Best Commentary Teams/Pundits

[Ludo*1]

With the news that Clive Tyldesley is to be 'demoted' by ITV in favour of the less condescending, but much more boring Sam Matterface I felt P&B needed a thread to discuss pundits/commentators.

For me, the crop of pundits that seem to be getting cultivated at the BBC are absolutely chronic with the likes of Martin Keown, Danny Murphy & Gary Lineker's supposed future replacement Jermaine Jenas.

Ally McCoist is a very dull pundit, but the best co-commentator going at the moment with Jon Champion making an absolute champion of a pairing.

Best of all time goes to Peter Brackley whom until today I was still hoping he'd make a return, but having googled him, it seems he died in 2018!

Ideal set-up:

Jim Rosenthal as main presenter. Jon Champion & Ally McCoist on commentary. Gary Neville, Roy Keane & if I must pick a 3rd (Didn't realise it was such slim pickings) possible Souness?

As far as Scottish presenters are concerned, we should be tempting Dougie Donnelly back!

Anyway, this is the thread to give praise or voice your annoyance at anything a pundit has said/say who you like and don't like.

 

[pub car king]

Clive is having a meltdown and posted a toys out the pram video on twitter.

It was glorious but not as good as his ability to say something and for it to then blow up in his face. Usually involving his beloved England.

[accies1874]

Derek Rae + Chris Sutton might actually be the best Scottish football duo I can remember which makes me sad (the Sutton part, anyway). Rory Hamilton + Chris Sutton is probably the next best. 

Chapman + McCoist were good fun at the World Cup and I'd like to hear them more often. 

I liked Rob Hawthorne + Gary Neville on the MU-Southampton game last night and would like the former to replace Martin Tyler (although I also like Bill Leslie).

Ian Crocker and Andy Walker are an absolutely horrendous pairing and make boring Celtic or Rangers processions 100x worse.

Anyone who has Martin Tyler as "best" is cancelled. 

[accies1874]

Some more points:

I had tears of joy seeing that Clive Tyldesley has been given the boot. 

Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Alex Scott might be the only good pundits in English football right now, and Neil McCann (<--- unpopular opinions thread for this), Marvin Bartley and Darren Fletcher (who's probably more of an English football pundit to be fair) are the only good ones in the Scottish game. 

Mourinho, Liam Rosenior, Craig Bellamy and Frank Lampard were all good pundits before they got jobs elsewhere, or sacked in Bellamy's case. 

Most presenters are fine but I like Darrell Currie a lot. 

I've been waiting for a thread like for in a while. 

[Ludo*1]

The meltdown in full glory.

Really don't like Jonathan Sutherland as a presenter.

[Savage Henry]

Clive’s alright when the game has nothing to do with England.  The trouble is, he’ll find any reason to connect any game with England, and at that point he becomes insufferable.  He’s always been a polarising commentator - I’m amazed he doesn’t have the self-awareness to realise that.  He’s also quite clearly a bit of a tube.

Edited July 14, 2020 by Savage Henry

[ArabGaz]

As a commentary duo, I quite enjoy Bill Lesley and Andy Hinchcliffe on Sky. They tend though to only get football league or lower end Premiership games which is a shame.

Them with James Richardson as host and his European goal show chums would probably be my preferred choice.

The worst commentator (for me Clive) is probably Jonathan Pearce. His inability to understand goal-line technology during the 2014 World Cup being a particular lowlight. 

 

[Ludo*1]

Gonna put my tin hat on and say I loved Archie McPherson & John Motson. Grew up with them and they were the voices of Scottish & English football respectively. Wasn't until later in life I understood that they blethered a lot of pish but their voices are still iconic and better than a lot out there today.

[David W]

41 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said:

Gonna put my tin hat on and say I loved Archie McPherson & John Motson. Grew up with them and they were the voices of Scottish & English football respectively. Wasn't until later in life I understood that they blethered a lot of pish but their voices are still iconic and better than a lot out there today.

I spent years disliking Tyldsley. But he did a few games on Talksport this year and it was like a injection of concentrated nostalgia, the voice of numerous Champions league nights.

I won't ever get that feeling about shouty soundbite Liam MacLeod, or the wee bitter xenophobe Danny Murphy. 

[trgf]

I can't think of any football commentators I'd put alongside ones from other sports like Murray Walker or Peterr Alliss. Maybe it's because football doesn't really need a great commentator while F1 and Golf are boring without one

 

Best pairing was probably Tyldesley and Big Ron on the Champions League.

[Diamonds are Forever]

Champion and McCoist are excellent as a pair, particularly when it's a game that you probably wouldn't be that interested in. Their commentary from the last World Cup on some bog standard group games was a real highlight and you can tell they genuinely enjoy it and like each other. Whereas I can't stand that forced mateyness that you get with 'Fletch' and 'Macca', genuinely cringeworthy.

Hard to think of many others that stand out as being ones that I like. Commentators are much of a muchness really, they tend not to give opinions so as long as they are competent (and by the time they reach that level they are) then they are fine. It's the co-commentators that are more annoying. A lot of them, particularly someone like Steve McManaman, just resort to describing what a replay has shown or stating the obvious which is nothing that a fan couldn't do. Ones that actually add insight as the game is going on are rare to find.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Absolutely detest Jonathan Pearce. Hated him before but he's now saying "corner ball" when a corner kick is given which somehow has made me hate him even more.

