Honest Football Manager

SKY SPORTS REPORTER IN THE TUNNEL WITH A PREMIER LEAGUE MANAGER

REPORTER: Steve it's FA Cup time again. Now you've got Stoneytown Rovers today. What can you tell us about them?

STEVE: Not a lot, except they're about six leagues below us so they'll obviously be a lot crapper than we are!

REPORTER: But the FA Cup is famous for its shocks - do you feel any sort of danger in coming to play a non-league side?

STEVE: Not particularly. I predict we will win this one about 10-0.

REPORTER: But they've been running away with the title in the Ryman's Northern Premier Division so they're a team who should be high on confidence.

STEVE: Yes you would think that wouldn't you but we were watching them warm up and it was very funny. We were all having a good laugh.

REPORTER: But what about the atmosphere at this cauldron-like ground? Could that be a leveller for the two sides?

STEVE: I doubt it. Yes the ground is a total shithole and the fans all look like rapists but we're not particularly concerned. I've told the lads to put a dozen past them and then let's get the hell out of here.

REPORTER: What's the thinking behind your team line-up? Quite a few unfamiliar names...

STEVE: Yes I've basically picked the weakest and most out-of-favour players in my squad and given everyone else the weekend off. Even with this shitty line-up we should have too much for Stoneytown Rangers or whatever they're called to handle.

REPORTER: Well good luck today and we'll speak to you after the game.

STEVE: Good luck finding me, I'm off down the pub.

END

Haha, I liked this. "Yes the ground is a total shithole and the fans all look like rapists" made me chuckle lots.

Yeah I liked that. Maybe a bit of tightening.

But would make a good series. The manager slagging off his diving centre forward, the chairman for no funds, the fans etc etc.

Cheers - it was quite good fun to write.

Yeah, really liked this.

Might be nice to do a follow-up after they've lost to this crappy team. The manager could trot out all the old cliches about why it went wrong - and deny ever saying what he'd said prior to the match.

The honest manager is a great idea - certainly worth a runner. I think you can snip the first two gags, change the intro slightly and start from 'They've been running away with the Ryaman's league' to make it tighter, but this is really nice.

Really funny. Still laughing

Echoing statements above, it could use a little tightening up and cutting off of unneccessary or excessive parts, but otherwise still amusing and genuinely funny

I like this sketch, but I was thinking it might benefit from a bit of friction between the interviewer and manager. For instance, if the interviewer refused to let the manager go until he'd humoured him with a cliche, or admitted that there was the remotest of chances that his side might get beat.

You could also cut to a montage scene with the manager going spare from the touchline and then to a post-match interview where the interviewer is being all smug due to the 'unexpected' result.

I think the sketch would lose a lot (almost everything, in fact) if the Honest Manager's team were beaten.

The history of comedy is overflowing with over-confident people getting their comeuppance. For that reason, this sketch would be a very average offering if it were to be dragged into that illustrious group by a comeuppance follow-up.

As it stands, however, it's a refreshing portrayal of what the manager would really say if he were being honest.

If there's to be a follow-up sketch, the audience will be expecting a comeuppance so when the manager is seen celebrating and saying "Ten-nil! I told you they were shite!" they'll get a very pleasant surprise.

I think Roodeye is right. This is an interesting idea which subverts the expectations. if you subvert the subversion in a follow-up all you get is back to the original. It might work if you have a runner of a lot of sketches going in the same direction before reverting to type. Possibly with an explanation around the Guild of Football Managers putting an injunction on him or some such. I have an odd idea about a later sketch where he is sub-titled, him speaking honestly and the subtitles ("approved by The PFA" or something) have the typical bullshit. Of course, its eraly and that may be bollocks.

I agree that, with the sketch as it stands, having the manager's side getting beat probably would be a mistake. It's only if an element of animosity between the two was established (as was the other suggestion) that having the team lose would be a good way of building upon this for comic effect in a post-match interview - though one could argue that these ammendments would alter the nature of the sketch somewhat.

Very funny, works very well.

Don't think it even needs a follow up- would work brilliantly as a series of unrelated interviews or as a regular character in a sketch show.

Personally as a comedy writer and a football fan I think the character of an "Honest Football Manager" who says it like it is rather than spouting the usual cliches is borderline genius, I could see it working in many different scenarios.

I like the sketch (subject to a little pruning) but agree with others in that the managers thoughts have to be proved correct, I don't think it'd be as funny if he got his comeuppance as it were.

This is a good fully operating sketch idea but I think it's been done in an advert before. A football manager takes a swig of a drink (maybe lucozade) or a bite of a chocolate bar then they begin to speak the truth about the football match. Possibly followed by a line like 'refreshingly honest', I'm not sure but there is a big beeper going off in my mind that I've seen this concept done before. If not run with it!