I have just sat and listened while Sue Smith has just filled 10 minutes with cliches and nothingness. We haven't played our first game and I'm already annoyed with the dull-witted baffoons that are employed as pundits. I'm not bothered by female pundits, by the way. Yes, they technically have as much to add as a fat lad who plays Sunday league, but the only disappointment for me is that every single one of them has just fulfilled the same role of spitting out tired lines as all the dumb dumbs that have come out of the premier league. They have seemingly got the job as a hand out based on their sexual reproductive parts, rather than actually being qualified. Why can't they go and watch football in different leagues for years like Tim Vickery, so they have something worthy of adding beyond "Spurs had a good season last season, but need to win a trophy", or "Man City look really good"? The best people to have as pundits are probably Managers from this current era. Football is incestuous because you can't really get into management unless you have played at the top level, and the current crop have to do a lot more research and put together a philosophy before they even get a job. Old school managers like Souness offer nothing because they had an ego that made them think they knew best without putting in the hard work. I'm sure having someone like Eddie Howe, without the constraints of being asked dumbfuck questions by a moronic drooling Sun-reader, might actually add something to the average person's understanding of the game. Perhaps supplement someone like that with an agent and then a referee and I think watching pre-match build up might be less of a chore. Thoughts?
If a woman has premiership experience then fair play.. happy for her to talk about a premiership match as a key pundit. I’m old school, I want pundits to be ex players for the particular league/level they are to talk about. How can Dave or Doris from Cleckheaton who have no premiership experience ever speak with authority on the subject of premiership games. I just dont get it.
Prem experience doesnt mean they know more about everything .. rio ferdinand springs to mind along with numerous others...
No but they’ve played and know about the pressure etc so can talk from experience. That’s why lower league ****s are pundits on lower league shows like that bell whiff Dave Prutton.
I hate them all equally.. they all talk utter bollocks ... its just kicking a ball about.. far too much talk i just like the football.
Don’t agree about the premiership experience. Most footballers I’ve heard have little of interest to say and invariably trot out cliches and hackneyed comments. I can think of lots of footballers who have misrepresented themselves as experts on the media who would have struggled against the insights of Dave or Doris. It’s not the background that counts but the knowledge of the game and the ability to speak about the game insightfully and interestingly. Sadly, the old boys and now the old girls club seems to hold sway not just with the so called “analysts” but also the co-commentators. I always find it fascinating how stark a contrast there is between football and cricket in this area as i do find most, not all, analysts and co commentators on cricket are actually worth listening to whereas in football...
Pundits are nothing more than highly paid echo chambers, the only passion they ever show is when they talk about the club they support. One or two are great, Neville and Carra I think do a fantastic job, they have their clubs right on their chest, they don't **** about and pretend to be neutral and once that is out in the open they can give their open honest opinions. Shearer is dire, I remember he was on the TrueGeordie podcast and he blew smoke up his arse and pretended he was an amazing pundit. I don't think I've ever heard him say anything even remotely meaningful, he's ****. Ian Wright is charismatic as ****, but his technical knowledge is so poor. Then you have the has beens, Souness who has the tried and tested "I used to kick people on a football field therefore I'm tough" attitude and must be told to scowl and be as obnoxious as possible. I honestly think Keane and Souness would get absolutely battered in a real fight, they're **** houses. I have never once seen Keano even approach a real altercation, he was just a dirty tackler. Now that I think about it... they're all pretty terrible aren't they. Savage and Sutton are a ****ing laugh though, they hate each other I think. I don' think Rio Ferdinand ever played football. He speaks and looks like he's never even seen grass.
Martin keown. Is good mind , Alan Smith well , fooking boring man. Could you imagine being married to that ****. Bah
He does look a few evolutionary steps from homosapiens like. Constantly looks like he would be bemused by a twig with a jabby end. Sometimes he's ok, I tend to wait til MOTD is on iPlayer then fast forward through all the punditry, and haven't watched football focus in years. Soccer Saturday still has the old Top Gear-esque charm of being a boys club, with everyone winding Merson up for getting upset and passionate about things that don't matter. It's not adding much to the game but it's entertaining. I see they have added a few more lasses to the covered games and relegated the old boys to lower league games. It would be ok if the ones they had commentating this afternoon weren't doing their worst Ian Dowie or Kammy impersonations. Neville and Carragher are probably the best, although where I think some people are impressed with Neville's tactical analysis, I think he's poor, which I maintain is the reason he was awful at Valencia. Least he tries though.
Martin keown is the sort of person that takes a crap, doesnt wash his hands and then makes dinner for the family.
Mostly, I just want a commentator to tell me who has the ball. On TV I tend to turn off the sound. Like all football fans, I'm a ****ing expert of the game and its nuances. All the rest is fluff. Ex Managers works, but tend to be the merry-go-round duffers who once had a good season. Let's be honest, footballers are not generally known for their intellect, indeed it is probably easier for a player to come out as gay, than as having a degree (not that it made Le Saux any good). Love the growth of women's football, but would rather watch Sunday afternoon park stuff. As pundits they are dire - even worse than Shearer.
He was funny on MOTD last night. The old offside debate with a bit of VAR chucked in for good mix. Not happy that Sterling’s armpit was offside yesterday
