Author Topic: Football commentator/pundits  (Read 41827 times)

Offline jackh

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Football commentator/pundits
« on: June 27, 2018, 11:06:20 pm »
Looks like we need a "2018 - Who is the best commentator/pundit? Get your votes in and I'll add them" thread

 ;D

I've thrown up a couple of starters based on the World Cup so far...add your suggestions below  :wave




« Last Edit: February 27, 2024, 12:47:55 pm by John C »

Offline Kashinoda

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2018, 11:08:42 pm »
Add Peter Drury and Jim Beglin
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Offline Lfsea

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2018, 11:20:25 pm »
I know Pat Nevin is a bluenose, but he's a great co-commentator.

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2018, 11:38:36 pm »
Zabaleta and Alex Scott have been head and shoulders above them all this tournament.
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Offline Djozer

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2018, 11:48:20 pm »
Alan McManus

Also, Dixon? Lee Dixon? Must be a different Lee Dixon than the one I'm thinking of.

Lee fucking Dixon. Is this what we've come to? It must be the End Times.

Like the other shouts though. Liked Bilic for a while, and Zabaleta's great.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2018, 11:56:29 pm by Djozer »

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2018, 11:53:18 pm »

Would have gone with Zabaleta - knowledgeable, insightful, funny, likable and one of the few pundits I wouldn't actually mind hearing more from.

Bilic too is always a worth a listen. McCoist too is decent and insightful - with some good humour too.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2018, 11:55:22 pm by oojason »
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Offline Djozer

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2018, 12:02:26 am »
Is this based purely on the World Cup, or does it encompass any pundit/commentator around? I'd throw Lampard into the mix if it's.the latter, quite like him. Kyle Martino too. Ooh, and John Collins - he just seems sound as fuck.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2018, 12:10:32 am by Djozer »

Offline Achilles Heel

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Offline Lycan

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2018, 05:57:57 am »
Best pundits are Lampard and Ferdinand.
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Offline Nitramdorf

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2018, 07:25:26 am »
McCoist is good, dont mind Dixon, after that I'm struggling. Lineker is normally ok, Alex Scott is great. Drogba struggles to speak for me, much preferred Zabaleta.

Isn't Jon Champion the one who called Luis Suarez a cheat?

Offline Bend It Like Aurelio

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #10 on: June 28, 2018, 07:33:59 am »
Drury and Beglin are quality. In terms of punditry, honestly Rio’s been fairly balanced and impartial when he talks about non-United players. But Zabaleta at the World Cup for sure.

Offline Zee_26

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #11 on: June 28, 2018, 08:16:16 am »
Always enjoy listening to Kevin Keatings. He’s been doing commentary for a few World Cup games. The Drury Beglin combo is a good shout too.

Offline Crosby Nick

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #12 on: June 28, 2018, 08:35:28 am »
McCoist is good, dont mind Dixon, after that I'm struggling. Lineker is normally ok, Alex Scott is great. Drogba struggles to speak for me, much preferred Zabaleta.

Isn't Jon Champion the one who called Luis Suarez a cheat?

Nefarious as well I think!

Offline gjr1

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #13 on: June 28, 2018, 09:02:18 am »
Peter Drury and Jim Beglin do a lot of the Liverpool games I see here in OZ. They're a good pairing.
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Offline BlackandWhitePaul

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #14 on: June 28, 2018, 09:10:15 am »
He is without question the greatest footballer you've ever seen and the best pundit your ever going to hear.

You know who I'm on about    :P

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #15 on: June 28, 2018, 09:10:36 am »
He is without question the greatest footballer you've ever seen and the best pundit your ever going to hear.

You know who I'm on about    :P

Jermaine Jenas?

Offline Crosby Nick

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #16 on: June 28, 2018, 09:57:34 am »
Jermaine Jenas?

Michael Gray I think.

My 9 year old has only really got into football in the last year or so but I keep finding him watching the old Premier League season reviews that are always repeated. He asked me yesterday if Alan Shearer was on drugs because he was so good. He then asked if Maradona was which was a more difficult question to answer. :D

Offline Statto Red

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #17 on: June 28, 2018, 10:12:03 am »
Michael Gray I think.

My 9 year old has only really got into football in the last year or so but I keep finding him watching the old Premier League season reviews that are always repeated. He asked me yesterday if Alan Shearer was on drugs because he was so good. He then asked if Maradona was which was a more difficult question to answer. :D

Should have said not those type of drugs. ;)
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Offline sinnermichael

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #18 on: June 28, 2018, 10:32:07 am »
Keane, Bilic and Lampard for me in terms of pundits. Alex Scott has been good aswell.

