacement during lockdown when we were unable to have those same conversations in-person with fellow United fans. I don't watch much of their content during the summer months when there's no competitive club football to talk about, as they have no choice but to recycle transfer rumours. Joe & Jay seem like genuinely good blokes who can be pretty funny. None of the other fans channels interest me. At least Paddock have in-person conversations with journalists in their studio, rather than sitting by themselves in their spare room with a crappy green screen behind them.
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Exactly how I feel
 
jem said:
So watching Andy Mitten's fantastic interview with Joe on Stretford Paddock, it suddenly occurred to me why I am going through an extended period of fan channel fatigue, particularly during the transfer season. So many of these channels (United Stand, United View to an extent, Alice Talks Football, FUTV) are simply servicing the same obsessive pulses that fuel my social media addiction. They are serving up oral clickbait, which the Youtube algorithm then leverages to push me on to the next video (I know this isn't exactly a profound take.)

So why did the Mitten interview change that? Because the very reason I started watching the United Stand during the pandemic was that it offered me a virtual (albeit non-participative) chance to engage in the fan discussion and debate. For a Canadian United fan who has never set foot in Manchester, it was nice to be able to eavesdrop on the kind of discussions I always imagined taking place in the pubs after the game. This is why I still like to watch the fans forum on United Stand, where the likes of Ricky (despite some outlandish takes) discuss what they've seen on the pitch (tellingly Goldbridge is never part of these.) It's why I check out Talk of The Devils (despite Anka and Mitten being hard watches at times.) Hearing Mitten talk today about the difficulty in choosing the greatest 25 players was fascinating; a window into the thought process of a life-long fan, the likes of whom I never get the chance to meet in person. When he talked about the joy of producing his magazine, it came across as 100% authentic.

The transfer updates on the aforementioned channels offer none of this nuance; instead it's Alice recycling the words of parasites like Romano, or Beth chatting with Ben Jacobs, who basically spends the whole time saying that he gets the fan frustration but that he has nothing to report (so why get him on the show?) It's Goldbridge spewing manufactured rage with increasingly forced analogies. It's the same watching those channels where fans of the big 6 (Abby Summers, Flex, Rory, etc.) just relentlessly banter each other to the point where you feel like you're watching a live-action reenactment of an IG comments section.

A while back I started to alter my Instagram habits, clicking on recipes, guitar videos and cute pet clips, in an attempt to game the algorithm. Recently, I have been trying to do the same with United online content; more Talk of The Devils (and Stretford Paddock when the the likes of McKola and Howson aren't on); less United Stand. Anyways, apologies for the long, self-indulgent post!
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Nicely put. - I like Joe on Paddock and could see him progressing to other platforms - he is developing into a very good interviewer - I watch TOTD and Steve Bartrum on United United United is growing on me
 
Fair play to MG for creating a brand (UnitedStand)

He has done a very good job to create the interest and build subscribers. He’s obviously got something about him from a business perspective as proven with GN investing

But I have multiple issues with MG in particular and the channel generally

He’s so negative

He’s repeatedly contradicting himself

He’s created an echo chamber whereby anyone calling him out is often attacked and then blocked

Give me quality over quantity. Do they really need 3 videos a day.

It comes across that MG actually thinks the club willl listen to him (transfer targets and spending what money we do have) if he moans loud and regularly. They won’t

Guest Ben Jacobs is (as expected) vague at best.

They (the channel) likely know feck all. They didn’t see Santos coming. They only shouted Tielemans 6 hrs before it was public knowledge…and given their 3 videos a day had plenty of opportunity to mention him previously

But between MG, BJ and anyone else’s associated with the channel, they claim to be an itk, because they name dropped player x 6 months ago.

I try my damn hardest to avoid him now. And if I do find myself watching, I’m quickly ducking out again after 2 mins having been reminded how miserable he is
 
Pughnichi said:
Fair play to MG for creating a brand (UnitedStand)

He has done a very good job to create the interest and build subscribers. He’s obviously got something about him from a business perspective as proven with GN investing

But I have multiple issues with MG in particular and the channel generally

He’s so negative

He’s repeatedly contradicting himself

He’s created an echo chamber whereby anyone calling him out is often attacked and then blocked

Give me quality over quantity. Do they really need 3 videos a day.

It comes across that MG actually thinks the club willl listen to him (transfer targets and spending what money we do have) if he moans loud and regularly. They won’t

Guest Ben Jacobs is (as expected) vague at best.

They (the channel) likely know feck all. They didn’t see Santos coming. They only shouted Tielemans 6 hrs before it was public knowledge…and given their 3 videos a day had plenty of opportunity to mention him previously

But between MG, BJ and anyone else’s associated with the channel, they claim to be an itk, because they name dropped player x 6 months ago.

