Best Footy Pundit

[BaileytheQuitter]

Doesn't Chris Kamara count as a pundit or is he a reporter?

 

[South Bank Hank]

David Pleat...

Opinions, eh!?

Can't stand David Pleat, and were it not for the outrageously untalented **** from Birmingham, Trevor Francis, he would be THE worst commentator on the box. Thanks to TF who makes me watch football in silence, he only comes in as second worst.

Listened to Pleat commentating on a Liverpool game some weeks back, and I had to put up with him going on about some fella called Yossi Ben Yanoon, not doing it once, but every time he kicked the freakin' football.

Benayoun. It's not even a complicated name - Ben. A. Youn. How a commentator cannot get a grasp of 22 players' names prior to a game of football is just beyond me.

 

[Slipperduke]

I've never understood the fascination with Ian Wright. Am I missing something? All I see is a monosyllabic mouth-breather who shouts a lot. I thought his behaviour towards Sven Goran Eriksson was appalling and his bias towards his son, while understandable, doesn't do him any favours. He's cleared his desk at the BBC saying that he doesn't want to be a jester anymore, but if all he does is laugh and make inane points, it's hardly surprising that he's treated as one

I suppose I'm probably being a snob, but I want a pundit to tell me things that I don't know. With Collymore you get analysis from an intelligent man watching the game in a more precise way than the rest of us can ever hope to. He won't just tell me that Arsenal are breaking down the left a lot, he'll tell me why they're breaking and what the opposing team needs to do to stop it happening. Ian Wright would just shout and suggest that they buy Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Trevor Francis is a dreadful, dreadful pundit and sometimes he seems to have no comprehension of what's actually happening on the pitch.

 

[SUFC_Al]

I've never understood the fascination with Ian Wright. Am I missing something? All I see is a monosyllabic mouth-breather who shouts a lot. I thought his behaviour towards Sven Goran Eriksson was appalling and his bias towards his son, while understandable, doesn't do him any favours. He's cleared his desk at the BBC saying that he doesn't want to be a jester anymore, but if all he does is laugh and make inane points, it's hardly surprising that he's treated as one

I suppose I'm probably being a snob, but I want a pundit to tell me things that I don't know. With Collymore you get analysis from an intelligent man watching the game in a more precise way than the rest of us can ever hope to. He won't just tell me that Arsenal are breaking down the left a lot, he'll tell me why they're breaking and what the opposing team needs to do to stop it happening. Ian Wright would just shout and suggest that they buy Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Trevor Francis is a dreadful, dreadful pundit and sometimes he seems to have no comprehension of what's actually happening on the pitch.

:clap:

tea. keyboard. spilt.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Opinions, eh!?

Can't stand David Pleat, and were it not for the outrageously untalented **** from Birmingham, Trevor Francis, he would be THE worst commentator on the box. Thanks to TF who makes me watch football in silence, he only comes in as second worst.

Listened to Pleat commentating on a Liverpool game some weeks back, and I had to put up with him going on about some fella called Yossi Ben Yanoon, not doing it once, but every time he kicked the freakin' football.

Benayoun. It's not even a complicated name - Ben. A. Youn. How a commentator cannot get a grasp of 22 players' names prior to a game of football is just beyond me.

I know I'm very much in a minority regarding David Pleat, but I'm not interested in how you pronounce someone's name, I'm interested in what is going on on the pitch. Pleat actually understands tactics, he's got an encyclopaedic knowledge of players and unlike most other pundits has actually heard of the lower leagues. He actually tells me things that I wasn't aware of, whether it will be a tactical change that isn't visible on the narrow lenses of the TV cameras or give us an insight into a player or team I'm not familiar with. So few of the other pundits actually do that.

 

[MrB]

Pleat's tactical chalkboards on the Grauniad website show he still knows what he's talking about.

Of those available I went for JR, not the finished article by any means but better than the others up there.

 

[South Bank Hank]

Trevor Francis is a dreadful, dreadful pundit and sometimes he seems to have no comprehension of what's actually happening on the pitch.

Glad it's not just me then, although Trevor Francis must understand at least some of the game, so astute is he at stating the ****ing obvious!!

Player breaks down the left, beats a man and puts a cross into the box before a striker, running in, heads it past the goalkeeper.

Even though you've just seen exactly that, with your own eyes, Francis seems to think you'll still like to hear him say:

"Well, the player's run down the left there and beat his man, before putting a cross into the box. The striker's just run in and head it past the goalkeeper..."

Thanks Trev.

I know I'm very much in a minority regarding David Pleat, but I'm not interested in how you pronounce someone's name, I'm interested in what is going on on the pitch.

I'll just have to agree to disagree with Yookshire Bly.

