Topic: Who is the best pundit? 2021 edition

[redgriffin73]

Sadly I can't vote for Merson 3 times so I went for Merson, Le Tissier & Sherwood

Same. What a trio of twunts.

[Juan Loco]

Ble Mae Steve Claridge?

[Ziltoid]

I had to vote for Garth Crooks

[rafathegaffa83]

For those who live outside the UK and Ireland, be thankful you've never had to encounter the high-pitched, Manc-infatuated Irish drawl of ESPN's Tommy Smyth. The worst colour commentator by far.

[teganyavo]

The answer is unquestionably Brent Musberger. Consider yourselves lucky that there's an ocean separating you from that shithead.

[teganyavo]

For those who live outside the UK and Ireland, be thankful you've never had to encounter the high-pitched, Manc-infatuated Irish drawl of ESPN's Tommy Smyth. The worst colour commentator by far.

tommy smyth is probably the worst football commentator

[Andy @ Allerton!]

tommy smyth is probably the worst football commentator

Do an out of the UK list - I don't know enough about foreign commentators to add many - although Dunphey and his cronies would certainly make it on there!


You could get suggestions first on the names to add..

[deadlybuzz]

Dunphy should really be in that list

Went for Sherwood, Burley & Redknapp. I groan whenever I see Jamie sitting alone with Keys.

[R.A.La]

I went for alan brazil, fucking spud headed twat.
He can't disguise his contempt for all things Liverpool and Rafa in particular.

[Bangers N Masch]

Chose Merson, Le Tissier and Sherwood out of them, partly because of their hatred for us, and partly because I take anything they say with a pinch of salt. Less than a pinch probably.

However there are worse pundits than these three (well bar Merson I suppose) in the sense of how much they actually know, Andy Townsend, Garth Crooks and Mark Bright to name a few, although bar the latter I don't really have anything against them so that's why I voted for the other three.

Charlie Nicholas and Richard Hairy Fucking Hands Keys (how the fuck is he not there? Especially when you've got Tyler, Tyldsley, etc who despite their love for United aren't actually too bad) should be on there, they'd have been in my first three instead of Le Piss and Sherc*nt.

[AndyInVA]

Trevor Francis needs to be on there

his appaling voice is shameful to listen to

[Phil M]

No mention of Souey or Gullit yet I notice.

[amir87]

Craig Burley for me. How the hell he got the job in the first place is what I want to know!

[Hazell]

Can't we select them all? The only ones that shouldn't be there are Pleat and Tyldesley (he's a Manc, but has always been fairly complementary about us)

[JackBauer]

The answer is unquestionably Brent Musberger. Consider yourselves lucky that there's an ocean separating you from that shithead.

I have heard him talk some shite but he is a rank amateur compared to my three: Sherwood, Merson and Crooks. The first two are inarticulate oafs who cannot string a sentence together and the third...well, words fail me. The sycophantic interview with Eriksson after Boringengland bored their way past Ecuador in the last World Cup was excruciating.

Andy Gray I think gets a lot of undeserved stick on here; ok he comes out with some crap from time to time and he clearly has his favourites but compared to some of the others on that list he's an oracle.

[MagicHat]

Dang, didn't see Ian Wright, he is embarrassing Merson is even worse, if that is possible, thankfully Alan Smith reminds us that not all ex Arsenal players are horrible commentators/analysts

Other vote went to the ex Liverpool/Spurs bloke whose name shall not be mentioned.

[IloveGuinness17]

For those who live outside the UK and Ireland, be thankful you've never had to encounter the high-pitched, Manc-infatuated Irish drawl of ESPN's Tommy Smyth. The worst colour commentator by far.

Actually met him in Chicago. Top class. Really nice and swore up a storm. As far as commentating goes he does get annoying. The worst I've ever heard had to be Marcelo Balboa in the 2006 World Cup w/ Julie fuckin Fauwty. 100% brutal.

[Hightown Phil]

No mention of Souey or Gullit yet I notice.

