BT Sport’s coverage leaves viewers hoping for more after chaotic show

Whatever else is said about Jake Humphrey, there was a moment during BT Sport’s coverage of the Champions League final where an unusually large number of people nodded in agreement.

It was after he turned to Mario Balotelli, who had been recruited because of his past at each of the clubs, and asked the enigmatic Italian for his prediction. These exchanges rarely enrich our lives, but when you have five hours to fill, it’s not unreasonable for a broadcaster to assume that the hired baller will play ball.

Except that Balotelli has rarely been the type for conformity. ‘No comment,’ he said, to which Humphrey replied, ‘We paid thousands of pounds for this man, and he says nothing.’ It was quite consistent with a feeling of being deprived that lasted all evening.

For those of us who use our screens to watch the biggest single match on the club calendar, when the season is at crescendo for every one of the parties involved, from teams to broadcasters, you’d be desperately hoping for more.

The program was notable for being the last game to be led by Jake Humphreys

BT Sport paid a lot of money for Mario Balotelli, but the Italian offered little insight that night

Sure, there’s never been the perfect broadcast, but on the most basic levels, it felt chaotic. Frustrating. A bit overloaded with nonsensical contributions.

Joleon Lescott informed us of his nerves and the memories kept coming. Balotelli, who has the potential to be a treasure trove, was either too reluctant to participate, or just never got the right directions.

Cesc Fabregas was strong, and so was Rio Ferdinand, because they speak with real insight, but even the latter fell over his shoelaces, when an emotional Kyle Walker mentioned that his mother once didn’t have a pound for an ice cream.

That was a rare peeling of layers, but Ferdinand wanted to know what his first drink would be that night. In the hectic pace of a live broadcast, it was a missed opportunity.

But those are the more superficial complaints, along with Humphrey’s desire to reference his own farewell, and the social media outcry surrounding an interviewer asking for an autograph. To me, there were weirder aspects around context and proportionality.

Fans weren’t happy about Des Kay getting Ilkay Gundogan’s autograph during an interview

Joleon Lescott, Cesc Fabregas and Rio Ferdiand were also part of the expert line-up

We know that Manchester City have achieved something incredible and rare, and they have done it with style, brilliance and a manager with few if any peers in history.

But for Darren Fletcher to describe it as the ‘greatest story in club history’ felt like a laughable attempt to turn a state-owned company into a Cinderella story.

More bizarre was the absence of mentions for five hours for those 115 indictments. They are not the immediate topic of conversation, but they are a topic of conversation, and over time arguably the biggest topic of conversation.

By ignoring it, the broadcast somehow fell short of fair accounting.