There's always plenty of talk about good and bad pundits, but I've never seen a proper list of them before. So I compiled one last night (I was bored) and placed them in order of preference. TV and Radio included. See what you think – make your own list from the below if you fancy or add to it with ones I've doubtless forgotten (ex players only – I've not included the likes of Alan Green)! Funny how many near the top seem to be the ones we hear the least from... The Punditry Premier League 1. Gary Neville 2. Jimmy Armfield 3. Pat Nevin 4. Leroy Rosenior 5. Lee Dixon 6. Alan Hansen 7. Graham Taylor 8. Jim Beglin 9. Jason Roberts 10. David Pleat 11. Matt le Tissier 12. Charlie Nicholas 13. Roy Keane 14. Graeme Souness 15. Jamie 'Head'knapp 16. Phil Thompson 17. Robbie Savage 18. Gareth Southgate 19. Dion Dublin 20. Matt Holland The Punditry Championship (top six) 1. Martin Keown 2. Tony Gale 3. Danny Mills 4. Mark Bright 5. Mark Lawrenson 6. Paul Merson The Punditry Championship (bottom three) 22. Alan Shearer 23. Ray 'My Word' Wilkins 24. Andy ****ing Townsend Bottom of the Football League 23. Steve Claridge 24. Gary Pallister Anglian Combination Division Four (reserve league) 11. Garth Crooks 12. Niall Quinn
I have no idea why, but I really like Danny Mills. His interpretations of the way a game unfolds far exceeds the entire MOTD shower put together.
Supers, disagree totally about Crooks who has a soft spot for Norwich (not relevant) and is a lot more fair minded generally than many of the others that you rate better. Keane is in your premier league for example? He is a plank! Savage is a prima donna just tries to be contraversial for the sake of publicity and Southgate is a dick. Armfield is a good shout though.
Gary Neville is by far the best English pundit. I disliked him as a player but he gives excellent insight to the game as a pundit.
Completely agree JKC. I think I would promote Martin Keown and relegate over half the PL. Most of the pundits seem to have little interesting to say. I would also relegate Andy Townsend to a tazmanian all girl five a side league to work in tandem with Shearer. It may still be a little much for the pair of them! Bah!
i haven't rated them on whether they have a soft spot for norwich or if they are fair-minded – i've judged them on whether they know what they are talking about! do they have any insight or just talk rubbish? crooks is an abomination of a football pundit. i genuinely cannot remember him ever getting anything right. i even recall lee dixon once telling him to 'stop talking nonsense' - that is the degree of ineptitude he possesses. when i started doing it i thought people like keane and savage would be right at the bottom, but after thinking about it, they really aren't as bad as many others. savage is certainly an idiot but at least he offers something controversial at times, whereas someone like lawrenson rambles on making annoying quips that aren't funny and hold no relevance to the conversation. niall quinn for example is the worst pundit i have ever heard. he literally knows nothing - quite why sky persist with him is beyond me - along with 'butch' wilkins!! i don't know, maybe they do it as an inside joke?! southgate, likewise, is pretty dull but he often talks sense - he's just bland. that doesn't make him a dick, it just makes you want to go to sleep. also, there is nothing wrong with a pundit showing his bias - much rather that than try and hide it like pallister or someone like that. we all know who they played for and who they are fond of - don't pretend you're impartial! just give us insight and be interesting, that's all i ask (pat nevin has the bias/insight thing bang on)
Graham Taylor is passed it now, reduced to parrot-like repetition of standard phrases and a weary "please put me out to grass" tone to everything he says. Mind you, you could say that about a number of them. Even Jimmy Armfield is getting that way, although at least he understands the game and has some insight. Gary Neville, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown are the top three as far as I'm concerned; they at least try to retain some semblance of dignity and independence from the media circus approach to which the rest pitifully succumb.
hmm, a couple of positives for keown then. surprising. he does try to talk with insight and knowledge but he isn't half wrong a lot of the time!
Good table and a good idea. I generally agree with most of this. I wouldn't say I rate Crooks as a pundit, but I definitely think you're being a bit harsh on him. He's not bright and he says some stupid things, but he at least tries to give reasons for his opinions and even while he sometimes states the obvious, he's better than Claridge and Townsend and at least as good as Shearer. I would also relegate Southgate, who I think is completely incoherent. The tricky one for me is Paul Merson - he sounds like a bloody idiot on Sky, but some of his written articles are quite good and his analysis is thorough. He also at least goes for a controversial angle at times when doing his predictions, which, while they can be wrong, he at least attempts to justify them with some analysis that shows he has actually thought about each team and their form. He shows more knowledge of teams outside the top six or so than the others in the division you've put him in.
Just got back to office quicker than i imagined, so you boys can have a whole afternoon of me, aren't you lucky. then I'm gone!
Top 5 are worth listening to - the rest probably not. Personally find Townsend the most annoying but Shearer runs him close.
You want to hear something new with a pundit Agree with the likes of Nevin who's intelligent, Hansen still has it. Dion Dublin however is one of the worst of the worst, so Alan Sheareresque in his describing of what everyone can see, really bad. Leroy Rosenior I also don't rate, boring vocal style and boring content. Lee Dixon is also very good and I also like Keown. One of the best pundits I've seen was Leornado during one of the World Cups for the BBC, I know I'm all very pro foreign players but it is fantastic to hear new ideas which you rarely get to listen to when foreign players are talking about football. They have cliche's we haven't heard before
Lee Dixon for me and Neville on Monday night football. The only problem is Neville winds me up because of the way he looks. But speaks sense and know his formations and tactics very well, also gives you an insight into the way the players of both teams are feeling at the end of the 1st half and what he thinks the manager is probably saying.
