On a show that sells itself on providing the most up-to-date results service available you can see his point but, at the time, and at least as far as the viewers are concerned, everything is almost as it should be. The scores from the Premiership and Championship, as the old First Division is now called, are covered because Sky has reporters or panellists at every game, but the other two divisions and non-league updates have to be relayed directly to Stelling from the Press Association.He receives his countdown coming back from the break, smiles into the camera and tells the viewing public, “We have a problem with our vide-printer which we’re trying to solve but, in the meantime, here are the half-time scores.” He does not miss a beat.Later he will describe the loss of the vide-printer as making him feel “like a swimmer who has lost his trunks”. On the other side of the glass, presenter Jeff Stelling can hear what’s going on through his headphones. To say that the gallery in studio one is a blur of frenetic activity underscored by a ferocious tension would be an understatement. There are 50 screens, two banks of expensive equipment, several computers and eight extremely stressed people packed into a space the size of a caravanette.

This issue is an India special marking bmi’s launch of services there, so you never forget it’s an inflight mag.. A clean and modern design using plenty of white space, but with the sort of front cover you’ve seen in dozens of newsagents’ shelves. It has a simple layout and user-friendly typeface, but some articles are just squeezed in among the adverts. bmi VOYAGERJust relaunched so may need a few issues to bed down. Alaska Airlines prints long articles that can properly explore the subject matter Strong on “great outdoors” articles.

Alaska Airlines ALASKA AIRLINESHow predictable: a cover feature on huskies But this is a great read, written by an expert in the field. A quarterly publication, it knows the value of good photography But a lack of picture captions is slightly irritating. Adria is printed on rich satin paper, with a crisp modern design. Adria Airways ADRIAInflight journals should enhance an airline’s image, and based on this one Adria Airways must be a quality outfit. Carlos publishes short stories, which, frankly, should be an ingredient of every good inflight magazine.

But the article is short, and leaves an impression that this magazine is about just filling space. Virgin Atlantic CARLOSUnlike anything else on the market, but available only in upper class. The award-winning Carlos is a booklet printed on a sort of expensive writing paper, and oozes quality Cartoons to browse and amuse, plus good writing. The dreary front cover trumpets a major feature about Dell Computers. Whereas other mags have gadgets sections promoting computing or music equipment, Continental’s page includes a hedge trimmer. Continental Airlines CONTINENTALThe unoriginal title says it all. But surely not all easyJet’s passengers are teenagers with short attention spans.