Probably cos they're two of the better ones?

[Phil M]

Probably cos they're two of the better ones?

Souness perhaps, Gullit, not for me anyway.

[Solomon Grundy]

I went Martin Tyler's Monkey, Paul Merson and Tim Sherwood.

Steve Claridge, Johnathan Pearce, Tony Gale and Charlie Nicholas should be on that list aswell though.

[Phil M]

Be sure to email the link for this thread onto Sky Sports Andy.

[starlightshadow]

The media loves to go along with the popular option. I don't think that's really something that's up for debate. There's crap pundits in every field, whether it be current affairs, sport, art etc., who seem to just promote the popular option time after time. Damage limitation if you will.

The main reason, IMO, you so many pundits seemingly "favouring" Manchester United is simply because their continued success is a liklier option than anything else at this moment in time. The ridiculous lengths they go to are often for the purpose of retaining that all-important "controversy factor".

Then of course there are some journalists and pudits who stick out from the mass. They don't use the same tired old cliches, reheated for the thousandth time, often just talk a bit of sense, and appear a person who might just be stating their honest opinion without attempting to stir the shit in order to fund paper sales.

But is it just me being paranoid, or are there a lot less decent, straight-talking pundits in the sport of football than there are in other sports (rugby, for example, has many good media contributors)? The amount of hacks around just seems unbelievable. You often have to wade through a mountain of monotonous shit just to find one gem.

Like I said, do I have a point here or my bias toward Liverpool clouding my vision? For example in rugby, the team I support is not really a major for, and thus is not written about much. So much of the articles I read, I'm fairly neutral on.

Thoughts?

[astowell1]

Because alot of the decent men actually stay in the game.

[hassinator]

well you could also argue that the current generation of pundits are the remnants of the old guard - merson and le tissier personify the cult of laddish under achievement in that both of them failed to live up to their talent as they'd rather piss it all away (merson) or be a big fish in a very small pond (le tit).

in the case of more sophisticated pundits like hansen they have a great understanding of position and tactics but again come from a generation pre-rotation.  he played in an ear when you picked your first 11 and stuck to it unless there was an injury and that was that.  these days you need to be fitter and as a result have greater flexibility in the squad but its easier to play the sage and say 'it wouldn't happen in my day'

the worst examples of the sly generation are straight ahead fucknuts like tim sherwood - surely the clearest ever example of an empty vessel making the most noise - but i'm most disappointed in jamie redknapp who seems intent on expressing a spaniel like need for love and approval from the 'tougher' boys.

for someone who is keen to spout the 'our club' line about liverpool he seems rarely to have anything constructive to say and seems only to keen to fall in with the organ grinder tyler and his chimp.

in terms of this thread who do you think the good pundits are?  i suppose if we're naming names we should also categorise the mediocre and then the just plain tragic.

[Andy @ Allerton!]

I actually think the media are so negative to Liverpool simply because of jealousy.

Liverpool spent 20 years denying anyone anything - and most of the 'experts' now were the half-arsed footballers that couldn't overcome Liverpool then.

So now they get their digs in by being snidey and sly because they couldn't do it using football.

[Timbo's Goals]

Far too bad ones to mention but I will throw in one who is always balanced, articulate and just basically honest and respectful - Graham Taylor.

[JanMolby05]

I think it's because your average fan knows so little about the game.


Pundits are very much like your average fan - knee jerk, follows the crowd, panders to the majority.

What makes the likes of Paul Merson such an expert anyway? Ok they played at the highest level but do they really know as much about the game as they make out? What makes them more qualified than say perhaps an ex Conference player who had half the ability but twice the brain? If half these experts were as clued up as they make out they would be managing sides.


The pundits need the 'fans' and the 'fans' need the pundits, like the tabloids need readers to continue writing shite.

