The best and worst football pundits

rob316

What are in your opinion the best and worst football pundits?

My list of bad would far outweigh the good and I'm sure most are the same. Some absolute scutter they peddle.

Good:
The Irish lads - Kerr, Liam Brady,Sadlier, Duff
Gary Neville (before he left to manage)
Jermaine Jenas
Jamie Carragher
Steve McManaman

Bad:
Phil Neville - brutal just brutal, I turn him off when he's on MOTD
Henry - boring
Shearer - the most contradictory pundit I can think of
Mark Lawrenson
Hargreaves
Danny Murphy - his commentary is even worse - like a man about to throw in the towel.
Michael Owen.

Just aswell some of these lads made a living kicking a ball as they are not cut out for the media.

Mocha Joe

Steve Mcmanaman good?

Harry Palmr

Worst - Every ****ing ex-pro ever. If they impart a flash of insight it's purely by chance. A confluence of words that actually means something. Infinite monkeys/typewriter stuff.

GavRedKing

Jamie Redknapp.

Theres far too many ex-footballers that are now pundits, only because they played the game. They cant articulate their points well enough so revert to tired cliches.

Forgot Merson actually. hes brutal, pretty much any of the Sky pundits are.

McManaman is another on BT that if hes on, I'm finding another stream.

citytillidie

Bad the ex pros

Good the Jurnos in the BT European Goal show

Rushden

If I could understand any of what Henry says it would help .......but yeah he's awful. Rather than analyse a goal he just describes what we're seeing on camera .

"It's a good pass from Silva to aguero"
"And WOW that finish , bottom corner"

Great insight

MD1990

I think Henry is good. Find his insight into Pep style interesting.
I don't find the RTE pundits are great.

Neville is good but overrated. Remember he said City cannot win the league as they don't have a strong spine & the PL is all about pace & power. Nonsense. Surprised he hasn't got more flak for this.


Carragher is very annoying commentating on a game. But a good pundit in the studio.
Ferdinand on BT is a decent pundit too.

The rest all poor. Don't put in much research.

The Journo's are better because they have to work harder & have the knowledge to get where they are (don't rely on their name) particularly the one's who follow the European leagues

I enjoy

Sid Lowe
Graham Hunter
Guillem Balague (apart from transfers)
Laurens
Horncastle
Honigstein

among others.

rob316

How could I have forgotten Redknapp. He will basically lick up to the more famous player in the studio.

GBX

Garth Crooks .. can't stand him.

SlickRic

Phil Neville is by far the worst of the lot. it's not even close. and I include Redknapp, Phil Thompson, Garth Crooks and Hargreaves in that. he's impossible to listen to unless you've a hard-on for Utd and you've no interest in hearing objective insight.

it makes me physically angry that he seems to get so many gigs.

rob316

Ya I reckon Phil Neville will be top of everyone's list.

Mr.Crinklewood

Brian Kerr is wonderful.

Turtwig

Henry - the best in the UK imo. .
Carragher pretty good.
Then
Brian Kerr
Rio and Gary Neville's ok.


The rest are just shyte. Every action is either terrible or amazing and exactly how it looks. Nothing is actually broken down in finer pieces.

Roanmore

Robbie Savage has to be the worst, loads of shouting and rubbish analysis.

Fitz*

Phil Neville & Danny Murphy out and away the worst. Lawernson, Merson, Shearer and a few others are pretty bad too.

Carra is great, as is Gary Neville usually and I like Richard Sadlier. Actually another ex-player worth listening to is Joey Barton (I know). There was a podcast with him on the Anfield Wrap there a few months ago and was excellent. Talked about why more players should go into coaching and not punditry and the reasons why they pick punditry.

I don't have BT so can't watch a lot of of their punditry but do enjoy some of the clips that involve Gerrard & Lampard.

SlickRic

Roanmore wrote: »

Robbie Savage has to be the worst, loads of shouting and rubbish analysis.

At least it's entertaining on some base level.

The likes of Phil Neville and Hargreaves aren't watchable. Even Crooks is entertaining in a 'watching a car slowly cash into a building' kind of way.

IncognitoMan

Jamie Redknapp offers insight you just can't get anywhere else to be fair.

I remember a couple of years back they were doing a piece on Kasper Schmeichel on sky and following in his dad's footsteps. Jamie offered this unbelievable insight :

"Peter Schmeichel will be like a father figure to Kasper Schmeichel."

Who would have known?

Skylinehead

Lawrenson is actually quite good on the radio, as is John Giles.

Icaras

I always assumed the kept Merson around for the stupid things he says.

major bill

Paul Merson, I honestly think you'd be better off going down the local boozer with a camera and asking people for their opinions. He is without a doubt the biggest lil Englander going.

