Weekly football conversation since 2009, with Graham Sibley, Jan Bilton and Terry Duffelen. Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn or your podcatcher of choice.

James Ankaman's Gazetta Dello Baggio



He thinks it's the 90s

Ankaman: Johnny substitute
Ankaman: Johnny substitute
I\'ve come to clean your pool
I\'ve come to clean your pool
Podcasts: Coming soon
Podcasts: Coming soon
James Ankaman is best known as the presenter of popular '90s European football magazine Gazetta Footballisimo . Fluent in Italian, he has acted as correspondent to a number of broadsheet newspapers until his urbane, middle class wit became lost on most people in the media and was last seen on the telly working for Eurosport. With an all too regular gap in his calender, James writes for the Onion Bag about the days when Serie A was supreme.

Buongiorno and welcome to this week's fill-in for whoever has gone on holiday and not left a piece in the Bag for us to use while he's away.
The good not so old days
Last weekend saw the Rossinieeerrriii of AC Meeeeeelan sealing their place in the Champions League with a 1-1 draw at Cataaaaaania (or is that Cataneeea? Answers on a postcard viewers). Anyhoo, watching the red and blacks scuffing around for a draw in a half empty stadium in a league disgraced by corruption and scandal, match fixing and sleaze, I was thinking back to those heady days of when I was on the air. Days when Van Basten and Ruud rocked my world. Il Duce Silvio Berlusconi was merely a media giant and hadn't scaled the dizzy heights of prime ministerial megalomania.

I'm still friends with many of them now. In fact Internazionaarrrrrrli legend Darko Pancev still darkens (geddit?) my door occasionally in my summer house in Tuscany. The swimming pool has never been cleaner.
Kick out the Jamms
So, what has happened to the Italian game so beloved of UK audiences in the decade of KLF, EMF, TSB and C&A? Well nothing dear listeners. In fact Italian football is in the best of help... I mean health. And with the "Old Lady" Juventus almost assured of their place back at the top table after being relegated for cheating there is no better time for broadcasters to buy. Ankaman Productions can provide the complete package of highly experienced pundits headed up by the housewives choice from 1993-4 (that's me, readers). Check out our website for more details.
Cast of dozens
In the meantime, you can catch me every week on my podcast for the Twickenham and Richmond Guardian. This week, I'll be joined by fellow scribe Gabrielle Marco, and Danny Smelly plus any other desperate hacks clinging on to their broadcasting careers by their fingernails.

John Pundit is away.
James Ankaman

Get in touch with us

Name

Email *

Message *

Latest podcast

Never miss a podcast