BT Sport host Darrell Currie enjoys jousting with managers and pundits when the cameras roll.
The popular presenter, 37, also has fond memories of a bust-up with Dundee technical director Gordon Strachan BEFORE a live broadcast.
He laughs: “We fell out and made up within hours. It was before a show and we were friends by the time we were on-air.
“It comes down to the way I was asking questions and what he wanted to answer and what he didn’t.
“My job as the presenter was to ask the right questions and if he didn’t want to answer them, I was going to ask them anyway.
“We had our disagreements about that but I get on great with Gordon.”
The former Celtic and Scotland manager is famous for his one-liners (Reporter: ‘Gordon, can we have a quick word?’ Strachan: ‘Velocity!’) in interviews.
Last week he delivered a brutal assessment on the state of Scottish football and some of its lower-league clubs, questioning their professionalism.
Darrell adds: “He’s tricky and he’s got some very strong views.
“Gordon was a nightmare to interview when he was a manager. He’ll tell you that himself
“As a pundit he wasn’t easy at times but he was brilliant. We had him on BT when he was Scotland manager and, of course, he had to bite his tongue sometimes because of the job.
“When he finished with Scotland, we continued to get him on and I felt he opened up more. He does have very strong views on things. He’s never going to change on that and whether you agree with him or not, that’s up to you.
“I think he’s got some great ideas for the game. For Dundee, he’s a brilliant guy to have around.
“He’s got a passion for bringing through young players. He’s a very technical guy. He wants to rip up the old rule book. He’s all about technique at a young age.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that at all.”
His employers may have said goodbye to live coverage of the SPFL but it’s clear in an hour-long interview with The Courier that Darrell isn’t ready for farewells.
The dad-of-two will still front Champions League and Europa League games – exclusive to BT until 2024 – involving Scottish teams and he could be involved again in Premier Sports’ Scottish Cup coverage.
Premier also have the rights to the Betfred Cup while the presenter isn’t giving up hope of continuing Scottish Football Extra on BT Sport.
He says: “All those conversations are still to be had. I hope that show can continue because we’ve certainly got a lot of fans telling us they want it to so fingers crossed.”
As the popularity of BT’s coverage of the game on these shores increased, so did Darrell’s profile.
It truly skyrocketed just over a year ago thanks to his on-pitch interview with Chelsea legend Eden Hazard after their Europa League triumph over Arsenal in Azerbaijan.
One question dominated the build-up to the match – would this be the Belgian’s last game in a Blues shirt before a summer move to Real Madrid?
At the fifth attempt, the Scot bagged one of world football’s biggest scoops as Hazard admitted: “I think it’s a goodbye.”
Darrell – who grew up in Bearsden, near Glasgow – says: “He’d said before the game he wouldn’t talk about his future. People had tried and tried and tried. He said he wouldn’t say necessarily until the game was all done and dusted and he got his head right.
“I just felt at the time, I felt he had something he wanted to say.
"I think it is a goodbye, but in football you never know."
"Now maybe it is time for a new challenge." 👀
Eden Hazard has made as decision on his Chelsea future.
🎤 Speaking to @darrellcurrietvpic.twitter.com/eG6liRFQjO
— BT Sport (@btsport) May 29, 2019
“I thought it was my job to try and find out. I asked a few questions to get the result and it went really well.
“In a stadium that was so loud at the end, and there was talk-back in my ear from the producer, I listened intently to every single thing he said
“I had to tune out. There was so much going on.
“I was aware even when he was answering the questions, and not giving me the answer initially, I felt he had something he wanted to say.
“I just kept plugging away.”
Gary Lineker was quick to salute him and there was also praise from his BT Sport sidekick Chris Sutton, with the ex-Celtic striker writing on Twitter: “Darrell Currie like Paxman tonight…”
The Scot says: “Believe it or not, that’s him being nice!”
But the Hazard story didn’t quite finish at Baku’s Olympic Stadium.
Darrell adds: “I saw him at the airport the next day. Chelsea were flying back and a lot of the BT crew were flying to Madrid for the Champions League final.
“He walked past and gave me a little smile. I gave him a thumbs up and he winked at me as if, you know, well done.
“The very second he said it, I think he realised it was a weight off his chest. He’s a good guy and an amazing football player.
“The praise was overwhelming in a nice way. In the media I don’t think you get a lot of praise.
“To see it that night – from fans, pundits, former players and journalists who I respect greatly – was great. It was an amazing 24 hours.”
He recently turned his attentions to fronting BT’s live coverage of the Bundesliga, the only Big Five league back in action in the wake of the Covid-19 shutdown.
However, the London-based host admits he’s still gutted about how the Scottish Premiership was brought to a halt by the global pandemic.
Darrell says: “It was weird because we obviously didn’t know the end was coming. The last match we did with a Scottish team involved was Rangers against Bayer Leverkusen – one day before the SPFL decided games would stop.
“We saw the warning signs and it was a strange decision to go through with the Rangers-Leverkusen game with everything that was going on in the world.
“But there was no emotion at the time for us because we expected to come back and finish the season.
“Now it’s been called, it’s a massive shame for everyone involved in the BT Sport team and our production arm Sunset+Vine, led by Grant Philips at the Scottish office.
“We had the play-offs to broadcast and obviously we’ve missed all of that. It’d have been great to see it out properly.”
There have been some hilarious highlights, including a suited-and-booted Sutton being cleaned out at Fir Park by a Stephen Craigan tackle and the 2016 parody of Celtic’s Christmas advert.
He says: “None of us knew how hard Stephen was going to hit Chris Sutton that day. We’d done a bit of planning but you see in slow motion, I’m jumping out the way.
“I thought he was coming for the two of us! He came right from his blind spot, it was incredible.
😂😂😂@chris_sutton73 is wiped out by Stephen Craigan!
Disgraceful challenge 🙈 pic.twitter.com/P4wi1p2A6M
— Football on BT Sport 🇩🇪 (@btsportfootball) September 24, 2017
“But the BT Sport brand in Scotland from day one has been well received.
“At the start (in 2013) we had conversations about what Scottish football needed to reflect the fans and we thought that was a bit of humour.
“And when it gets heated, and it really does, I love it. I like the fact when you chat to anyone who’s a football fan, they have such a passion for debate and arguments and everything else.
“Everyone on the team agreed from day one that was the way we wanted to go. Personalities developed over the years as you’ve seen with people like Chris Sutton.
“Perhaps things got stronger and more heated but we just rolled with the punches.
“The feedback we got was unbelievable. I’ll say this about Chris – he wears his heart on his sleeve. We could have a phone conversation and argue like hell for 20 minutes, just like we would on air.
“He’s the same guy off-screen as he is on-screen. A lot of people ask me, ‘Does he really mean what he says?’
“I can promise you that he does. He has strong views that divide opinion but he genuinely believes what he says.
“He’s a handful at times but I love the fact he’s a handful. He’s been a good guy to broadcast with.”
Another favourite of Darrell’s was BT Sport’s response to their own ill-judged Betfred Cup semi-final advert which downplayed the involvement of Motherwell and Hibs.
He adds: “We all put our heads together and thought, it wasn’t a great promo but let’s have a laugh about it.
“We got this ridiculously big Hibernian sign printed off and tried to walk through the front doors at Hampden. The poor lady at the front desk must’ve thought we were nutters.
“Things like that I’ll never forget.”