Insect Overlord

Skylinehead wrote: »

Lawrenson is actually quite good on the radio

I wouldn't agree with that, not any more. I've turned off the radio a few times rather than listen to Lawro. He's just unbearably negative sometimes, complaining and complaining about the standards instead of trying to offer some colour for people listening. Fair enough if you get stuck working on a boring match, but you're still there to make it interesting for the folks who can't see it!

Edit: I should say that I like listening to him when he's called to talk about topical stuff. He's an entertaining listen for that. I just don't like him on live commentary.

I like seeing Neville (Gary) and Carragher working together.

Kerr knows his stuff but I can't listen to his accent.

I'm actually happy we can't get BT Sports at home because most of their crew are abysmal. Do they still do that bit where they get an ex-ref to butt in with some pointless piece of opinion?

5starpool

Not really a pundit, but Alan Smith is the absolute worst co-commentator to listen to.

WesternZulu

Andy "that's better" Townsend is an awful co-commentator!

Really like Richie Sadlier, he is one of my favourites, well able to get his point across and provide some insight without having to be controversial for the sake of it like many others.

rob316

Its astonishing how poor a knowledge of the game some of them have considering they made a career out of playing it.

I'd like to see more lesser known players in punditry, Sadlier is a prime example of this.

Skylinehead

Insect Overlord wrote: »

I wouldn't agree with that, not any more. I've turned off the radio a few times rather than listen to Lawro. He's just unbearably negative sometimes, complaining and complaining about the standards instead of trying to offer some colour for people listening. Fair enough if you get stuck working on a boring match, but you're still there to make it interesting for the folks who can't see it!

Edit: I should say that I like listening to him when he's called to talk about topical stuff. He's an entertaining listen for that. I just don't like him on live commentary.

I like seeing Neville (Gary) and Carragher working together.

Kerr knows his stuff but I can't listen to his accent.

I'm actually happy we can't get BT Sports at home because most of their crew are abysmal. Do they still do that bit where they get an ex-ref to butt in with some pointless piece of opinion?

Yeah I was talking more about him on The Last Word, he's awful at commentary.

Laois_Man

Nobody has mentioned either Martin Keown, Kevin Kilbane or amazingly, Eamon Dunphy yet

KJeown is one of the predictable and lazy ones

I find Kilbane quite good

And as for Dunphy - I'm not sure he should be taken seriously as a pundit at all which is maybe why he hasn't been mentioned

Billy86

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Worst - Every ****ing ex-pro ever. If they impart a flash of insight it's purely by chance. A confluence of words that actually means something. Infinite monkeys/typewriter stuff.

Nah, I like Hamann, thought Ardilles was decent, Carragher is OK and before he left coaching interests etc get in the way Gary Neville was probably the best pundit on TV and one of the better ones across all sports generally.

wonga77

Ray Houghton and Ronnie Whelan shocking omissions imo. Both make me change channel if possible

GreeBo

wonga77 wrote: »

Ray Houghton and Ronnie Whelan shocking omissions imo. Both make me change channel if possible

Ugh Ronnie Whelan.

Its like he isn't even watching the match but is listening to someone else on the radio.

Every comment is after the other commentator says something.

Always switch when he is on.

wonga77

Every single time with Houghton, if the player score "the keeper should be doing better there". If the keeper saves "The striker has to score from there"
There's just no winning with him. Sickens my sh1te

ricero

Lee Dixon is the most underatted pundit in football for me. Always enjoyed his insight and opinions.

Skylinehead

Ron Jones and Brian Kerr on Today FM is the best commentary team in the world.

Arghus

Kerr is my absolute favourite. Love the man. He clearly loves the game and he's quite funny too.

He doesn't seem to get a lot of love but I find Rio to be an interesting pundit: he's good at explaining the mindset of players out on the field.

Giles is still interesting to listen to on the radio: player names can be bit iffy, but what he has to say about the game is at it's core rock solid stuff.

I can put up with most of the others aside from Phil Neville, Jamie Redknapp and my two personal most hated: Ronnie Whelan and Danny Murphy.

Ronnie might be a lovely fellow in real life, but, by God, is he a negative Nelly to listen to on TV. A cracking unstoppable volley into the top corner is always a case of "keeper should be doing better there". A miraculous sinewing stretching point-blank save is a chance that "the strikers got to score there". I honestly think he feels no joy watching football. I certainly feel no joy listening to him.

Danny Murphy is the pits. He constantly has a look on his face like someone has done a giant Guinness infused ripper of a fart about an inch from his nose and he speaks nothing but received wisdom and biased claptrap, all delivered with the slow ponderous monotone solemnity of an egomaniac who confuses his own dullness with profoundity. He's crap!

McGrath5

Is Michael Owen still getting any work these days? He was truly shocking.

The only pundits I watch are the RTE lads, and that's for the entertainment., not the punditry.

I don't think any pundits ever say anything that actually educates the viewer do they? If you are watching the game, it's pretty obvious what's happening without needing Gerrard, Neville, Henry etc. to tell you. The only reason these spoofers have a job doing it is because they are famous ex footballers.

