Darran Garnham, Rob Goodchild and Neil Mitchell become armchair football pundits.
Euro 2016 kicks off on June 10 and all eyes are on a seemingly rejuvenated England team to bring home some silverware.
To get into the football spirit, all this week The Source will be giving some industry names the chance to be armchair pundits, picking their tournament winners, top scorers and surprises, all with a licensing twist of course.
Today – Darran Garnham from NBCUniversal, Aardman’s Rob Goodchild and Neil Mitchell from Shop Direct.
Darran Garnham, vp consumer products EMEA, NBC Universal
Tournament winners? France
Who will be the player everyone is talking about? Harry Kane (there might be a little Spurs bias there)
How do you rate England’s chances? Semi final
If you were manager, which licensed character would you play in the England team? Inspector Gadget in goal – Go Go Gadget Arms!
Rob Goodchild, head of licensing, Aardman Animations
Tournament winners? Germany
Player everyone will be talking about? Diego Costa (Spain), for some moment of madness.
Surprise of the tournament? No pressure Dele Alli (England)!
England’s chances? Third place play-offs.
Which licensed characters would you play in the England team? A good back four would rely on strong communication, be able to cover lots of ground and difficult to get around, so the Teletubbies would fit the bill perfectly; Postman Pat and Jess get my nod in midfield; Wallace and Gromit would be my inventive forward players, with Shaun the Sheep in a ‘droving role’; and as this is a Christmas tree formation, I’d have Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer up front.
Neil Mitchell, buyer, toys, Shop Direct
Tournament winners? France
Surprise of the tournament? Belgium – I expect them to make the semi final.
England’s chances? I feel optimistic, but I always do! I think this is England’s best chance in a number of years. I don’t think we’re good enough to win, but would be a big disappointment if we don’t reach the semi final.
Which licensed character would you play in the England team? I would select Bob the Builder and get him to build a wall in front of our defence.
This feature originally appeared in the Summer 2016 edition of Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.