I try my damn hardest to avoid him now. And if I do find myself watching, I’m quickly ducking out again after 2 mins having been reminded how miserable he is
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Only thing on that channel which is just about stomachable is the post match fans forum
 
I do sometimes listen to MG on United Stand on Spotify during walks, but sometimes I find him far too negative and he knows what he’s doing re engagement.

He clearly has SOME resources as he did have some clue re Tielemans before it came official.

I think when things are negative, like this time of the window where there is no movement, he’s just so doom and gloom. Hes a funny guy though. He does make me chuckle.
 
Stuntpegg has a great channel.

Other than that and Stretford Paddock I'm all about the post match meltdowns from (Insert relevant oppo fan channel here).

Flying Pig cracks me up when he loses his marbles
 
This will be an unpopular take but I don’t have an issue with goldbridge at all. I’m aware this Forum hates him.

The criticisms I think you can level at the approach to United Stands content are more just issues with content creation in general and obviously he is running a business.

With his takes, for someone who literally spends all day giving them, you will obviously find bad takes scattered around, particularly when it comes to something as subjective as football, and he does have them.

But I don’t think his underlying themes are wrong, he is negative because the situation is negative. He calls out the ownership on a regular basis and is unapologetic about that. We went from the top of world football to a meme fallen giant club. It is shocking how badly we have been run and until that is addressed it will be very hard to get back to where we were.

All fan content is far better during the season though because right now all that happens is long talks about transfer rumours from a week ago.
 
Pughnichi said:
Fair play to MG for creating a brand (UnitedStand)

He has done a very good job to create the interest and build subscribers. He’s obviously got something about him from a business perspective as proven with GN investing

But I have multiple issues with MG in particular and the channel generally

He’s so negative

He’s repeatedly contradicting himself

He’s created an echo chamber whereby anyone calling him out is often attacked and then blocked

Give me quality over quantity. Do they really need 3 videos a day.

It comes across that MG actually thinks the club willl listen to him (transfer targets and spending what money we do have) if he moans loud and regularly. They won’t

Guest Ben Jacobs is (as expected) vague at best.

They (the channel) likely know feck all. They didn’t see Santos coming. They only shouted Tielemans 6 hrs before it was public knowledge…and given their 3 videos a day had plenty of opportunity to mention him previously

But between MG, BJ and anyone else’s associated with the channel, they claim to be an itk, because they name dropped player x 6 months ago.

I try my damn hardest to avoid him now. And if I do find myself watching, I’m quickly ducking out again after 2 mins having been reminded how miserable he is
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Those are the reasons I cant watch him more than seeing the headlines, just in case there is any genuine transfer news. He is negative to the extreme. He never goes to the matches, (and fair enough I havent for a good while, yet can still get behind the team), but I have never seen him say anything positive this summer and rarely in general.
Beth seems more grounded and I watch her and the crew after a match. Ricky is trying to be the bad cop in the good cop bad cop way, with the shit he spouts over some players, especially Bruno.
Alice, FUTV, Peoples person, Howson etc are all saying the same thing, so I watch one of them, usually a different one every day.
 
United peoples TV is good
Stretford paddock

The rest are pretty meh. United stand can't stand. Forever united. Even flex's thing is a bit of waffle.

TBF to all of them , material is a bit thin on the ground
 
Moston2NZ2021 said:
TBF to all of them , material is a bit thin on the ground
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It's transfer season, so rumours and transfer links is the only game in town.

I generally don't follow any Chelsea youtube channels or even podcasts. I don't find them even remotely interesting but it's even worse during the summer when all there is to talk about is transfer rumours.
 
Never really got in them apart from loving to watch the old line-up on AFTV go ballistic when Arsenal were crap. Claude, Ty, DT and Troopz.

I think it's because what others have mentioned here, the sheer amount of content they churn out. There isn't enough happening at one football club and therefore not enough to talk about that's interesting to keep it fresh. That's a very narrow scope.

Even on here I spend 90-95% of the time in this section instead of the United one as it deals with the entirety of the football world, and it's almost a news source to me. There's always something going on. Not much to talk about most days with United, even during the season. There's reacting to the latest match then nothing for a few days, a week or even longer during international breaks until the next one.
 
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WeePat said:
It's transfer season, so rumours and transfer links is the only game in town.

I generally don't follow any Chelsea youtube channels or even podcasts. I don't find them even remotely interesting but it's even worse during the summer when all there is to talk about is transfer rumours.
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You mean you don't watch Matisse? :lol:
 
Hoof the ball said:
You mean you don't watch Matisse? :lol:
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He's alright, he's pretty decent when he's in rival fan spaces and he has to argue for Chelsea, but nah I don't watch his personal channel at all.
 