So for me.

The best - RTE (for the laughs)
The worst - the rest

Arghus

McGrath5 wrote: »

Is Michael Owen still getting any work these days? He was truly shocking.

Michael Owen is so dull that I kind of enjoy it at this stage. It's like a Andy Kaufman type performance art piece of impossibly dull ex-pro.

LiamoSail

Can't believe Ian Wrignt hasn't been mentioned. A man that declared he "was too upset to talk about it" while on a panel to do just that after England had been knocked out of either the euros or WC.

He's like a caricature of a stroppy or excitable teenager depending on how his team have done.

LiamoSail

Robbie Savage has an Armani logo tattoo. If you find yourself regularly agreeing with his analysis or opinion, you should probably re-evaluate your views

McGrath5

Arghus wrote: »

Michael Owen is so dull that I kind of enjoy it at this stage. It's like a Andy Kaufman type performance art piece of impossibly dull ex-pro.

He was so exceptionally dull, but some of the lines he came out would you leave you scratching your head.

Rekop dog

I like a combo of good journos and ex players.

Like journos seem to satisfy the hipster fan as they can associate with a fellow anorak, and they have a much greater insight into the game beyond the premier league. Even someone like Michael Cox has a deep understanding of the tactical side.

But you also get insights from ex pros that the journos find it harder to offer without for example 500 odd games playing at the highest level. They may not know the next star coming through at St Etienne, or be as articulate but there's some subtle insights the likes of Neville or Carra offer that would be difficult without actual hands on experience.

Iused2likebusts

LiamoSail wrote: »

Can't believe Ian Wrignt hasn't been mentioned. A man that declared he "was too upset to talk about it" while on a panel to do just that after England had been knocked out of either the euros or WC.

He's like a caricature of a stroppy or excitable teenager depending on how his team have done.

Ye it has to be Ian wright . His motd input is generally him laughing or saying that a striker needs to get in there. He said Ashley Williams has been unbelievable under big Sam and has really turned his form right around a few weeks back after they kept a cs against Huddersfield which was Sam's first game in charge .

Harry Palmr

Actually there is one ex-pro I quite like as he doesn't beat about the bush - ex Blackburn Rovers legend Chris Sutton.

Agent Coulson

Listening to Shay Given on the radio where he keeps saying you guys in the media can say this and that.


Shay you are on more radio stations and tv stations than any ex pro at the moment you are the bloody media and are being paid to say something.

mugsymugsy

Skylinehead wrote: »

Ron Jones and Brian Kerr on Today FM is the best commentary team in the world.

I do like them but I get annoyed by Ron Jones always saying "now then".

Now then I have said that you will probably notice it if you hadn't previously.

John Giles talking on news talk often just rambles on and talks about a story from 30 years ago. In my day xyz. Nice guy but think he shouldn't be a regular contributor.

Shred

There's a few bad ones but Peter Schmeichel for me is the absolute worst, he just won't shut the fúck up with inane (often biased) ****e any time I've seen him. He used to be on BBC a few years ago but they got rid of him. He was on MNF a couple of months ago and was absolutely cringeworthy.

Outside of the usual ones I do like Rio, Lampard and Gerrard. Keown is another awful one.

Agent Coulson

The best is hands down the stupidly cancelled European Football Show team they are the best pundits in the business.

thegreengoblin

Can't believe anyone hasn't mentioned Graeme Souness yet! He's a strange one. He is two different personalities depending on whether he's on Sky or TV3/RTE.

On Sky he has the odd good moment but when you have the worst pundit in TV history aka Jamie Redknapp beside him, as is usually the case, it's understandable if you lapse into cliches and general soul-sapping sh1teness. The Liverpool bias comes out sometimes too much for my liking.

On Irish TV he's a different story. Cuts through the nonsense usually and gives it straight. An abrasive character who's not for everyone.

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Actually there is one ex-pro I quite like as he doesn't beat about the bush - ex Blackburn Rovers legend Chris Sutton.

He trolls the **** out of Rangers from any clips I see on the net :pac:

Skylinehead

mugsymugsy wrote: »

I do like them but I get annoyed by Ron Jones always saying "now then".

Now then I have said that you will probably notice it if you hadn't previously.

Now that you mention it

I love his Welsh lilt.

Rossi IRL

Chris Sutton is brutal.


I kind of like Robbie Savage, tells it how it is

DeanAustin

Agree that Souness is great. My favourite of the lot. I like Neville and Carragher and the RTE lads. I love Dunphy but purely for entertainment value. I also despise Roy Keane but for entertainment value, you would struggle to beat him. Always interesting.

Of the rest...most I don’t have an opinion on. I don’t like Hargreaves and Savage because they talk a lot of nonsense. Wright is also very poor. As someone else said, Houghton and Whelan are unbelievably negative.