Karel Häring on becoming a face of the Premier League for Czech soccer fans
As a presenter on Canal+ Sport Karel Häring is one of the faces of the English Premier League for many Czech football fans. How has he managed the switch after decades as a print journalist? And what is it like working, and travelling, with star player turned pundit Karel Poborský? I discussed these questions and more with Karel Häring at our Prague studios.
When I first met you, you were a print journalist for Deník Sport. You were a print journalist for about 20 years. Now you’re one of the faces of football on Canal+ Sport. How did you make that transition to TV work?
“I think it came naturally. As you mentioned, I was a print journalist for more than 20 years."
“But with the change of the media, with so many podcasts and other platforms I started to be part of podcasts like Fotbal fokus and a few others, so that improved my speaking abilities."
“I don’t say I’m perfect, but I slowly started to move onto other platforms."
“And maybe that was the reason why I got the offer from Canal+ Sport when they bought the rights for the Premier League."
“We started in 2022. It wasn’t easy sometimes. But it’s something I really like, because it’s a great honour for me to be part of such a big competition – I call it a big circus, but in a good way – as the Premier League.”
What has been the hardest thing to learn about being on TV? Or the hardest skill to master?
“There are two things that I would still call a nightmare for me. It’s not going live."
“If I am live and I am at the stadium and there are 60,000 people and it’s noisy but I can hear the questions on my earphone from the presenter, that’s OK for me and I can answer."
“But what is difficult is when I have, for instance, to speak for three minutes and to look at the camera. That’s quite difficult for me."
“And I have to admit I like interviews when we are in an office, or sometimes we have 10-minute interviews with players via Zoom. That’s OK."
“But when I do post-match interviews, you are in a small interview area, there’s a player or coach, a camera operator and four other journalists. It’s a small room and naturally you feel that you should be quiet."
“That’s my problem: When I’m asking them, my voice is quiet."
“You get the name of the player you are going to speak to five minutes before.”
“Also you get the name of the player you are going to speak to five minutes before, so you have to prepare some general questions and then you have to quickly react."
“So this is probably the most difficult thing for me.”
Also it’s in English, right? And the player maybe doesn’t have great English.
“I think the language issue is fine. But sometimes you can speak with players who don’t like the media, who are shy."
“A fresh experience from two weeks ago, when I was at a Spurs-Man City game, was when I got Nico O’Reilly from Man City."
“And a more experienced journalist based in England, who is from Israel, told me, Sorry, it won’t be a very good interview."
“Because Nico O’Reilly gave very short answers.”
Also he’s 20 or so – he’s very young.
“Yes. Also he was frustrated because City lost a two-goal lead. He’s young, not so experienced."
“So sometimes it’s very difficult when you put a question and the answer is very short – you have to be very quick."
“Ten minutes later I did an interview Thomas Frank and it was the opposite; he was very talkative after a good result for Tottenham.”
What have been your best experiences of interviewing players, especially in post-game interviews?
“In terms of big names, I can say Virgil van Dijk. But also it was a disaster [laughs]."
“It was quite funny. It was October 2022, after a game between Liverpool and West Ham United."
“Of course I had asked Tomáš Souček before the game. After the game all my questions were prepared for Tomáš Souček; they were in Czech, so I was comfortable."
“But the guy from EPL production came to me and said, No Thomas today, but you have Virgil. I was so shocked that my reaction was, OK, but I wanted Tomáš."
“And the guy looked at me like I was crazy because I didn’t want to speak to Virgil."
“I said, OK, I’m happy to speak to Virgil. But I was just starting to prepare my questions and suddenly I saw him coming."
“So I had no questions. I started with some basic question like, Can you sum up the game? And when I was preparing a second question in my head, I heard him already talking about this topic – so I was lost."
“I asked him my second question, and then the third one was terrible."
“My only luck was that there were technical problems, so the interview wasn’t broadcast. It never went out publicly."
“So I have a picture of myself doing an interview with Virgil but it was terrible.”
Like me, you’re a Liverpool fan. Were you at the game against Spurs in April? That was when Liverpool won and then won the league in front of their own fans for the first time in decades.
“Yes, I was there. I was very lucky."
“We were a three-member group: Me, Karel Poborský, our main pundit, and we also invited Vladimír Šmicer to experience the possibility of Liverpool winning the title at Anfield."
“It was a great trip. We spent two or three days together. We stayed in a big house, so it was quite funny having breakfast and so on."
