Who should replace Nick Hewer?

[Gavin Chipper]

He's kind of given away that it's an ING selection a couple of times.

[Rhys Benjamin]

I don't mind reverse declarations. You can see this in many games in the past, I think Stelling did it as a matter of course. Even in the Gotcha, Whiteley asks the "wrong" player first on the DIARRHOEA round.

Declaring second is a definite advantage. In my first game, I had a 6 or a dodgy 8. My opponent declared 7 (he told me after he also had the dodgy 8).
Going for the 8 was a no-brainer, and it was in and I took the round.

I don't know if I'd have gone for the 6 or 8 if I'd declared first - the selection looked better than a 6 so might well have risked it anyway - but my opponent would certainly have matched it.

Messing about with the order of the declarations seems wrong and could influence the game result.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. My fault, as usual...

If I was presenting a show I'd either do one or the other as long as it was the same for both players throughout the episode. I might vary that in different episodes (so I may so some episodes with standard and some with reverse) but as long as I was consistent in each particular game I'd be fine.

There is one situation where I deviate from the norm when doing co-event games and stuff, but I believe this to be better:

C1: "6."
C2: "6."
Me: "C2, your word please."

I do this as a preventative copying measure: in a (C1) "6" // (C2) "dodgy 6" // (C1) "GAUZES." // (C2) "same" scenario if you flip that to (C1) "6" // (C2) "dodgy 6" // (C2) "GAUZES??" // (C1) "same" you're punishing C2 for saying "dodgy", which is how it should be.

[Paul Anderson]

Yeah, I too was a bit puzzled by him changing up the order of declarations, that seems sacrosanct to ensure fairness, except in the case of a NWD
The Countdowners group is quite a good barometer of public opinion, and he has as many fans as detractors at the moment. Nick's return should provide an interesting comparison

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

The Countdowners group is quite a good barometer of public opinion, and he has as many fans as detractors at the moment.

I wouldn't agree with that.
"Countdowners" will show a more pro-Colin slant than would occur naturally.
The anti-Colin threads get locked, and there is a general consensus among some of the more vociferous group members and the mods that criticising Colin is a no-no. Therefore the group is not getting as many "Colin sucks" comments as it it would if the group was less heavily moderated. Based on that, I would say it is likely that Colin is getting more bad feedback than good. The #c4countdown hashtag on Twitter would give a slightly more accurate indication of what people think... although the internet does have a habit of accentuating extreme views, so I would take that with a pinch of salt too.

[Marc Meakin]

The Countdowners group is quite a good barometer of public opinion, and he has as many fans as detractors at the moment.

I wouldn't agree with that.
"Countdowners" will show a more pro-Colin slant than would occur naturally.
The anti-Colin threads get locked, and there is a general consensus among some of the more vociferous group members and the mods that criticising Colin is a no-no. Therefore the group is not getting as many "Colin sucks" comments as it it would if the group was less heavily moderated. Based on that, I would say it is likely that Colin is getting more bad feedback than good. The #c4countdown hashtag on Twitter would give a slightly more accurate indication of what people think... although the internet does have a habit of accentuating extreme views, so I would take that with a pinch of salt too.

I think personally, I am more of a Nick must go camp member than a we want Colin member.
Colin is a little too competetitive in his style but at least he has warmth

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

I think personally, I am more of a Nick must go camp member

Well, Nick IS going, so you have your wish. That's a non-issue now.
The important consideration is who the replacement will be?
Mr. Murray a strong front runner.

[Marc Meakin]

I think personally, I am more of a Nick must go camp member

Well, Nick IS going, so you have your wish. That's a non-issue now.
The important consideration is who the replacement will be?
Mr. Murray a strong front runner.

I still doubt he can commit long term without a stand in.
Jeff Stelling tried and couldn't sustain it for too long.
One good thing that might come from this is maybe Colin might ask Kirk Bevins for a stint in dictionary corner

[Gavin Chipper]

I don't mind reverse declarations. You can see this in many games in the past, I think Stelling did it as a matter of course. Even in the Gotcha, Whiteley asks the "wrong" player first on the DIARRHOEA round.

Declaring second is a definite advantage. In my first game, I had a 6 or a dodgy 8. My opponent declared 7 (he told me after he also had the dodgy 8).
Going for the 8 was a no-brainer, and it was in and I took the round.

I don't know if I'd have gone for the 6 or 8 if I'd declared first - the selection looked better than a 6 so might well have risked it anyway - but my opponent would certainly have matched it.

Messing about with the order of the declarations seems wrong and could influence the game result.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. My fault, as usual...

