Behind the scenes at BT Sport Score...madness, mayhem and fun all round

As host Mark Pougatch and his four guests gather on the elongated sofa inside the vast BT Sport Score Studio every Saturday, no-one present can predict what is coming next.

Top broadcasters like to spend time preparing for each and every appearance on camera, but this is one show where speed of thought needs to fill the void left by the lack of groundwork that can be done before the cameras roll.

A television show that features four ex-footballers – watching matches on television screens their audience cannot see would not appear to be a format that would work, but the polished presenting skills of Pougatch and his panel make this compelling viewing.

Chris Sutton, Robbie Savage, Dean Saunders and John Hartson were the panelists as Yahoo Sport were invited to take a sneak peak of the BT Sport Score studios, with the fast pace of a Saturday afternoon of football taken up a few levels when you are working on this show.

Mark Pougatch – Presenter

It is not a straightforward broadcasting job and a lot of what I do on BT Sport Score is filter information and try to pick out what the viewer is most likely to be interested in.

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I might be told a stat or a fact about a player and just as I’m about to say it, another piece of news will be shouted into my ear and that may be more important than what I was about to say. It is all about editorialising and it is great fun.

It is a very different skill to presenting a live TV show with a panel as this is pretty much unscripted. It is all about reacting to what happens and trying to give the viewer the best experience possible, even though they cannot see what we are looking at on our screens.

You have to be on your game every week. I might have Robbie Savage and Chris Sutton having a full scale row in front of me and have someone shouting in my ear about a Luton Ton full-back getting sent off while also spotting that Romelu Lukaku has scored for Manchester United.

Getting all that information across in the right order is a challenge, but it one I really enjoy every time I do it. No two shows are the same, every week is a step into the unknown and I love that aspect of this.

In terms of preparation, what I need to have at my fingertips at this late stage of a season is who is next on the agenda for each of the teams at the top and bottom of the table and looking at goal scoring runs people may be on.

Dean Saunders

You can do some preparation to a point and I spend the hour before we go on trying to remember what has happened in the week that has just gone.

You see so many games on TV these days that I find they can blend into one big match and it is easy to forget who scored the goals for Arsenal in the Europa League last Thursday, who was caught off-side in a game that might have happened last weekend.

It is important to have this information in the right order and so long as you keep your mind on the job in hand, BT Sport Score is one of the best shows you can be part of. It’s great fun.

Chris Sutton

Crazy is a good word to sum up this show.

It is all about people having opinions and occasionally they will not fit in with mine. I’ve never been afraid to say what I think about an incident, a player or a manager and will happily enter into a debate with anyone who doesn’t share that view. We don’t want to sit on the fence.

The idea is that we are like the guys in the pub discussing a match and I don’t have a problem being forthright in my views. Most if the time, my opinion is right and there are a few other people on this show who need to get their facts right at times, which I have pointed out to them on occasion.

John Hartson

I enjoy working on BT Sport Score because it is fun from the minute you walk in the door until the moment the camera stops rolling.

As a football fan, you get a great view of the biggest games on a Saturday and the debates we have are always lively and good fun. The banter we have in the green room before the game is almost like it was when I was a player. We often watch the early match on a Saturday and get in the mood for the show before we go on air and the real fun starts.

You never know what is coming next on this show. We don’t write the script as that is done by the matches and the players, but hopefully people enjoy it.

Matt Curtis – Producer

The premise of his show is pretty simple. Mates sit around watching football matches on their sofas up and down the country every week and the fun they have doing that is great to be a part of.

The long sofa we have set up in the BT Sport Score studio allows for that kind of atmosphere to be brought from the homes of our views and onto their TV screens and the reaction we have had – as well as our viewing figures – suggests we are doing something right.

Our guests are assigned one match, but they also have access to every other game. So the moment a controversial incident arises or a great goal is scored, their screen will split and they will be able to still have the game they are on and also discuss a big moment in another game.

Sometimes, one guest will think what the other one is saying is ridiculous and we are quite happy for them to discuss this difference of opinion in whatever colourful way they see fit.

Chris Sutton is quite an abrupt and blunt character and he tells it as he sees it. You don’t want people sitting on the fence being wall flowers and telling each other how great they all are.

Every goal that goes in on a Saturday means a hell of a lot to at least one of our viewers , whether it is Accrington Stanley or Manchester United. We try and convey that excitement in the best way we can.

Watch BT Sport Score on BT Sport 1, BT Sport Showcase and live on Twitter every Saturday from 2:30pm. For more information, visit www.btsport.com