WeePat said:
He's alright, he's pretty decent when he's in rival fan spaces and he has to argue for Chelsea, but nah I don't watch his personal channel at all.
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He's a lot more eloquent than I used to give him credit for. In amidst the bants crew on DR Sports he has the more balanced takes.
 
I feel that Goldbridge at best should be treated as more ‘entertainment’ than ‘insight’ to me. I feel that’s what his gimmick is and he should stay in that lane. Nobody is taking the court jester seriously when he starts saying his views on fiscal policy.

There are elements of online grifting and people getting ideas way above their station., as in they think they can influence the club or large swathes of fans, as well thinking they’re a legitimate journalist.

Robbie Lyle paved the way for all these guys.
 
Stretford Paddock, Webby & O'Neill & United View are my go to.

Reasons are Joe & Jay for Paddock, they make me laugh the stuff they come out with. Webby and O'Neill for the down to earth opinions and no BS chat. United View for KG, Flex and Owen, they're entertaining, even when we're shit i.e. KG with the soundboard.

Years ago I watched United Stand, fair play to them for what they've built but it's evolved into something I don't enjoy, so I unsubscribed.

United Peoples is also decent but a level below the others I listed.
 
I listen to TOTD and that’s it. Even so Anka and Whitwell can’t half talk a lot of nonsense.
 
Hoof the ball said:
He's a lot more eloquent than I used to give him credit for. In amidst the bants crew on DR Sports he has the more balanced takes.
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I usually just tune into the Big Six once in a while. I've seen clips of the DR Sport one on social media and it's an absolute giant mess of a show. Seems like the whole point of it is to shout 'hold that' for 1.5hrs at whoever's team lost that weekend. Don't know why anyone would find that entertaining.
 
Watched a couple of different ones a few years back and, though I didn't necessarily think they were bad and their views weren't the most outlandish, I never had any real reason/intention to go back and consistently watch them.
 
Pughnichi said:
It comes across that MG actually thinks the club willl listen to him (transfer targets and spending what money we do have) if he moans loud and regularly. They won’t
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This made me laugh, there are many threads on here where sentiments are expressed in a similar way.

Other than that sounds like he's recreating message boards using a different medium - where every observation needs to be a 'debate', with a clear winner, and people express their observations as 'judgement' or 'criticism' of the club.

Wasting your time on any of this shite is a zero sum game (my own opinion only!)
 
Just watch Stretford Paddock and forget the rest.

Football Ramble or Totally Football show is fine but some Podcasters are like marmite.

DR sports as a concept started decent but they quickly got into 10year old banter and tiktok words pretending theyre in high school.
 
FlyingTrotter said:
Nicely put. - I like Joe on Paddock and could see him progressing to other platforms - he is developing into a very good interviewer - I watch TOTD and Steve Bartrum on United United United is growing on me
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I've mentioned United!United!United! On here recently, but he deserves another mention due to being so much more wholesome than just about every other channel. I hope he can maintain the early standards he's set.

The algorithms of the various platforms almost ensure that any channel will eventually turn to shit. The need to pump out constant content or risk sliding into oblivion inevitably harms the quality.
And if that doesn't ruin a channel then the growing ego of those involved almost certainly will... Howson is a classic example of this.

Fortunately there's a wide range of United channels to choose from. I'd recommend not getting too into any of them and I'm always baffled by viewers who feel the need to send these people money, but whatever. There's plenty I won't watch anymore for various reasons, I personally can't watch Flex and KG anymore but I can see the appeal of their kind of banter.
The only channels I critise anyone for watching are linked to 'Goldbridge'. If you're a United fan and you watch that shit then you're encouraging the worst kind of behaviour that breeds toxicity and is an embarrassment designed by a non fan purely to make money, with no regard to the impression it gives of actual United fans.
 
I think this summer has come across worse than most, purely because there is absolutely no word coming from the club re transfers. Usually respectable United journalists like Laurie and Stone hear some word from the club, but it feels like this summer nothing is coming out until a few days before the transfer. The knock on effect is that most of the transfer news is thin and unreliable so fan channels are forced to recycle content to feed the algorithm. I only really watch Paddock and TOTD occasionally, and generally prefer match reviews/discussion of the on the pitch product. Therefore the summer period is usually a slog to get through for me.
 
SuperiorXI said:
Stretford Paddock, Webby & O'Neill & United View are my go to.

Reasons are Joe & Jay for Paddock, they make me laugh the stuff they come out with. Webby and O'Neill for the down to earth opinions and no BS chat. United View for KG, Flex and Owen, they're entertaining, even when we're shit i.e. KG with the soundboard.