If I was presenting a show I'd either do one or the other as long as it was the same for both players throughout the episode. I might vary that in different episodes (so I may so some episodes with standard and some with reverse) but as long as I was consistent in each particular game I'd be fine.

There is one situation where I deviate from the norm when doing co-event games and stuff, but I believe this to be better:

C1: "6."
C2: "6."
Me: "C2, your word please."

I do this as a preventative copying measure: in a (C1) "6" // (C2) "dodgy 6" // (C1) "GAUZES." // (C2) "same" scenario if you flip that to (C1) "6" // (C2) "dodgy 6" // (C2) "GAUZES??" // (C1) "same" you're punishing C2 for saying "dodgy", which is how it should be.

I still not sure this is clear. I agree that C2 should give their word first having said the length second and this has been discussed on the forum before. But this has nothing to do with them saying "dodgy". It's purely optional and shouldn't be "punished". E.g. if it was C1 who said "dodgy 6" followed by C2 saying "6", you should still ask C2 for their word first.

[Gavin Chipper]

Colin does that thing that a lot of people seem to dislike Nick for - "You're a five-time champion but you're 397 points behind. You'd better get a cunting move on." I don't think he or Nick mean to be mean but it's what Nick has got flack for.

[Callum Todd]

As much as I like Colin, if all this pseudo-controversy within this influenceless and invisibly small niche group leads to him not getting the job, I'm all for it if it advances the cause of #Deeks2021.

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

As much as I like Colin, if all this pseudo-controversy within this influenceless and invisibly small niche group leads to him not getting the job...

I believe this invisibly small niche group (and Apterous) lead to people being cast in Christmas specials a month ago. I'd say that's a little more influence than most online fora enjoy.

What will cause Colin to lose the chance of the permanent slot, will be viewer complaints and the ratings fall. I fear, based on how he's been so far, these things may be happening... which is a shame as he has potential to be a good host.

[Rhys Benjamin]

In fairness the ratings couldn't have got much lower.

[Paul Anderson]

Two points: Firstly, the fact it ain't a done deal already could suggest he may be unable to commit to the role long-term. MOTD looks in need of a refresh and his stock has surely risen since taking over from Nick. Secondly, if the fb group is anything to go by, there will have been a commensurate number of complaints received.
Wishful thinking perhaps

[JackHurst]

I believe this invisibly small niche group (and Apterous) lead to people being cast in Christmas specials a month ago. I'd say that's a little more influence than most online fora enjoy.

I'm not sure if the "special influence" of the forum/apterous folk for the casting of Xmas specials is in any way indicative that the production team plan to use us as a panel to choose the next host.

They used apto/c4c to get contestants because they needed keen people at very short notice who had already done paperwork fro the show before. I'm pretty sure it was just first come first served.

The apto/c4c brigade probably represents something like 0.05% of the shows total viewership, and I'd say the way we view the show compared to the other 99.95% of the viewers is very different. If they cared about the abundance of advice on here about how to run the show then I think they'd end up making the show less successful.

[Marc Meakin]

Why do we need a regular presenter anyway.
You could bypass the celebrity guest by having a different weekly presenter.
So basically he or she would fulfil both roles.
It works on HIGNIFY

[David Williams]

You need a presenter who knows the basic rules - whose turn it is, who declares first, who gives their word first - ensures the game is run scrupulously fairly and in such a way that the typical viewer doesn't even realise there are any rules. What you don't need is a celebrity guest.

It's pretty odd that you need four presenters for a show with only two contestants in the first place. In Countdown's earliest days the presenters were all largely unknown, but these days the 'celebrity' is often the fourth most famous person in the studio. What's the point?

[David Williams]

Comment from a viewer in the Sunday Times yesterday. "Colin Murray . . . just can't stop talking and letting us know how clever he is." I find myself wishing he'd stop trying to build up a crescendo of tension and excitement in a run-of-the-mill heat game, particularly when the contestants clearly aren't particularly concerned about it.

Of all the regular celebrity guests I've always though Richard Madeley would be a good fit.

[Marc Meakin]

Comment from a viewer in the Sunday Times yesterday. "Colin Murray . . . just can't stop talking and letting us know how clever he is." I find myself wishing he'd stop trying to build up a crescendo of tension and excitement in a run-of-the-mill heat game, particularly when the contestants clearly aren't particularly concerned about it.

Of all the regular celebrity guests I've always though Richard Madeley would be a good fit.

Thats definitely a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Madeley loves the sound of his own voice too but unlike Colin he is fluent in bollocks.
I think Giles Brandreth would be cool though

[samir pilica]

John Humphrys is available.