Topic: Who is the best pundit? 2021 edition

[Giono]

Matt Holland should be on the list with his rapid fire steaming stream of punditry.

[sinnermichael]

Brian Reade spot on as always:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/hoddle-merson-were-heroes-pitch-11124303.amp

[sinnermichael]

Richard Keys is one bad bad bellend.

Straight on Twitter yesterday after the game with his stat about Rodgers having more points than Klopp from the same number of games as if the two situations are in anyway comparable. Rodgers inherited a team with prime Suarez, Gerrard, Carragher and Agger. Klopp inherited a mess of a squad that had just been battered 6-1 by Stoke.

[Kekule]

Richard Keys is one bad bad bellend.

Straight on Twitter yesterday after the game with his stat about Rodgers having more points than Klopp from the same number of games as if the two situations are in anyway comparable. Rodgers inherited a team with prime Suarez, Gerrard, Carragher and Agger. Klopp inherited a mess of a squad that had just been battered 6-1 by Stoke.

It's my recollection that when Rodgers was our manager Richard Keys had fuck all time for him, he used to join in with snarky comments over the terms Rodgers used, thought he was a bit of bluffer etc.

After Rodgers was sacked and he was still looking for a job he went over to wherever Keys and Gray are based, did a bit of punditry, probably knocked about with them a bit and all of a sudden he was brilliant. Basically Keys' opinion on whether you're a good manager or not depends on whether you're his mate or have somehow endorsed or taken part in his tin pot TV channels' football coverage.  How else do you explain why he thinks the likes of Trevor Francis, Peter Reid and Glenn Hoddle should still be managing in the Premier League?

I think he sees himself as some sort of mafia, you do him a favour and he'll repay it by publically blowing smoke up your arse and keeping the hacks off you. The problem is that nobody gives a toss what Richard Keys has to say anymore though. He's widely seen as a joke and toxic even in journalistic circles these days.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

It's my recollection that when Rodgers was our manager Richard Keys had fuck all time for him, he used to join in with snarky comments over the terms Rodgers used, thought he was a bit of bluffer etc.

After Rodgers was sacked and he was still looking for a job he went over to wherever Keys and Gray are based, did a bit of punditry, probably knocked about with them a bit and all of a sudden he was brilliant. Basically Keys' opinion on whether you're a good manager or not depends on whether you're his mate or have somehow endorsed or taken part in his tin pot TV channels' football coverage.  How else do you explain why he thinks the likes of Trevor Francis, Peter Reid and Glenn Hoddle should still be managing in the Premier League?

I think he sees himself as some sort of mafia, you do him a favour and he'll repay it by publically blowing smoke up your arse and keeping the hacks off you. The problem is that nobody gives a toss what Richard Keys has to say anymore though. He's widely seen as a joke and toxic even in journalistic circles these days.

Didn't know the history with Rodgers, cheers for posting.
Keys sums up the whole concept of cronyism and doesn't seem to care how ridiculous, snide or ignorant that may make him look.
I certainly hope that bit in bold is true and he's certainly done his bit, but do you have any anecdotes or info on this? Not doubting by the way, just can't stand him.
To be fair he did some decent work on Hillsborough but that perhaps illustrates the problem with Keys and his ilk. May be a decent journalist, but has made the mistake of seeing himself as a central character in the plot that is footy, rather than someone who's paid to present footy programmes.

[Kekule]

Didn't know the history with Rodgers, cheers for posting.
Keys sums up the whole concept of cronyism and doesn't seem to care how ridiculous, snide or ignorant that may make him look.
I certainly hope that bit in bold is true and he's certainly done his bit, but do you have any anecdotes or info on this? Not doubting by the way, just can't stand him.
To be fair he did some decent work on Hillsborough but that perhaps illustrates the problem with Keys and his ilk. May be a decent journalist, but has made the mistake of seeing himself as a central character in the plot that is footy, rather than someone who's paid to present footy programmes.

No actual evidence, just the distinct impression I get. The only time you ever really hear his name mentioned is when he's tweeted something stupid and there's a column or a comment on a website laughing at him or mocking him.  Nobody with any clout is asking for him to be brought back are they? Nobody is missing him.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

No actual evidence, just the distinct impression I get. The only time you ever really hear his name mentioned is when he's tweeted something stupid and there's a column or a comment on a website laughing at him or mocking him.  Nobody with any clout is asking for him to be brought back are they? Nobody is missing him.