Years ago I watched United Stand, fair play to them for what they've built but it's evolved into something I don't enjoy, so I unsubscribed.

United Peoples is also decent but a level below the others I listed.
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You like the angry boomer rants, 'carnage and chaos' the most quoted words on that channel, watched for a while found it way too negative.
Like the paddock when Steve and Adam aren't on. Finn is the best part of the channel
Personally watch Manchester United muppetiers, much prefer James' positive/balanced point of view, rather than the constant doom and gloom mongers.
Can't believe how may United channels there are, generally they all rehash the same limited amount of speculation, they must hate INEOS keeping everything under wraps :lol:
 
Ruud_Street said:
You like the angry boomer rants, 'carnage and chaos' the most quoted words on that channel, watched for a while found it way too negative.
Like the paddock when Steve and Adam aren't on. Finn is the best part of the channel
Personally watch Manchester United muppetiers, much prefer James' positive/balanced point of view, rather than the constant doom and gloom mongers.
Can't believe how may United channels there are, generally they all rehash the same limited amount of speculation, they must hate INEOS keeping everything under wraps :lol:
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Tony might go on rants but he's always respectful that it's his opinion and lets others have their opinions, it's unfair to call them angry boomer rants IMO.
 
SuperiorXI said:
Tony might go on rants but he's always respectful that it's his opinion and lets others have their opinions, it's unfair to call them angry boomer rants IMO.
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His opinions on Rashford certainly aren't respectful, they were very personal when I used to watch the channel. He may have changed, I don't know, but still won't watch the channel ever again.
Then there was the whole glorification of what he used to get up to back in the day, wasn't a nice bloke at all.
 
SuperiorXI said:
Tony might go on rants but he's always respectful that it's his opinion and lets others have their opinions, it's unfair to call them angry boomer rants IMO.
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Agree. Tony and Kieran seem like salt of the earth Mancs who want the best for their club. I'm surprised people are suggesting they are negative - they seem pretty balanced to me. Adam from FUTV is similar. He is an optimist but there are times where he holds his hands up and concedes that the club is a sh!t show. He obviously has copied Goldbridge's format, but he has his own style and I like him - another salt of the earth Manc like the O'Neill father and son. I think we are all desperate for the season to start. It's been one hell of a long summer - and the World cup didn't do much to make feel any shorter!
 
Ruud_Street said:
His opinions on Rashford certainly aren't respectful, they were very personal when I used to watch the channel. He may have changed, I don't know, but still won't watch the channel ever again.
Then there was the whole glorification of what he used to get up to back in the day, wasn't a nice bloke at all.
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A lot of fans are very angry with Rashford, myself included. Tony and Kieran are from Wythenshawe (like myself) and Rashford was from the same place. There's a sense he's let us down and he got put in a position every kid from the area dreams about. Fans are rightly angry.

Not sure if he glorified it, more he explained what went on, those were interesting videos giving us insight into what it was like in the 70s for match goers. I welcome those sorts of videos compared to the usual recycled garbage we get from other channels.
 
RyRy11 said:
I think this summer has come across worse than most, purely because there is absolutely no word coming from the club re transfers. Usually respectable United journalists like Laurie and Stone hear some word from the club, but it feels like this summer nothing is coming out until a few days before the transfer. The knock on effect is that most of the transfer news is thin and unreliable so fan channels are forced to recycle content to feed the algorithm. I only really watch Paddock and TOTD occasionally, and generally prefer match reviews/discussion of the on the pitch product. Therefore the summer period is usually a slog to get through for me.
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Yeah the lack of information has the fan channels scrambling to make content and journos frustrated too
 
I don't watch any of that stuff. Nor do I follow any players on social media or see much content outside of the games. Much better that way imo.
 
Solius said:
I don't watch any of that stuff. Nor do I follow any players on social media or see much content outside of the games. Much better that way imo.
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i trust you’ll be tuning in to my new poddy (what we call them in the industry.) it’s called “united they fall” and documents our continued fall from grace.
 
rimaldo said:
i trust you’ll be tuning in to my new poddy (what we call them in the industry.) it’s called “united they fall” and documents our continued fall from grace.
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Only if it premieres at Whipsnade Zoo.
 
I take in Stretford Paddock, UnitedsPeoplesTV and Andy Mitten. The rest I find overly negative and annoying (MG and gang) or not as well produced and the same as the ones I watch. Even UnitedsPeopleTV is a bit over the top with his transfer stuff, but he's a good watch and very down to earth and not dramatic so I enjoy his content. I like the guests that SP bring on, and the guys bring a wide variety of opinions to their podcasts. Mitten is a bit boring in comparison, but what he says you never really have to doubt, also I just like supporting him and the magazine as it seems genuine.
 
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