Best commentators are Bill Leslie, Kevin Keatings and Daniel Mann.

Offline Ashburton

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #19 on: June 28, 2018, 11:43:14 am »
Fabregas was good, eloquent and seems he's got a career in punditry when he packs the game in.  Scott has been superb, as has Lampard.  Bilic and Keane aren't my personal favourites but can see why people favour them.

For in-match co-commentary I'd say McCoist, who has been witty, interesting and should hopefully be invited back to do more.

Poor commentators who need to be moved on:  Jonathan Pierce (he just sounds jaded, not sure there is any genuine enthusiasm), Mark Lawrenson (awful in pretty much every way), Danny Murphy (again, poor) and Alan Shearer (legend as a player, but he doesn't add enough insight about the game and seems to prefer to whinge).

Offline Broad Spectrum

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #20 on: June 28, 2018, 11:55:15 am »
Tim Vickery is a boss pundit. Bilic always comes across as such a likable bloke as well.

Fucking hate Danny Murphy, don't care if he's an ex-red.

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #21 on: June 28, 2018, 11:58:02 am »
Fabregas was good, eloquent and seems he's got a career in punditry when he packs the game in.  Scott has been superb, as has Lampard.  Bilic and Keane aren't my personal favourites but can see why people favour them.

For in-match co-commentary I'd say McCoist, who has been witty, interesting and should hopefully be invited back to do more.

Poor commentators who need to be moved on:  Jonathan Pierce (he just sounds jaded, not sure there is any genuine enthusiasm), Mark Lawrenson (awful in pretty much every way), Danny Murphy (again, poor) and Alan Shearer (legend as a player, but he doesn't add enough insight about the game and seems to prefer to whinge).

Fabregas underwhelmed me a bit. I was expecting him to be a tactical wizard after playing in that Spanish side, but he basically just said the same thing as all the English lads.

Offline El Lobo

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #22 on: June 28, 2018, 12:06:48 pm »
Fabregas was good, eloquent and seems he's got a career in punditry when he packs the game in.  Scott has been superb, as has Lampard.  Bilic and Keane aren't my personal favourites but can see why people favour them.

For in-match co-commentary I'd say McCoist, who has been witty, interesting and should hopefully be invited back to do more.

Poor commentators who need to be moved on:  Jonathan Pierce (he just sounds jaded, not sure there is any genuine enthusiasm), Mark Lawrenson (awful in pretty much every way), Danny Murphy (again, poor) and Alan Shearer (legend as a player, but he doesn't add enough insight about the game and seems to prefer to whinge).

I don't particularly mind Shearer to be honest, but agree with the other three. I cant think of a single person who has ever enjoyed Murphys commentary.
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Offline The North Bank

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #23 on: June 28, 2018, 12:21:13 pm »
The punditry has been the worst thing about this World Cup.

Offline mc_red22

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #24 on: June 28, 2018, 12:44:31 pm »
Peter Drury is hands down the best commentator.

Offline Dull Tools

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #25 on: June 28, 2018, 12:45:46 pm »
I have enjoyed Bilic and Zabaleta.

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #26 on: June 28, 2018, 12:50:09 pm »
The main commentators on the radio are so much better than the main commentators on TV.
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Offline Ashburton

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #27 on: June 28, 2018, 01:18:04 pm »
Fabregas underwhelmed me a bit. I was expecting him to be a tactical wizard after playing in that Spanish side, but he basically just said the same thing as all the English lads.

I think he'll get in to it.  Tactically he's meant to have a very strong grasp of the game, even at the age of 15 he was mentioned in biographies as having an uncanny grasp of the game, but more importantly he seemed quite measured and happy to take his cue from others.  I understand they play to their audience and are given briefs not to get too in to MNF territory with the tactics boards - however fingers crossed this niche will become more explored if he does more of it.  I bring him up in that much like Lampard he seems to have his head screwed on, is able to articulate the way the game occured - yet perhaps needs more of a platform to do this in depth.

I don't particularly mind Shearer to be honest, but agree with the other three. I cant think of a single person who has ever enjoyed Murphys commentary.

Thing is with Shearer is that sometimes he shows glimpses of being top class.  He was a world class player, he's pretty eloquent for a footballer, manages to seem to have decent chemistry with the other pundits - overall he should be an 8/10.  But what really brings him down is his penchant for lapsing in to rants when teams lose, not analysing any aspects of the game (which surely he should be able to see as a top class former player), but instead comes out with 'they didn't want it enough', 'they weren't putting in the effort', or 'it just didn't come off'.  Well no shit Alan, I could have told you that, I want to know what a former pro of 20+ years in the game through of the way the match played out.