Agree with all of that.
He's desperately trying to stay relevant. It's all a bit Partridge, although that started when he got his talksport gig advertising Wickes decking every 10 minutes.

[Hazell]

Jermaine Jenas just called Hodgson a "top European manager".

[Keita Success]

Jermaine Jenas just called Hodgson a "top European manager".

Source, pretty please? I'm writing an article on Hodgepodge.

[Hazell]

Source, pretty please? I'm writing an article on Hodgepodge.

He said it on Five Live around five minutes before I posted. It'll be on iPlayer if you're in the UK.

[sinnermichael]

Jim White is an utter twat. Absolutely loves the sound of his own voice. Also likes to think he has loads of contacts and friends in the football world.

[SandyShore]

Richard keys is the biggest prick, apparently after the City game he had constant digs at Klopp for the money he has spent.   Like what ? we actually been one of the lowest net spend teams in the top 6, barely dipping into our budget. Think he just has some anti bitter Liverpool agenda, glad Sky fucked him off.

[bradders1011]

Phil "Philip" Neville is thicker than a lard milkshake.

[Bread]

Seems that the knives are finally out for Klopp. It's taken longer than expected, but the current LFC manager has to face illogical and misinformed criticism from pundits and media in their career eventually.

[Dim Glas]

Seems that the knives are finally out for Klopp. It's taken longer than expected, but the current LFC manager has to face illogical and misinformed criticism from pundits and media in their career eventually.

oh they will do their best to hound him out for sure, it's the English way! Nothing the football media and press in England love more than a good hounding.  Added to him being one of them foreigners And a nice guy, makes him an even better target.

[Barneylfc∗]

"Shearer wrote in his Monday morning column for The S*n"

His opinions are meaningless. Even less so when they are for that newspaper.

[redgriffin73]

Don't know who was commentating for Sky on Tuesday night but within about a minute he'd said something like "Liverpool mark zonally and we all know that isn't a 100% reliable method". Because as everyone knows, man marking is 100% reliable.

[Kopenhagen]

Shearer another one talking utter drivel:

Why do pundits/media class just pretend we weren't utter fucking dogshit in 2014-15 under Rodgers and absolutely horrendous to watch.

It's like, "good attack/bad defence" is associated with Rodgers, except our attack was horrific under Rodgers for 18 months.

[gerrardisgod]

I see Phil Neville banging the drum of Rashford being as good as Mbappe and Dembele, on the back of a good performance against Burton.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

And apparently the intellectual colossus and highly successful manager that is Tim Sherwood has been saying that Klopp "Got it wrong" by fielding a weakened side v Leicester.
He's also been giving Spurs the benefit of his wisdom by saying that they need to win the league to keep Kane.

Doesn't matter who the club is and how much I may dislike them but when it comes to club v pundit, its club every time for me.

These are just headlines I've seen that have been on pages that I've looked at, I don't listen to or read what they have to say.
The Telegraph have picked up on the Shearer line about Klopp v Rodgers - I'd love to see a debate between those 2 by the way. He's another one with that hugely impressive managerial record to fall back on.

Shearer and Sherwood. Fuck me. There's probably some England fan somewhere who'd like to see those 2 as joint manager of the National team.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

I'm extremely proud to be the only voter for Jake Humphries.

[Crosby Nick]

I've warmed slightly to Chris Sutton these days. Something about those yokel tones you can't completely dislike.

I went for Phil Neville as he's that worst of combinations, the idiot who spouts guff who actually thinks he's all intelligent and incisive.

Also went for Ince who just looks horribly uncomfortable under the spotlight and Dwight Yorke because why not. The Bacofoil wearing, shite talking, United bias prick.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

Forgot the was an actual poll,  tend to use this thread to vent.
It's difficult narrowing it down to 3 isn't it?
Thought I'd just go for the densest 3, but there's pretty stiff competition for that one.
Sherwood made it though, as well as Claridge and Cundy.

[jillcwhomever]

I've warmed slightly to Chris Sutton these days. Something about those yokel tones you can't completely dislike.

I went for Phil Neville as he's that worst of combinations, the idiot who spouts guff who actually thinks he's all intelligent and incisive.

