Does anyone else feel just a tiny bit sorry for James Allen?

[MrKipling43]

Don't get me wrong, I'm SO glad he's leaving, but you have to feel a bit sorry for the bloke.

I mean, he's spent the last God knows how many years doing the (totally brilliant, very well paid) job he loved, and he'll never get to do it again.

That's got to be pretty rubbish!

Bad luck James, but you were pretty appallingly bad and the Beeb definitely made the right choice. Still, er... better to have loved and lost than to never have had love at all. Or something.

[anonymous-user]

Nope, good riddance! Any ideas on who's going to replace him at the beeb yet??

[falcemob]

I think he's been OK this past year since he stopped saying Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
I'll get me coat.

[Eric Mc]

And now we can say with glee... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNE.

[Stu R]

No, not in the slightest.

[hot metal]

A little ,why not?

I feel more sorry for all the people on PH who spit hate at him virtualy every day when the man is just trying to do a job that you lot would be plain st at.
Dont get me wrong I will not miss him at all but he does not deserve all the abuse that he has been given.

[mikechandler]

James Allen reminds me of Gordon Brown... they both wanted the 'big' job for years however when it came to the crunch they just weren't/aren't up to it. Shame really but such is life!

[130R]

I don't think he was that bad actually. He could get annoying sometimes, endlessly going on about Hamilton, but at least he was pretty knowledgeable.

[FNG]

Pretty knowledgeable about tyre and fuel strategy. Never seemed to talk about a lot else.

The fact none of us on here could do better is irrelevant. The point is, there are plenty out there that could do it better than James Allen and that's why people don't rate him and sg him off.

Not good enough usually means improve a lot quickly or be replaced. He did neither.

[SamHH]

Kipling: I agree with your sentiment. I disliked his commentary but I'm not gleeful that he's lost his job; that's not pleasant for anyone. I also think that it's become fashionable to sg him off and he therefore attracts some unwarranted criticism on this forum. Lets hope that whoever replaces him is better. Looking at the BBC's other main motorsport production (MotoGP), they're going to have to pick up their standards a lot to even match ITV, not just in the commentary department.

Edited by SamHH on Tuesday 4th November 22:34

[Ipelm]

Perhaps deep down you know its just bloody F1 thats crap and the commentater cant make a silk purse out of a soul-less imitation (of what it used to be) sows ear

Edited by Ipelm on Tuesday 4th November 22:39

[rdjohn]

Nope.

It was only when I signed-up with PH this year that I realised that I was not alone in my hatred.

[bmw2002]

Never, he is a prize .


IMHO

[skinny]

he's probably pretty decent as an F1 journalist (written) so i can't imagine he's going to be out of a job.

i'm not sorry to see him go, mainly because i'm *really* looking forward to next years commentary team

i think all the abuse he got was a bit out of hand at times tho, sure he said some pretty downright stupid things, made mistakes, and had stupid hair, but he tried.

[motormania]

NO

Ever since ITV took over, F1 has faded IMHO, and James was just one of the pieces of that jigsaw which has ruined F1 for me. Thank god Auntie Beeb has it back, and just when things are looking up...

A return to slicks
Refueling looks set to be dropped maybe as soon as 2010 also
No more aero crap
...and best of all, Max 'the spank' Mosley will be leaving the FIA in 2009

Good reasons to be cheerful...

Can't get the chain music out of my head.

[Fire99]

Yeah i can't see what all the fuss is about. Commentating on F1 has always been a bit hit and miss, with Murray's faux-pas and James Hunt wasn't always Captain dynamic on his commetry.

ITV has had to suffer F1 through some of its Lowest years IMO with some extemely dull racing, dominating Schumacher / Ferrari for a good few years and in my opinion far too much meddling and politics from the likes of the FIA etc.

I think some of the new tracks like Bahrain and notably Valencia have been awful from a spectator perspective and utterly soulless.

IMO the likes of Hamilton this year have added a small dose of drama as he seems to hint slightly towards the great battles of Senna, Prost, Mansell etc and is willing to take a few risks..(latter part of this season had some great moments)

So to be honest i have little or no complaint for the commentators on ITV as for the most part they've had very little to commentate on, With regards to actual racing and not Stewards decisions or speculating strategy.

F1 has in many ways alot of backwards steps to take to get it back to seriously exciting racing. I hope 2009 is a step in the right direction.

Edited by Fire99 on Wednesday 5th November 00:10

[GreaseNipple]

Yep, he's underrated. Just cos some dick who writes the scripts for Top Gear starts a stop the cock campaign (lolz) all the internet sheep jump on it. At least we'll still have Martin Brundle (He drove F1 cars once don't you know!!1!1!)

[Bagman]

Have the beeb said who is taking over?

[Stevorocket]

No - goodbye to JA.

Good bye to the silly pits woman with the bracelets up her arm.

Goodbye to the stupid theme song.


Hope we get people who LOVE the sport and can articulate that.

I will choose all the women involved because I obviously have more taste than the current producers.

[Airbag]

TVR Moneypit said:

130R said:

I don't think he was that bad actually. He could get annoying sometimes, endlessly going on about Hamilton, but at least he was pretty knowledgeable.

And Schmacher before that.


Seroiusly, is he a bit gay? James allen, not Michael Schmacher.

Didn't he name his son Enzo?

Edited by Airbag on Wednesday 5th November 05:45