I liked listening to Pleat. I already know the names of the players, but Pleat would actually make a tactical observation or two and he has the enthusiasm and knowledge of say a vinyl collector.
Pundits, Commentators, Podcasts, Podcasters, the Best and the Worst.
- Thread starter moses
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Everytime Agbonglahor as any input of anything it's always dogshit and wrong.
I find Peter Drury almost unlistenable, always consciously trying to create epic commentary moments or sound profound by inserting eye-rolling prefabricated commentary. Clown
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Bryn Law is a good commentator
Yeah it's on my christmas list. I'm about 100 pages in on his book about Argentina football(Angels With Dirty Faces)and it's very good. He talks about how Argentina football is different to the european style as it's more like a dance(Tango is the example he uses)and oddly enough when I went to watch Argentina play earlier in the year against Italy at Wembley, thats the best way I would describe it. Everything about it was completely different to English football.
I ll check it out. I love the cultural effects on international football. Even with the players spread around the globe, national teams often retain a vivisible and lasting identity. And when you start to examine it, the influences are really interesting.
I like Rebbeca Lowe on NBC and it’s so much better without Tim Howard. The show just moves along without the boring hesitation. Today is a good example
The Football Ramble: On the Continent is my favourite podcast currently which is strange as the standard Football Ramble love a jab at United when they can.
I have read these forums for years and this post is the reason I finally signed up.
I agree with you entirely and some of your opinions struck a chord with me.
Alyson Rudd. Good lord she’s insufferable. I don’t particularly dislike anyone in the sport’s media as it consumes energy - except for two people, the second I will discuss shortly.
Rudd says “they need to play Klopp’s heavy metal football” nearly every time I listen to The Game podcast or whatever it’s called that she appears on occasionally. She has a real chip on her shoulder and refuses to positively acknowledge United in any way, shape or form. Weirdly enough, she doesn’t seem to appear on the podcast when Liverpool have dropped points, which is most weeks these days.
The prize for my second most insufferable person in the football related media is Barry Glendenning. He’s the kind of bloke who thinks it makes him look sexy by holding a beer in his Twitter and Facebook profile pics. As for his content and personality, two words instantly come to mind. Dour and bitter. He has an obsession with hating anything Man Utd related (even though he’s a Sunderland fan) and telling us all how much he hates England. Yes, Barry - we get it. You dislike Utd and England. You don’t have to mention it every single week you utter cretin.
He thinks he’s funny but he’s not, in any way. Recently he made a crass remark about anxiety & depression on Twitter and was rightly brought down a few pegs by the masses.
Alyson Rudd and Barry Glendenning go into Room 101 for me.
Also, honourable shoutout to Mr. Souness for being the most miserable man on live television.
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Special mention to Barney Ronay for this "Nordic goal-yeti Erling Haaland"
Yes, I too love Marina Hyde.
I thought the chelsea women's manager was boring, but the lass on the Barca game is nearly as bad.
Lucy Ward
Lucy Ward
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The Paramount+/CBS lot that we get for the CL here in the US are a struggle to watch. Richards is there to laugh and tell jokes. Carragher doesn't take it seriously and admitted on TV last season that the money he gets for this show is the only reason he's doing it. Henry is boring. Way too simplistic and generalized. For being an American production I'm surprised the producers allow the show to get away with some of the antics that happen.
Nice read by Jonanthon Liew on the Guardian website. Great last line . " Welcome to modern football, Manchester United. We’ve been expecting you."
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ro-balance-midfield-manchester-united-chelsea
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ro-balance-midfield-manchester-united-chelsea
Troy Townsend is really really shit.
Barney Ronay is simply amazing.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ied-the-ronaldo-fication-of-manchester-united
"Certainly the blend of Morgan and Ronaldo presents an acme of something indigestible, like having a concentrated blend of margarine, vanity, bile and preening self regard injected directly into your eyeballs by a team of expert sadists."
"The good news is that Ronaldo is 100% correct, if perhaps not in the way he intended. Manchester United have been a debauched ship, a celebrity waxwork museum, treated for too long like an asset to be sluiced and sucked dry. Where Ronaldo is wrong is that he, Cristiano Ronaldo, is not the cure for this. He is instead the obvious symptom, and the single greatest human embodiment of this decay."
Barney Ronay is simply amazing.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ied-the-ronaldo-fication-of-manchester-united
"Certainly the blend of Morgan and Ronaldo presents an acme of something indigestible, like having a concentrated blend of margarine, vanity, bile and preening self regard injected directly into your eyeballs by a team of expert sadists."
"The good news is that Ronaldo is 100% correct, if perhaps not in the way he intended. Manchester United have been a debauched ship, a celebrity waxwork museum, treated for too long like an asset to be sluiced and sucked dry. Where Ronaldo is wrong is that he, Cristiano Ronaldo, is not the cure for this. He is instead the obvious symptom, and the single greatest human embodiment of this decay."
Magisterial.
Bump.
I’ve been listening to the Guardian Football Weekly pod for a while now. I think it works somehow, even with Barry Glendenning, who once thought that ink refills could be sent wirelessly to printers.
I felt bad for Max Rushden as Barry put him in a bad position when was a dick on Twitter about the guy that had a panic attack. Barry spent more time trying to justify his stupid/poorly worded tweet than engaging with the guy that originally mentioned his panic attack.
That was the issue for me. It became all about Barry and his need to feel like he needed to lash out at any criticism of him rather than understand the mental issues at hand.
Phillips Au Clair (sp?) is good on that pod. Nedum is good too but the way he seems to uptalk drives me a little nuts.
Loved Armfield, hated his partner Alan Green though
Great shout. Anything Brazilian and South American football always worth listening to
Green is a detestable character.
