THE phone would ring and beep with well-wishers, both famous faces and anonymous usernames, offering commiserations and encouragement. It was the call from the blue that gave Clive Tyldesley an opportunity.

As news of his demotion from the role of lead commentator for ITV spread across the industry and the game, Tyldesley had a chance to reflect as well as look forward as he considered any upcoming move. Few, perhaps least of all himself, would have anticipated his next gig coming at Ibrox.

The man whose words have accompanied pictures from euphoric European evenings to the highs and lows of international football now finds himself with one of the best seats in the house for what will be a historic Premiership campaign.

 

The line-up for RangersTV this term – headed by Emma Dodds, who is joined by Alex Rae, Neil McCann, Kevin Thomson and Shelley Kerr – was given a splash of superstardom when the club announced that Walter Smith and Graeme Souness would be contributors.

As the action unfolds, it is Tyldesley that is the main man behind the mic as fans watch their side bid for title glory in very strange circumstances.

“I am a professional football commentator, that is what I do for a living,” Tyldesley said. “As everyone is aware, ITV decided to change my job description with them and so I have had to look at different opportunities because I am now essentially a freelance journalist and broadcaster.

“I wasn’t sure what to make of the initial approach by Rangers because even though my wife is from Scotland and we have family in Edinburgh, I do live 350 miles away from Ibrox.

“It seemed to be a long way for me to be coming to work for an in-house TV company.

"But they made it very clear from the start that because the televising of the games had become so important to their season ticket holders and so important to Rangers fans as w hole that they wanted to put on a show that would not be out of place on network television.

“When they started to talk about Emma, Alex, Neil, Kevin and some other names that are involved in the project, I had to listen to them seriously. They were very persuasive.”

When Rangers put the call in to Tyldesley a few weeks ago, the worst he could have said would have been no. The offer was carefully considered and ultimately accepted.

Matches against St Mirren, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock have been straightforward for Steven Gerrard’s side and Tyldesley has settled into his new role and new surroundings on the Ibrox gantry.

“I took a little bit of a gamble because it is still a football club TV station, it is not STV, not the BBC, not Sky,” he said. “They are employing people who are regularly seen on those channels and the decision has been vindicated very quickly because everything about the operation has been very professional.

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“I have been doing the job long enough to develop fairly high standards of what I expect from my production people around me and those standards have been met every step on the way. I think it is a good production.

“It is a different assignment for me and I am going to mix and match with other broadcast opportunities so I won’t be doing every single game. But I will certainly be coming back to do some more and I will look forward to doing so.”

Those other tasks in recent weeks have included the final stages of the Champions League and the fixture schedule will allow Tyldesley to commentate on Rangers’ Ibrox outings alongside Premier League action a bit closer to home.

At 66, his enthusiasm for the game and the job is still clear to hear and his diminished role at ITV need not lead to him packing away his notes forevermore.

Indeed, if the opportunity were ever to knock across Glasgow, he wouldn’t hesitate at the chance to look at this intriguing title race from both sides of the Old Firm divide.

“You know what is coming, and I mean this genuinely,” Tyldesley said. “If Celtic TV had approached me in exactly the same way, with the same kind of proposal, I would have happily listened to that too.

“I would go far as to say if they wanted me to do every other week then I would do that. That is what I do for a living.

“I am a freelance worker that Rangers have approached to put a commentary on these matches that they are televising and, as I say, so far I am very happy that they have come up with a production that is everything they said and wanted it to be. It is a purely professional decision to come and do their commentaries.”

Ibrox may now be his office every other weekend but Tyldesley’s loyalty remains to his viewers rather than his employers. As he has done for decades, he calls it as he sees it.

He finds himself dipping into the Old Firm goldfish bowl and while the rivalry is intense, there are light-hearted moments to remind that it is only a game.

“I was standing waiting for a taxi after the Kilmarnock match to go and join my wife for a lovely meal out in Glasgow,” Tyldesley said. “The steward who was standing on the door waiting for the taxi, I made conversation and said ‘I thought they played well today. It is a good result’.

“He said ‘speak for yourself, we are just kicking off at Tannadice!’ He said it with a smile on his face and that is how I think it should be.

“I think that is how football fans in Glasgow, in Liverpool, in Newcastle, that is how they enjoy their football. They wind each other up.”

In a game of opinions, Tyldesley has the platform to inform rather than shape viewpoints and the feedback thus far has been appreciated.

Where others on the RangersTV panel can criticise or comment, he offers colour at a time when supporters are unable to get close to the action.

“You, me, Steven Gerrard, Neil Lennon, we all have opinions, everyone in football does,” he said. “It is nice to read favourable opinions, especially when it is a St Johnstone fan that has watched the game and was impressed by my professionalism.

“That probably means more to me than somebody welcoming me to the ‘Rangers family’ and telling me that I am one of ‘The People’.

“If Steven hears something that he doesn’t like and they kick me out the next day, that is fine and part of the profession. I will do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen but I will do my best to remain objective you will never hear me say ‘we’ or put down Celtic out of a lack of respect.”

The move to bring Tyldesley to Ibrox was an audacious one from Rangers but it has more than paid off so far. The offering before and after the game is a polished production, while that famous voice of Tyldesley adds a sense of occasion to action that may not always be at the level he is accustomed to watching.

The enjoyment factor is still there for the broadcasting veteran, but he knows as well as anyone that you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

“I wasn’t really aware until I started to come north a bit more often that I did develop a bit of a reputation with some football fans there that I got excited about England goals that you had to listen to,” Tyldesley said. “I never really gave any thought to that.

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“England, the UK, is a very diverse and multi-national nation right now, but 99 per cent of the people that are tuning in to an England World Cup game desperately, passionately, want England to win that match. I am sorry for those that don’t. I will not be a cheerleader for England in a World Cup or for Rangers in a Premiership game.

“But, as I say, when you are trying to relate to a bespoke audience of Rangers season ticket holders, if a Celtic fan happens to log on and doesn’t like what they hear during the course of the afternoon then I’ll have to put up with that.”