Clive Tyldesley on feeling "lucky" in commentary with Premier League on Prime
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Clive Tyldesley will be back alongside Andy Townsend for the Premier League clash between Aston Villa vs Manchester City on Wednesday – and another of his old friends will be in attendance.
The veteran wordsmith, who plies his trade across several major broadcasters, will also be reunited with former Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, whom he grew close with during their time at Rangers.
Tyldesley is the in-house commentator at Ibrox, a ground in which Gerrard oversaw 125 wins from 193 fixtures in all competitions before accepting an offer of a new challenge earlier this month.
The 67-year-old discussed their relationship after giving his insight into the changing face of football, describing how the landscape is different from his 1987 ITV debut.
Tyldesley told Daily Star Sport: "It's certainly a very different landscape now to the one it was when I came into the job. We're all a matter of opinion, commentators which I get.
"I had to get it because obviously I've had knock-backs in the last couple of years but that's all fine, it's just the way the game is we're not unlike football players in that sense.
"We get dropped from time to time. That doesnt mean we're not lucky to still be in the business."
Tyldesley can now be heard on CBS Sports as well as talkSPORT and ITV, and earned rave reviews for his Euro 2020 commentary alongside Ally McCoist.
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Another venture comes courtesy of Premier League on Prime Video, with Tyldesley covering Villa vs City this week alongside Townsend as well as Arsenal vs Wolves on December 28.
He adds: "This is the third year of Football on Prime Video, and it's interesting to see where they go next with the consumption of football changing – all the while and they've put together a team of established broadcasters."
Tyldesley, who has sat down with Gerrard ahead of his third fixture as a Premier League manager, has spoken of their relationship and how the former England skipper was never desperate to leave Scotland.
He says: "I've been very impressed about how he's handled himself both at Rangers and in the last few weeks. Once he puts his game face on it's the same game face that he wore alongside the Liverpool captains' armband and I wouldn't have wanted to play against that guy.
"I think he's still as driven and still as proud in achievement and performance. And I can promise you that the Aston Villa players will know when he's in the building.
"He's got an aura about him and even as a friend I've got respect for that on a matchday.
"He got that little bit of X-Factor, and having been fortunate enough to see some truly great managers down the years, they've all had that. You're wary of them and not quite sure what's coming next.
"These people you don't want to upset, and even though I regard Steven as a friend… I think I'd only ever want to upset him once.
"Having been around him in Glasgow for the last 18 months, I saw absolutely no sign whatsoever of him getting itchy feet to leave Rangers.
"I don't think he would've ever considered leaving Rangers apart from receiving an offer from this kind.
"I know there's no such thing as a good time to make a managerial change, but Steven was presented with a choice and he made that decision honestly. But I don't think he was looking for a choice."
Gerrard will be looking for his third consecutive win as Villa boss, but Pep Guardiola's City are in full flow and now sit just a point behind leaders Chelsea after three successive victories of their own.
Amazon Prime Video will be broadcasting 20 Premier League fixtures this season featuring two full rounds of fixtures on the 30th November – 2nd December and 28th – 30th December, including Everton vs Liverpool and Manchester United vs Arsenal.
Clive Tyldesley will provide commentary at the Aston Villa vs Man City match on December 1st.
- Premier League
- Aston Villa FC
- ITV
- Amazon Prime
- Steven Gerrard
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