Down the years off the top of my head
Liked:
Martin Tyler
Peter Brackley - The Voice for Channel 4's Football Italia
Brian Moore
Jonathan Pearce - Radio Commentary on Capital Gold
Big Ron - Before his racist tirade
Andy Gray
Adrian Durham - Early noughties on Talksport for constantly winding up Arsenal fans
Marcotti - Anti-Glazers from day one and didnt jump on the ABU bandwagon in the 90s.
James Richardson - Football Italia
Liked:
Martin Tyler
Peter Brackley - The Voice for Channel 4's Football Italia
Brian Moore
Jonathan Pearce - Radio Commentary on Capital Gold
Big Ron - Before his racist tirade
Andy Gray
Adrian Durham - Early noughties on Talksport for constantly winding up Arsenal fans
Marcotti - Anti-Glazers from day one and didnt jump on the ABU bandwagon in the 90s.
James Richardson - Football Italia
Current day Laura Woods is a fantastic presenter
Still like Gary Neville and Roy Keane even if he is a bit of a meme these days
Still like Gary Neville and Roy Keane even if he is a bit of a meme these days
Absolutely surreal watching Jamie Mackie pay tribute to Pele on SSN last night, said something like “he’s got an icon card on FIFA, that tells you how good he was”
Gary Neville licking Jurgen Klopps arse and giggling like a daft schoolboy live on Sky right now genuinely breaks my heart
Reminds me of every conversation I have with my son re football. Every player discussion starts with their FIFA ranking score. This feckin generation man
She's really good, I actually enjoying listening to talksport breakfast show in the morning because of her. It's a shame she only does it mon-wed. The difference between her and that buffoon Alan Brazil who then takes over from Thursdays is astonishing. No idea why talksport persist with him, such an amateur
Last night in MOTD confirmed the word of modern punditry. They literally had the rules up in the screen, Gary explained why it was onside only for all three to spend the 10 minutes saying the officials should have given Rashford off.
Should the rules be amended? Of course they should but Gary basing his opinion on the situation by citing rules from twenty years ago while going on about interfering in play being a broad rule so they could use common sense (that offside euotopia) isn’t revelant at all.
Does this happen in other sports? This constant disregard of the rules in analysing rules?
Ray Houghton and Souness are the worst at it. Constant talk about fouls only being fouls in the modern game but it’s not a foul for them… so it’s a foul then?
Should the rules be amended? Of course they should but Gary basing his opinion on the situation by citing rules from twenty years ago while going on about interfering in play being a broad rule so they could use common sense (that offside euotopia) isn’t revelant at all.
Does this happen in other sports? This constant disregard of the rules in analysing rules?
Ray Houghton and Souness are the worst at it. Constant talk about fouls only being fouls in the modern game but it’s not a foul for them… so it’s a foul then?
Barney Ronay is evocative:
Surprised people didn't mention anyone from the Athletic ecosystem (barring Carl Anka). Among many I enjoy listening to, Charlie Ecceshare and Duncan Alexander are my favorites.
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Is there a Joe Cole thread? Cause he seems to be on BT Sport for the opening of envelope & he makes Michael Owen look insightful. Mind numbing ‘analysis’.
Seen his 1 on 1 interviews? Constantly says "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" as the person he's interviewing is talking. Irritating as feck
I’ve not watched them no but they seem to be plugging them as ‘on after the match Joe Cole meets X’, I just don’t get how he’s become that guy for them as he’s really not got much to him.
Yes. He should keep quiet. That's what a journalist learns first of all things when interviewing.
That’s… not that bad? Probably in concert with most fans. Spurs and Liverpool have shit the bed, Arsenal have massively overachieved.
There’s plenty of pundits who appear on one off games basically filling a gap and talk more sense than the more famous players.
I used think Danny higginbottam always talked sense.
rosenior but he has his coaching now I suppose.
Micah richards only on it cause he has a big laugh and sorry if I offend his ethnicity. How can he critique players when he should still be playing.
stevie coppell was always good too but didn’t seem to want to do it much.
I used think Danny higginbottam always talked sense.
rosenior but he has his coaching now I suppose.
Micah richards only on it cause he has a big laugh and sorry if I offend his ethnicity. How can he critique players when he should still be playing.
stevie coppell was always good too but didn’t seem to want to do it much.
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this guy is barely on tv while Micah’s hired to play the clown on every channel
Said it a year or two ago, he’s the best pundit around. Not always the best, but doesn’t get emotional, is insightful and makes fully formed points, adjusting when given new information. Great storyteller too.
He’s on loads of podcasts too. Great on the guardian Pod.
He’s the light to Clinton Morrison’s dark. Morrison is comfortably the worst pundit around.
Not a huge fan of Ronay, or anyone else at the Guardian. Well-worded but lacking depth, and far too many similes. Jonathan Liew is another. In fact, quite a few on the Guardian are over-rated, especially the likes of Marina Hyde.
Stopped reading it a while back.
Best football commentators, for me, are Barry Davies and Brian Moore. Seems to be a general trend amongst sports that commentary is worsening.
Gimmicks like Drury and Matterface. Reminds me of the hyperbolic George 'Danger Here!' Hamilton on Irish TV. Same with other sports - rugby is particulalry bad and needs the knowing, dulcet tones of a John Taylor, Peter West or Bill McLaren.
Nowadays, I watch the match on mute.
He's not wrong. While the likes of Neville and Carragher have improved the general level (before them it was mostly the likes of Redknapp and Souness trotting out every tired cliche and not offering any more insight than a bloke down the pub), they still looked like year 7 maths teachers next to a Cambridge professor the few times Jose and his actual football knowledge appeared.