 

[EastStandBlue]

I've never understood the fascination with Ian Wright. Am I missing something? All I see is a monosyllabic mouth-breather who shouts a lot. I thought his behaviour towards Sven Goran Eriksson was appalling and his bias towards his son, while understandable, doesn't do him any favours. He's cleared his desk at the BBC saying that he doesn't want to be a jester anymore, but if all he does is laugh and make inane points, it's hardly surprising that he's treated as one

I suppose I'm probably being a snob, but I want a pundit to tell me things that I don't know. With Collymore you get analysis from an intelligent man watching the game in a more precise way than the rest of us can ever hope to. He won't just tell me that Arsenal are breaking down the left a lot, he'll tell me why they're breaking and what the opposing team needs to do to stop it happening. Ian Wright would just shout and suggest that they buy Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Trevor Francis is a dreadful, dreadful pundit and sometimes he seems to have no comprehension of what's actually happening on the pitch.

At last...

Ian Wright is nothing more than Al Murrary with a spoiler and fuel injection system, making him slightly more sporty. This is made even worse when you consider Al Murray is just a character...

He shouts, blames Sven/McClaren, bemoans his under-performing son's exclusion from the squad and shouts some more. His column in The Sun during England Internationals is cringe worthy and is nothing more than what any half cut Ingerland fan would tell you in the pub.

The Happy Mondays had Bez. Sports Journalism has Ian Wright.

 

[Slipperduke]

Glad it's not just me then, although Trevor Francis must understand at least some of the game, so astute is he at stating the ****ing obvious!!

.

I watched a game once, years ago actually, and Nottingham Forest were being put on the rack. Blackburn, I think it was, kept breaking down the flanks and swinging crosses in, time and time again, but they just couldn't score. Every time the ball came in, Steve Blatherwick and whoever was playing alongside him, headed the ball away and out of danger.

Trev's assessment, "Defensively, Forest have been awful tonight."

Awful? Blackburn have had 80% possession and it's nil ****ing nil! Defensively, they've been ****ing brilliant! It's in the midfield where they're ****ing it up, you dour, refuses-to-accept-that-he's-going-bald, tosspot.

Christ, no wonder he couldn't Birmingham promoted.

 

[steveo]

but I'm not interested in how you pronounce someone's name,

just the way it is typed sometimes wrongly then.

 

[Mrs P]

As we appear to have moved on to WORST pundits I'd like to add

DAVID PLATT!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[canveyshrimper]

As we appear to have moved on to WORST pundits I'd like to add

DAVID PLATT!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes he is woeful, but I have to agree with earlier views that Trevor Francis is abysmal.

 

[BoyWonder2]

The best on that list is Jamie Redknapp, got a lot of time for him.

The worst has to be David Pleat or John Barnes.

 

[Uncle Leo]

I know I'm very much in a minority regarding David Pleat, but I'm not interested in how you pronounce someone's name, I'm interested in what is going on on the pitch. Pleat actually understands tactics, he's got an encyclopaedic knowledge of players and unlike most other pundits has actually heard of the lower leagues. He actually tells me things that I wasn't aware of, whether it will be a tactical change that isn't visible on the narrow lenses of the TV cameras or give us an insight into a player or team I'm not familiar with. So few of the other pundits actually do that.

A minority of two at least Matt. I'm a fan of Pleat too, for exactly the reasons you list. Admittedly, his inability to pronounce the names of many players is frustrating, but he brings genuine insight to the commentary box.

 

[Blueshrimper]

Paul Merson is useless. It annoys me when he can't pronounce the name of a player and then laughs about it. Just learn the names before the game, your a professional ffs.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Merson is as bad as Wright. Lawrenson and Hansen are the two most intelligent pundits. I don't have SKY though so don't know what their pundits are like.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Merson is shockingly bad, he even said the MK Dons had blown their chance of promotion to The Championship the other night (he probably meant that they weren't going to get promoted that night & that they still had to wait to win the league but his mouth always seems 3 steps ahead of however many braincells he didn't destroy with drink & drugs!)

Can't stand Pleaty or Atkinson either for the reasons listed above.

But worst for me by far, has to be Garry Birtles. Firstly, his Nottingham accent makes you want to puke, secondly his bias for midlands clubs over anybody else or northern teams if they're playing someone from the south is laughable. He's never got anything insightful to add to the commentary either.

Maybe we should start a "Get Stan Collymore back on TV as a pundit" campaign?

 

[leeblue]

I think its vital that your pundit has been there and done it, Hansen for me every time, 7/8 title euro cups the lot

 

[blue scorpion]

Gary Birtles on sky is pretty good

 

[SUFC Forever]

Hansen for me - by a country mile.