“The game started with a quick goal from Spurs but the reaction from the stadium and from the players was amazing. And when Liverpool scored their third goal, I think, Vladimír Šmicer started to celebrate and to sing, Campeone! Campeone! Karel Poborský was smiling."
“It was a great experience, one of the highlights of my three and a half years at Canal+ Sport.”
What do you find the best grounds to visit in England?
“If we don’t talk about Anfield, Old Trafford, the Emirates – the stadiums of the big clubs – I definitely like St. James’ Park in Newcastle."
“The stadium is really beautiful. It’s in the centre. And the atmosphere was great."
“I was lucky to be there for a game, Newcastle against Manchester United, which had an unusual kick-off time of Saturday 8 pm."
“It was a really cold day, it was December, and you can imagine how some of the supporters already came to the stadium…”
They had a few bottles of Newcastle Brown before they came.
“Yes, exactly. The atmosphere was amazing and Newcastle won 1:0. I went back to my hotel through the city centre and there was a real mood of celebration.”
You mentioned Karel Poborský, who’s your main pundit on Canal+ Sport. When he was a player he did not seem like somebody who one day would be a successful TV pundit. He seemed like a very quiet guy, kind of introverted even. What is he like to work with and travel with?
“It’s a great experience. I think it’s not only about me but about my colleagues, my younger colleagues."
“They of course took Karel Poborský as a football legend and now they can speak to him and make jokes – because Karel has a great sense of humour, with ‘English’ dry jokes."
“We can feel from him that he is really happy to do it with us and he respects us."
“He doesn’t spend only half an hour with us before the studio and then leave straight after. Sometimes we go for a beer, or to watch a game together."
“When we are in England we are always together, so it’s a great experience."
“As to your question, he admitted that when he told his wife that he would like to start TV work she was surprised. She said, You want to speak on TV, you who say two words in one hour at home?"
“Some former players think in the studio they can talk without deeper preparation, just drawing on their own experience.”
“But, yes, he’s really good. And what we really admire… some former players think that in the studio they can talk without deeper preparation, just drawing on their own experience."
“You can do that, but when you are repeatedly in the studio, sometimes you run out of new things to say, new ideas. Sometimes you have a feeling that you repeat yourself."
“But Karel is so professional and he does very deep preparation, so it’s a great pleasure to work with him.”
And I guess the Premier League also provide you with huge amount of stats and data?
“Absolutely.”
At Canal+ Sport you also have Jaromír Bosák. I’ve heard a lot of commentators in my life, following football, and he is one of the best. He’s so fresh and original in the things that he says. How much do you feel he is an asset to your station?
“He is the biggest name among football commentators in the country, for many years – decades."
“For us Jaromír Bosák was definitely a big signing.”
“And it was very important for us, especially at the start, when the new channel was launched, to get such a big name."
“So for us it was definitely a big signing.”
You must think about this quite a lot: What kind of analysis makes for the best television?
“I think we are all inspired by English TV and sports channels."
“So I really prefer a mix of proper and interesting analysis – but it has to also be fun."
“When you are in the studio, you are not at a football coaching licence exam.”
“Because sometimes we forget that football is entertainment, it’s a show."
“When you are in the studio, you are not at a football coaching licence exam.”
What do you make of the development in England where now you have these former players like Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher, who, if they make a statement, make bigger news than what the managers say or what current players say? They’re kind of dominating football, all these years after they stopped playing.
“I think it’s very difficult, especially for Manchester United."
“In the 1990s, when punditry was just starting, it was difficult for Liverpool, because Mark Lawrenson and Alan Hansen, Liverpool legends, were the main pundits."
“And when Liverpool didn’t do well in the ‘90s, they were also critical."
“But it’s moved on since then and now punditry is dominated by former Manchester United players."
“As I said, I really admire them. It’s always inspiring when you see some really deep analysis with Jamie Carragher, the ex-Liverpool player, on Monday Night Football."
“But with so many podcasts now, they want to be popular, they go for clicks, for headlines, and for some big statements."
“For example the recent case with Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, where they were offensive to Lisandro Martinez; they made jokes about him, even before the game."
“And it struck me as quite cheap from them. It was only about making headlines. For me it was too much."
“Sometimes now you can see that they have a lot of power – and they know it."
“So sometimes it’s too much, but still I think it’s very good inspiration for us.”