The main commentators on the radio are so much better than the main commentators on TV.

At least on the BBC you can switch the commentary over to the 5live guys using the red button.  Useful when Lawro gets given a game.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2018, 01:21:30 pm by Ashburton »

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #28 on: June 28, 2018, 01:41:02 pm »
Derek Rae is my favorite commentator by far, yes I am sltightly obsessed with him  ;D  He does games for Fox Sports in the US (doing a lot of World Cup games for them) and does a lot of games for the world coverage during the season.

He loves an over enunciation of foreign names, especially German - but he does speak fluent German, so he is actually saying them correctly, just sounds a bit OTT in commentary! But he's cool, full of interesting (maybe a bit nerdy) facts, knows his stuff, and is an all round good guy too. 

On Fox for the world cup, I actually quite like a couple of their pundits - Tony Meola and Ally Wagner (she's teamed up with Derek Rae for World Cup, so that helps  :P ). 

Offline Uncle Ronnie

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #29 on: June 28, 2018, 02:11:59 pm »
Drogba's been the most impressive for me, everytime he speaks he seems to offering some insight.

He broke down in detail how Ronaldo took his free kick (against Spain) the way he did, and how he managed to get the dip on it. Also talked about advising Lukaku to hit his shots the way a tennis player strikes a ball with their racquet as it helps with accuracy. Really interesting stuff.


Offline mikey_LFC

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #30 on: June 28, 2018, 03:24:09 pm »
Agree with the Pat Nevin shout. Always impressed by him compared to some of the other crap.

Fabregas, Drogba and Zabaleta have all been good too on the BBC. Bilic by far the best on ITV.

But as Pat Nevin is a regular, all season long, I'll go for him.

The radio commentators are much better too, but I've no idea which one is which.
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Offline jackh

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #31 on: June 29, 2018, 11:12:33 am »
Updated the list above, so feel free re-vote :wave

Offline Ashburton

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #32 on: June 29, 2018, 03:51:30 pm »
Drogba's been the most impressive for me, everytime he speaks he seems to offering some insight.

He broke down in detail how Ronaldo took his free kick (against Spain) the way he did, and how he managed to get the dip on it. Also talked about advising Lukaku to hit his shots the way a tennis player strikes a ball with their racquet as it helps with accuracy. Really interesting stuff.

It's ironic that despite his journeyman's English he manages to offer more tidbits of interest to the fans than the established names.  Always makes me wish we had a commentary option which was more 'in depth' people discussing the game, perhaps say a bit about how each team prefers to play before the game - where they expect them to attack, the likely duels which will make knock downs/lay offs to the midfielders more important.  Perhaps we need to accept that as football fans posting on a footy forum (especially one as occasionally esoteric as this one) we are in the minority.

Offline slotmachine

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #33 on: June 29, 2018, 11:58:46 pm »
Liam Rosenior and Emma Hayes were both brilliant on the Sky Sports debate last year and along with Craig Bellamy were miles ahead of anyone i seen last year. I am surprised they havent turned up on the BBC or ITV world cup coverage. The same idiots who were on the debate the Neville's, Murphy etc have turned up on BBC and ITV. The women have been great on the coverage and while good to see you still get the impression that women have to not only know there shit but also have to be very attractive to be on the screen. If their was a women who had the tactical insight of a Cruyff, Pep or a Klopp if she had a face like a bag of spanners she wouldnt have a chance of being on the box. 

Offline Sarge

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #34 on: June 30, 2018, 12:04:09 am »
Drogba is fucking boring as paint drying.
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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #35 on: June 30, 2018, 12:48:36 am »
Gone with Bilic, zabaleta and Scott, although lampard and ferdinand are very good, keane good entertainment value too. No Ian Wright tho?

Offline Clayton Bigsby

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #36 on: June 30, 2018, 09:00:48 am »
I like Lawrenson. Especially when there is playacting involved

Offline Clayton Bigsby

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #37 on: June 30, 2018, 09:01:49 am »
Drogba is fucking boring as paint drying.

I don't wanna sound like Nigel Frottage but I don't think his English is currently good enough to be a top pundit but he does offer insight


Offline Statto Red

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #38 on: July 8, 2018, 11:52:11 am »
Gary Imlach is a great presenter & criminally underused.
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Offline slotmachine

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Re: 2018 - Who's the best commentator/pundit?
« Reply #39 on: July 8, 2018, 08:52:35 pm »
Gary Imlach is a great presenter & criminally underused.

Yes he was brilliant on CH4 back in the day doing the NFL.