Also went for Ince who just looks horribly uncomfortable under the spotlight and Dwight Yorke because why not. The Bacofoil wearing, shite talking, United bias prick.

He is a strange one Chris Sutton I hear him some days and he can actually make decent points, other times he can be just as bad as the rest of them. Maybe it depends what sort of mood he is in. 

The ones I really can't stand at the moment are that Irish pair, Johnny Giles and Dunphy a right pair of idiots. Giles has had another rant, accusing Klopp of throwing his defenders under the bus, think he's getting mixed up with another person myself. They are all so narrow minded in how they think the game should be played that's the major flaw with pundits.

[Malaysian Kopite]

Richard Keys is one bad bad bellend.

Straight on Twitter yesterday after the game with his stat about Rodgers having more points than Klopp from the same number of games as if the two situations are in anyway comparable. Rodgers inherited a team with prime Suarez, Gerrard, Carragher and Agger. Klopp inherited a mess of a squad that had just been battered 6-1 by Stoke.

Agree that Keys is spouting nonsense but the bolded bit isn't right at all, Gerrard was already past his prime(Brendan arguably played him in a position where he managed to continue to play at the top level), Carra certainly was(Brendan was the first manager to drop him), most of us felt Agger was getting too little game time(he wasn't a key component in Brendan's sides) and while Suarez would've succeeded under just about anyone he hit his prime after Brendan arrived.

[rafared83]

Roy Keane is @@@@ too

[Dim Glas]

Richard Keys is one bad bad bellend.

Straight on Twitter yesterday after the game with his stat about Rodgers having more points than Klopp from the same number of games as if the two situations are in anyway comparable. Rodgers inherited a team with prime Suarez, Gerrard, Carragher and Agger. Klopp inherited a mess of a squad that had just been battered 6-1 by Stoke.

and a mess of a squad built by Rodgers. That's what makes me laugh all that sort of comparison nonsense the media spout. If Rodgers had done a good job, Kloppo wouldn't actually be here, the fact he is here is cos Rodgers spent 300 million over 3 seasons, yet left a squad that was frankly a shambles, playing utterly crap football.  It took another coach to get some of that shambolic squad playing up to a decent level.

[CrasherKid79]

and a mess of a squad built by Rodgers. That's what makes me laugh all that sort of comparison nonsense the media spout. If Rodgers had done a good job, Kloppo wouldn't actually be here, the fact he is here is cos Rodgers spent 300 million over 3 seasons, yet left a squad that was frankly a shambles, playing utterly crap football.  It took another coach to get some of that shambolic squad playing up to a decent level.

Please don't Rodgers bash. The bloke lost Suarez, Gerrard then Sterling.

Not to mention he put his eggs in the Sturridge basket as did most of us.

We should show a little bit more respect.

[Dim Glas]

Please don't Rodgers bash. The bloke lost Suarez, Gerrard then Sterling.

Not to mention he put his eggs in the Sturridge basket as did most of us.

We should show a little bit more respect.

That is not bashing, he spent an absolute fortune and left a squad lacking in a lot of quality for all the money spent. And they played horrible football for a good while before he got sacked. That is actually how it was, it isn't bashing.    I think it's ok to be honest.

[CrasherKid79]

That is not bashing, he spent an absolute fortune and left a squad lacking in a lot of quality for all the money spent. And they played horrible football for a good while before he got sacked. That is actually how it was, it isn't bashing.    I think it's ok to be honest.

We are in the same position now except we play attacking, pretty football.

Same league positions, same defence.

[Keita Success]

Garth ‘dipshit’ Crooks - stealing a living is even in his name.

Fuck me. Did he actually play football? No wonder he didn’t become a manager. This is what he took from the Leicester game:


It's been some time since Simon Mignolet got into my team of the week and that's probably because of Liverpool's wretched defending. If you are going to have to score three goals away from home to win a football match, it's going to take its toll on every member of the team, including your goalkeeper.

Such was the case against Leicester, who counter-attacked with devastating effect and constantly ripped holes in Liverpool's defence, especially on set-pieces. It seems to me that Jurgen Klopp is getting away with results because of moments of magic by certain individuals, but risks losing it all by abject defending.

