Looking to crowd source opinions here - from a respectable crowd.
On the one hand, I think he’s a great commentator, excellent at the Tour and other stage spaces but actually comes into his own in the Belgian classics where his knowledge is literally second to none.
On the other hand, I heard one of Harry or Stu on the DNF pod (ep 31) say he was a four letter c-word, which is strong
Both of the above can be true at the same time of course. I’m after your opinions and experience of him (if you have any) because I’m interested in a rounded view of the bloke who is a prominent personality in the sport
No idea if he’s a good c or a bad c, but I do enjoy his knowledge in the Belgian races. E3 commentary was a great example, knows exactly where they are, wind direction etc and rarely calls a rider wrong, unlike a certain Mr Kirby…
I don’t mind Robbie as a commentator/pundit. Not the best, not the worst, and quite fun to listen to. I feel he fits the recent discovery/eurosport mould of ex racers turned pundits/commentators (i.e. can describe the race well but a little bland/in-offensive - likely why he got the job).
He’s had the odd controversy, as a result of some problematic phrases that either demonstrate a level of ignorance stemming from a life in the closed world of the professional racer, or some underlying prejudices. At this point I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s the former.
But then I like David Millar as a commentator/pundit. I know he’s a controversial figure for various other reasons, but he brings a much more worldly outlook to the commentary booth. Instead of just being another ex racer that can describe reasonably well what’s going on, he brings a little culture, history, philosophy, etc into his commentary/punditry.
I think he’s an excellent insightful commentator but I think it was an EC comments section that suggested he had a bad rep on SBS?
Anyone that takes air time off Carlton Kirby is a good investment, I had to turn Catalunya off because him chuckling at his own non jokes is unbearable.
Hard to imagine he had a bad reputation at SBS, with viewers at least. I’ve never met Robbie so have no idea what he’s like, but compared to some of the other commentators they’ve had (and still have) IMHO he was wonderful.
I would not be surprised if he were an asshole off-air. He went from being a pro athlete to working in high finance in the City. He has been known to make an offensive comment on air (I heard him use a slur for gay men live on comms, though he also apologised after an ad break).
I find him to be an average commentator. More effective than Phil Liggett or Carlton Kirby but without all the over-the-top enthusiasm of Rob Hatch. He can call a sprint stage or a flat classic well but is kind of useless for a mountain stage or even a hilly race. He defaults to talking about how much the sprinters are suffering in the gruppetto.
Hannah Walker, Ant McCrossan, and Jose Been are the gold standard to me. They are well prepped and never make themselves the focus of their commentary.
I said on SBS, not at SBS -i.e viewers said he had a habit of talking over colleagues etc, not that his behaviour at work was somehow inappropriate. Pretty sure it was in the comments section under an article about him joining ES/TNT.
He’s particularly good with the spring classics thanks I assume to living there (and marrying a local so he’s fluent in Flemish)..
Not unreasonable to ask why you are posing this question. The EC comments had a poxy discussion some time ago about whether an Australian cyclist was liked. A pointless exercise that achieves nothing other than to run the risk of denigrating people.
Genuinely curious to hear what others thought, given he had a c-bomb dropped on him in DNF. EC members usually pretty measured & thoughtful in their points. FWIW I think he’s an excellent colour commentator, particularly for the Spring Classics. I had my own existing opinion of him at one end, a c-bomb at the other, and a broad question mark (from others) about why SBS had let him go / he’d left. Maybe EC could fill that scale
He’s the best there is when it comes to race analysis. Tactics, situational analysis, etc. Occasionally a little full of himself. I’ve heard elsewhere that he’s not the greatest person to interact with as a human, so I’m going to keep in compartmentalized. He exists to provide quality cycling commentary on my TV. Beyond that, I’ll try to avoid thinking any more about him than he does me.
Maybe the sort that thinks this kind of discussion is infra dig * for the members of this forum.
As a general question, does it really matter whether we agree with the opinions of someone who provides something? The people who print my labels are full on supporters of the US Toddler in Chief but they print good labels.
At an extreme, Caravaggio was a convicted murderer and one of the greatest painters to ever live. I can appreciate his art and think he must have been a bit of a bastard at the same time.
On the other hand we have people like Andrew Tate where the toxicity is part and parcel of what they are selling which, to me, puts them beyond the pale.
*Not only in italics, but also in Latin. What is the world coming to?