[Red Viper]

They are all ex-footballers, the large majority of footballers became footballers due to their commitment to the sport as a kid and therefore didn't exactly excel in education. So when it comes to talking about anything that requires a degree of intelligence, including a sport they played for many years, they are shit at it as they are, to put it simply, stupid.

[Fat Scouser]

They'd be as much use as tits on a bull.
To qoute a great fella..... the public wants what the public gets.

[*]

Why do you think there are so few decent football pundits?

Because somehow we expect them to have nothing but nice things to say about LFC or Rafa??

You can see all the articles copy & pasted here if it's praising us or our tactical genius it's a "brilliantly written" and everything else are by c*nts.

[Andy @ Allerton!]

Why do you think there are so few decent football pundits?

Because somehow we expect them to have nothing but nice things to say about LFC or Rafa??

You can see all the articles copy & pasted here if it's praising us or our tactical genius it's a "brilliantly written" and everything else are by charlie uniform november tangos.

Couldn't disagree more.

Most people just want a bit of evenness, no bias towards one team or the other and fair and impartial commentary on the game.

Doesn't seem too much to ask for given the amount people spend on football.

[Grushko]

Only 3? Fuckin' hell i could pick more than half of them on that list.

[Grushko]

I actually think Paul Merson's not as bad as people think. . . . .

Merson is just thick.

He's only employed by sly sports cos they know he is that stupid and will make wild predictions, therefore making a tit out of himself.

For pure comedic value alone i actually don't mind him that much. 

[A Day 2 Remember]

Having lived most my life in the UK and then emigrating to the US i can assure you Tommy Smyth of ESPN has no peer even in close. He makes every single commentator mentioned seem like s genius. When i first heard him i thought he was taking the piss and joking around like a spoof on Steve Coogan. having listened carfully to him on many occasions i feel he is completely inacurate or simple talking complete bollox over 80% of the time.

[Mikeebee]

Tommy Smyth no contest. Ole Onion Bags.

Absofuckinglutely

Having lived most my life in the UK and then emigrating to the US i can assure you Tommy Smyth of ESPN has no peer even in close. He makes every single commentator mentioned seem like s genius. When i first heard him i thought he was taking the piss and joking around like a spoof on Steve Coogan. having listened carfully to him on many occasions i feel he is completely inacurate or simple talking complete bollox over 80% of the time.

In the same boat, i had to endure this useless fecker in the world cup, ended up watching any game he was commentating on with the sound off.


The other idiot is Max "release the Kraken" Bretos

[Red_Isle_Chap]

I had to vote for Garth Crooks

Same here. I fucking detest that twat more than any other. I've never heard or seen anyone so devoid of knowledge come across so condescending. A lot of the others are just too fucking stupid to realise that what comes out of their mouths is garbage. Crooks I genuinely think has at least an ounce of grey matter between his ears. But he comes across a a bigger twat that Fergie after a litre of thunderbird

Couldn't disagree more.

Most people just want a bit of evenness, no bias towards one team or the other and fair and impartial commentary on the game.

Doesn't seem too much to ask for given the amount people spend on football.

Fucking hell Andy, that'd be nice!

[MagicHat]

I would be surprised if every Prem club (or just every big Prem club) didn't have fans claiming commentators were biased against them and have fav teams. Arsenal fans certainly do feel pundits hate them so it isn't just Liverpool fans

Of course some of the  pundits are just inept 

[Rafas Tapas]

one who is always balanced, articulate and just basically honest and respectful - Graham Taylor.

Very fair comment.  The other Radio 5 football summarizer I like is Pat Murphy.  He only seems to cover the Midlands teams' home games unfortunately, but he is able to call things how he sees them, sometimes very sharply but without ever spilling over into the kind of hyperbole that has become ninety per cent of Alan Green's act.


Oh and Jimmy Armfield is good as well.

[Mirra]

Merson, hes an ex pisshead and cokehead and probally a smackhead, a weak willed little cockney twat who talks constant shite, probally due to all his years of being a fuck up.

[underscore]

Where's the option for Collymore?
He's worse than shite........