Liverpool documentary should make interesting viewing
Fly on the wall documentaries often make great viewing, but they seldom reflect well on whatever or whoever the fly is watching.
Back in the late 1960s, The Beatles invited the cameras in to watch them rehearse and record an album. The album 'Let It Be' turned out to be pretty good - but the film captured the bitter, bickering disintegration of the band before our eyes.
Years later the Football Association decided it might be a good idea to allow the cameras to record the behind-the-scenes story of England's march to the 1994 World Cup finals under the management of Graham Taylor. There was just one problem - England did not qualify.
The subsequent film almost ended Taylor's managerial career; it probably did finish that of his assistant Phil Neal, and it included the pitiful sight of Paul Gascoigne blaming a "crap ball" for a sorry performance against San Marino.
I'm old enough to have been a part of the press pack which followed England on that ill-fated World Cup qualifying campaign, and it was clear to all of us that the constant presence of the camera crew was an irritation to the players and management once things started going wrong.
The TV viewers loved it; a chance to gatecrash on a car crash.
Fast forward again and last season we had 'QPR: The Four Year Plan', a film which left you wondering if the people who had bought the famous London club had a clue, let alone a plan.
At West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, Liverpool's players were under similar scrutiny. American TV network Fox Sports has had its cameras following Liverpool's every step since the back end of last season.
On Saturday they had a camera in the dressing room before the game, at half-time and after the match.
The documentary will be shown as a six-part series on both sides of the Atlantic, with screening scheduled to start in the US on 16 September. Details have yet to be confirmed, but it is understood that it will be shown in the UK at a similar time on Channel 5.
Presumably the rationale behind the documentary was to heighten awareness of the brand in their owners' home market; to make Stevie G and Co stars Stateside.
'This will be an amazing opportunity for our fans to see a new side of the club," said chairman Tom Werner.
Nice idea .....on paper.
First the cameras captured Liverpool capitulating in the race to qualify for the Champions League, then Liverpool losing the FA Cup Final. They then saw Liverpool sacking Kenny Dalglish and appointing Brendan Rogers before the side were thumped in their opening game of the new campaign.
The cameras pack and wrap after the match against Manchester City next weekend - perhaps it's just as well.
This from a club which, in its glory days, used to pride itself on doing business behind closed doors, and a club which, in recent years, has been fierce in protecting its players from media requests for access and interviews.
No doubt when the film is finished it will make fascinating viewing for us; I am much less certain that it will make comfortable viewing for John Henry and Werner - and it's hard to imagine anyone sanctioning Series Two.
Fly on the wall documentaries often make great viewing, but they seldom reflect well on whatever or whoever the fly is watching.
Back in the late 1960s, The Beatles invited the cameras in to watch them rehearse and record an album. The album 'Let It Be' turned out to be pretty good - but the film captured the bitter, bickering disintegration of the band before our eyes.
Years later the Football Association decided it might be a good idea to allow the cameras to record the behind-the-scenes story of England's march to the 1994 World Cup finals under the management of Graham Taylor. There was just one problem - England did not qualify.
The subsequent film almost ended Taylor's managerial career; it probably did finish that of his assistant Phil Neal, and it included the pitiful sight of Paul Gascoigne blaming a "crap ball" for a sorry performance against San Marino.
I'm old enough to have been a part of the press pack which followed England on that ill-fated World Cup qualifying campaign, and it was clear to all of us that the constant presence of the camera crew was an irritation to the players and management once things started going wrong.
The TV viewers loved it; a chance to gatecrash on a car crash.
Fast forward again and last season we had 'QPR: The Four Year Plan', a film which left you wondering if the people who had bought the famous London club had a clue, let alone a plan.
At West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, Liverpool's players were under similar scrutiny. American TV network Fox Sports has had its cameras following Liverpool's every step since the back end of last season.
On Saturday they had a camera in the dressing room before the game, at half-time and after the match.
The documentary will be shown as a six-part series on both sides of the Atlantic, with screening scheduled to start in the US on 16 September. Details have yet to be confirmed, but it is understood that it will be shown in the UK at a similar time on Channel 5.
Presumably the rationale behind the documentary was to heighten awareness of the brand in their owners' home market; to make Stevie G and Co stars Stateside.
'This will be an amazing opportunity for our fans to see a new side of the club," said chairman Tom Werner.
Nice idea .....on paper.
First the cameras captured Liverpool capitulating in the race to qualify for the Champions League, then Liverpool losing the FA Cup Final. They then saw Liverpool sacking Kenny Dalglish and appointing Brendan Rogers before the side were thumped in their opening game of the new campaign.
The cameras pack and wrap after the match against Manchester City next weekend - perhaps it's just as well.
This from a club which, in its glory days, used to pride itself on doing business behind closed doors, and a club which, in recent years, has been fierce in protecting its players from media requests for access and interviews.
No doubt when the film is finished it will make fascinating viewing for us; I am much less certain that it will make comfortable viewing for John Henry and Werner - and it's hard to imagine anyone sanctioning Series Two.
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