Opinion: From AFTV to Overlap – The Best and Worst Arsenal YouTubers
Carrying on from which pundits are worth checking out for your Arsenal content, let’s now look at who is worth checking out or avoiding in the world of YouTube. 5 Of The Worse Lee Gunner One of many content creators who had a ready-made fan base from being an occasional talking head on AFTV. Yet […] The post Opinion: From AFTV to Overlap – The Best and Worst Arsenal YouTubers appeared first on Just Arsenal News.
RR aka Rishi-Raj
Carrying on from which pundits are worth checking out for your Arsenal content, let’s now look at who is worth checking out or avoiding in the world of YouTube.
5 Of The Worse
Lee Gunner
One of many content creators who had a ready-made fan base from being an occasional talking head on AFTV. Yet his ego has grown to the point where he cannot admit his interaction with Robbie Lyle might have helped. He even has the audacity to criticise it.
If you compare his AFTV interviews with his current body of work, it is night and day. He went from a fan who you could relate to, with decent product knowledge, who saw a gap in the market.
The more negative he was, the more traction he got. Instead of fighting against it, he saw a chance to make money. You cannot fault that.
The only issue is that if you are negative in every upload, your opinion is no longer subjective, it is an act. I am not doubting how genuine his support for the Gunners is, but he has simply seen a way to make a living talking about football.
Throw in the nervous use of “yeah”, and the look-at-me drinking and smoking, and it is cringe.
Harmless, but cringe.
Dan Potts – 12th Man
So this is a fascinating human experiment, as Dan is where so many of his peers have been, and it is fascinating to see what direction he goes in.
He had some Fan Cams on AFTV and TNT Sport interviewed him a couple of times outside the Emirates.
So, logically, he made his own channel and saw a cash cow. As in… that is it. He copied and pasted the formula and just hopes it works.
He separates channels into their own criteria (London, in Europe, Top 6, etc) and then invites fans onto the show to shout at each other while adding nothing himself.
He has even tried the fake “I am angry with the manager” rant, but it was false.
He is now trying to interview others away from sport.
Slow down!
It is like he is trying to make as much content as possible before people notice he is milking it.
Pitch Side
Very loud!
It has got to the point where I am not sure the channel knows what it wants to be.
On one hand their content is creative, asking each other and viewers to compile lists which are thought-provoking and test your knowledge.
Tom Garrett, for example, has great product knowledge, but it is undermined by the panel’s “banter”.
This is where the channel lets itself down, because four grown men do not talk to each other this way unless it is prearranged for an audience below the age of 15.
Stick To Football
Kind of like Match Of The Day with the volume turned up. Which is not a compliment, considering I have long viewed that show as stale, yet thanks to his own company Gary Lineker gives himself, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards more time and licence to showcase their personalities.
Their chemistry is undeniable, and obviously on YouTube they can work with far fewer restrictions than on TV.
I say “work”, but the three simply go through the motions, press record and just speak.
Their top 10 lists can be fun, but you sense this podcast is just a tiny cherry on the cake for three men who make a lot of money elsewhere.
Mr Lineker could afford better production if he wanted, and the trio could tell us something we have not heard before.
Kick Off
This is hard to know where to rank, as in many ways I am judging the channel from a previous time, levels it might not return to again, which is something their host seems aware of.
I do not write this lightly because he has been open about his battle with mental health, but Brian has let certain setbacks impact on his performance. He no longer has that charisma, and even when simply talking about Newcastle, he sounds bitter.
He still makes a lot of money talking about football, but as he kept telling his viewers (maybe too many times) he was branching off into other ventures.
After some ill-advised comments on a live stream he lost a lot of sponsorship and advertisers.
Having listened to his two apology videos, I do not think he is sorry for his words but feels sorry for himself and what he has lost.
While he maintains it is not cost-cutting, a lot of his content is now filmed on live chat, not in the studio where his production values separated him from his peers. He has also lost the original panel that you associated with the channel.
At his height of popularity, I thought his best work was actually when he would branch away from sport and give feedback on relevant documentaries or Netflix series.
I think that could be his way to go so he can take a break from football in the short term.
The innocence has gone.
5 Of The Best
AFTV
Anyone who has a vision and works hard to make a success of themselves deserves respect.
Robbie Lyle saw a gap in the market, giving fans a platform for their voices to be heard.
The only issue is his concept became so big that it created a conflict of interest.
Those who got the most views tended to be those who had over-the-top characters. Logically, the more clicks these individuals got, the more they exaggerated their act, yet got more screen time, with separate shows even created for them.
It soon became difficult for the channel’s host to claim his content was represented by supporters viewers could relate to.
Now with sponsors, AFTV has become too big to be small, but too small to be big.
Several of those who helped the company grow had to be asked to leave, because where once Robbie as a friend could excuse their behaviour, now as their boss advertisers put on pressure.
There is the conflict. To return to its glory days AFTV relies on its content being controversial. They cannot be controversial because there are too many standards to follow.
They cannot tell those standards to go away because they are the business partners who offer the most income.
With the venture making him more money than he ever could have believed, and now so many on YouTube with their own version of fan channels, the 52-year-old knows things may have become stagnant and it is time to adapt.
DT
Of all the original members of AFTV, DT was the talking head most viewers could relate to.
While some of his peers were like cartoon characters with the volume turned up, DT was relatable, not ever overly positive but not critical about everything.
Robbie saw the numbers his friend was making, so eventually gave the two their own podcast.
Just as he was branching off into other projects he was sentenced for assault, kidnapping and stalking.
While carrying on his YouTube channel since jail, he has lost most of his sponsorship and advertisers, and it is unlikely many will want to work with him again.
A shame, as there is a talent there.
Ruined it for himself.
The Club
The Club’s birth was controversial. Three YouTubers who were on the Kick Off’s panel offered to front an identical format with similar production values. They accepted, but only after True Geordie started to lose sponsors due to controversial comments during a live stream.
Some think the trio jumping ship was disloyal.
Others (like myself) feel that you have to separate friendships from business.
In any workplace, if your boss makes a racial comment which impacts on your income, it does not matter if he is your friend, you make the professional choice.
Put it this way, if one of them had said the same thing and an advertiser asked for their removal, True Geordie would not have thought twice.
Doing what was right for their own careers and families, the three took a ready-made audience with them, extending content away from only live watch-alongs to lists and greatest elevens, etc.
While it is clear who they support, it is not character-driven. Neither are scared to point out flaws in their favourite club or praise a rival.
When you listen to them talk, that generally is the tone of conversation that happens with mates down a pub. Is that not the point?
Simon Jordan – Up Front
A rare programme on Talk Sport where the host and pundits do not try to make it about themselves.
Obviously, agreed with the guest ahead of time, the former football owner is allowed to ask candid questions and challenge the answers.
The 57-year-old has an ego, but enough money that he does not need to put himself ahead of those he is interviewing.
It means you get a fair career retrospective and even learn some new information.
Overlap
Gary Neville obviously had an advantage over other YouTubers as his company has the wealth to create the best production while having a ready-made audience from his and his guests’ work as pundits, mostly on Sky Sports.
Some episodes will be the panel debating current talking points in sport or interviewing a legend from football.
Where fan channels have to create characters such as being too positive or negative and post short clips of rants for the sake of views, those on the Overlap do not need to do that.
Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Jill Scott have had careers where they do not have to act, have credibility with the viewer, yet are self-deprecating enough not to take themselves too seriously.
Dan
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