That seemed to be the story behind this victory by Liverpool over Leicester. Mignolet, having already conceded two goals, was left totally exposed again after a through ball by Leicester's Andy King which found another gaping hole in Liverpool's defence. Having clattered Vardy, Mignolet was not only lucky to stay on the pitch but produced that moment all strikers dread and saved the penalty to give his team the three points. Did the Reds deserve the victory? Probably not but when did justice ever dominate a football match.

[Barneylfc∗]

Alan Shearer writing in the S#n still not deleted

[Kopenhagen]

Please don't Rodgers bash. The bloke lost Suarez, Gerrard then Sterling.

Not to mention he put his eggs in the Sturridge basket as did most of us.

We should show a little bit more respect.

Nothing he said was wrong, though. We did spend a fortune and play shit football for 2014-15 season & 2015-16 till Rodgers was sacked.

[Barneylfc∗]

Forgot the was an actual poll,  tend to use this thread to vent.
It's difficult narrowing it down to 3 isn't it?
Thought I'd just go for the densest 3, but there's pretty stiff competition for that one.
Sherwood made it though, as well as Claridge and Cundy.

I haven't voted. It's almost impossible. They outdo each other every week with their fuckwittery. Sat watching the game yesterday to Jim Beglin tell his audience the linesman had made a mistake giving offside for Okazakis disallowed goal. There were only 6 players offside, so I can see where he made the mistake 
Then that fucking muppet Glenn Hoddle saying Leicester had a spring in their shoe.

Fucking ridiculous some of these dickheads are allowed to talk about football when they are so stupid.

[Barneylfc∗]

I'm extremely proud to be the only voter for Jake Humphries.

Don't think he's anywhere near the worst. He's a twat, no doubting that, but he's just a cringey twat trying to be one of the lads.

[Bread]

Garth ‘dipshit’ Crooks - stealing a living is even in his name.

Fuck me. Did he actually play football? No wonder he didn’t become a manager. This is what he took from the Leicester game:


It's been some time since Simon Mignolet got into my team of the week and that's probably because of Liverpool's wretched defending. If you are going to have to score three goals away from home to win a football match, it's going to take its toll on every member of the team, including your goalkeeper.

Such was the case against Leicester, who counter-attacked with devastating effect and constantly ripped holes in Liverpool's defence, especially on set-pieces. It seems to me that Jurgen Klopp is getting away with results because of moments of magic by certain individuals, but risks losing it all by abject defending.

That seemed to be the story behind this victory by Liverpool over Leicester. Mignolet, having already conceded two goals, was left totally exposed again after a through ball by Leicester's Andy King which found another gaping hole in Liverpool's defence. Having clattered Vardy, Mignolet was not only lucky to stay on the pitch but produced that moment all strikers dread and saved the penalty to give his team the three points. Did the Reds deserve the victory? Probably not but when did justice ever dominate a football match.

There's no way he actually watched the match. There's having a garbage opinion, and then there's THAT. I refuse to believe he watched the match.

He also posted this about Coutinho:

I must be honest, I thought Liverpool had lost Coutinho to Barcelona and the club must have done something very special to convince him to stay. I love to watch the Brazilian play every week so thank you, Liverpool. This player is what football is all about.

The guy is a proper fucking melon. Not only was he IMPLORING us to sell Coutinho a couple of weeks ago, he's seemingly oblivious to the fact that we just straight up refused to sell. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like information about that saga was EVERYWHERE.

[CrasherKid79]

Nothing he said was wrong, though. We did spend a fortune and play shit football for 2014-15 season & 2015-16 till Rodgers was sacked.

A season after nearly winning the league?

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

I still hate Andy Townsend. Poor bloke, its not his fault they keep hiring the c*nt. He's got his fucking truck to maintain after all. The fucking whopper.

[Rick Sanchez]

A season after nearly winning the league?

Why are you defending Brendan. It's not like he said that about Rafa Benitez.

The Rodgers era was awful apart from one very good season, when Luis Suarez had a Messi/Ronaldo like year.

Rodgers had three season spent a shitload of money and didn't win anything, if anything that one very good season made him stay here much longer than he really should of.

Klopp inherited a mess of a squad and it's still going take him time to get us where he wants us to be.

[Samie]

You're definitely not a newbie.  Who were you on here previously?