It was nice to hear from Lallana last night, but I don't agree with you here Charlie.
No one wants crap football pundits (and lord knows we have more than a few) but ex-Liverpool players who become pundits should be under no special obligation to show 'respect' or love or generosity towards Liverpool. They should be fair-minded, yes, but they should also be independent. Those working for LFC.tv have an obligation of loyalty but no independent journalist should owe loyalty to anything but the truth as they see it.
And, personally, as much as I enjoyed hearing Crouchie and Lallana talk about Liverpool I was a little bit aware of the encroaching 'cringe factor'. There's nothing worse than hearing a cosy conversation about your own club. It so easily degenerates into cliche and falsity. LFC.tv suffers from this every time they interview a new signing. "What about our special atmosphere?" etc etc. It makes you blush with shame.
That’s fair enough, I cut that post a bit short because my tea was ready and meant to say a bit more
No problem whatsoever with constructive criticism or decent quality analysis and insight. I struggle when ex players push agendas or offer superficial analysis without context. A good example was when Rafa was under pressure and the likes of Whelen were happy to be laying into him.
More recently we have had Hamann aiming shots at Klopp.
I think your journalism point is interesting because precious few ex players actually act like journalists. Come to think of it, even supposed actual journalists in the world of football struggle to act like journalists! Witness the stuff Stu Brennan regularly comes up with.
I admit that I’ll defend the club and am biased, but it’s usually when I perceive that people are unfairly critiquing the club, manager or players. If its well thought out and fair there no issue from me, but all too often it’s people using the club and it’s profile for their own ends. We’re massively newsworthy and it’s unfortunately the price we have to pay.