Enjoyed Kevin Keegan when he did the Champions League on ITV years ago

[Ron Aldo]

I like Clive Tyldesley - for me, he's still the voice of Champions League games. Even when he was commentating on England he was always good for a soundbite when it went tits up for them in whichever competition they were competing in.

I don't watch enough English football to have much of an opinion on the commentators who cover games down there but what I will say is that Steve Mcmanaman is an absolute cretin and ruins any game he co-commentates on.

In terms of favourites, I really liked the team who covered Scottish football on BT. The worst are the team who cover Scottish football on Sky. Kris Boyd and Andy Walker in particular.

[GNU_Linux]

Big fan of Brenton Speed who does the A-League in Australia (also does aussie rules, rugby league & basketball).

I somewhat loathe that scouse wenk Ray Hudson who does LaLiga coverage in the States.

[AndyDD]

I always liked David Begg on Sportsound and think he's significantly missed now from the radio commentaries. 

Rob Mclean is fucking unbearable, as are almost all of the television commentary teams I've ever heard, be it Sky, BT, BBC. I genuinely struggle to think of any I actually enjoy the input of. I'd quite happily have no commentary at all, I think. Pre-match, half-time and post-match punditry is fine, but I never have really understood why we NEED a commentator on TV. We definitely don't need commentary teams, with former player X making absolutely pointless contributions at best, inane, gibbering nonsense comments at worst. 

They are quite fun to pillory, I suppose. And you wouldn't get commentatorballs in Private Eye without them. That's about as positive as i can be about them. 

[Ludo*1]

Absolutely detested Craig Burley when he covered Scottish football. Credit to Chris Sutton, he obviously listened to Burley's work, refined it and defends Scottish football to the hilt when on a predominantly English football show.

[Savage Henry]

15 hours ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

Champion and McCoist are excellent as a pair, particularly when it's a game that you probably wouldn't be that interested in. Their commentary from the last World Cup on some bog standard group games was a real highlight and you can tell they genuinely enjoy it and like each other. Whereas I can't stand that forced mateyness that you get with 'Fletch' and 'Macca', genuinely cringeworthy.

Hard to think of many others that stand out as being ones that I like. Commentators are much of a muchness really, they tend not to give opinions so as long as they are competent (and by the time they reach that level they are) then they are fine. It's the co-commentators that are more annoying. A lot of them, particularly someone like Steve McManaman, just resort to describing what a replay has shown or stating the obvious which is nothing that a fan couldn't do. Ones that actually add insight as the game is going on are rare to find.

 

McCoist actually researches the teams he commentates on, unlike the Sportsound analysts who openly admit they don’t do any.

If we’re going down the routes of other sports, Michael Atherton and Jonathan Agnew are the best commentators going.

[Karpaty Lviv]

Clive was great entertainment when England were inevitably papped out of a major tournament. The Croatia game being the stand out.

Tony Pulis was a co-commentator at an MLS game for Sky last season (purely because his son was the assistant manager at one of the teams) and he openly admitted he didn’t know when the transfer window closed or even know what a Designated Player was. Let’s hope that’s the last we see of him. As boring as you would imagine.

Adam Summerton is very good on BT. He knows his stuff. 

[Diamonds are Forever]

25 minutes ago, AndyDD said:

I always liked David Begg on Sportsound and think he's significantly missed now from the radio commentaries. 

Rob Mclean is fucking unbearable, as are almost all of the television commentary teams I've ever heard, be it Sky, BT, BBC. I genuinely struggle to think of any I actually enjoy the input of. I'd quite happily have no commentary at all, I think. Pre-match, half-time and post-match punditry is fine, but I never have really understood why we NEED a commentator on TV. We definitely don't need commentary teams, with former player X making absolutely pointless contributions at best, inane, gibbering nonsense comments at worst. 

They are quite fun to pillory, I suppose. And you wouldn't get commentatorballs in Private Eye without them. That's about as positive as i can be about them. 

 

Part of me agrees with that, but then I think that is just because I've watched football my whole life and don't need someone describing the game or telling me which player is which. However, then I think about the few occasions I watch a big Rugby match or other sports I know little about and I don't think I could watch them without commentary, there will be loads of casual fans in that same boat with football. If TV companies want to appeal to a wide audience then they need commentary.

[AndyDD]

5 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

Part of me agrees with that, but then I think that is just because I've watched football my whole life and don't need someone describing the game or telling me which player is which. However, then I think about the few occasions I watch a big Rugby match or other sports I know little about and I don't think I could watch them without commentary, there will be loads of casual fans in that same boat with football. If TV companies want to appeal to a wide audience then they need commentary.

Yeah, I think that's a fair point. If there was an option to watch with or without, though, like with that heinous crowd noise, I'd be a happy chap. 

One commentator there for the casual fan, or to identify the players, and provide a very basic coverage of the action as it unfolds, would be fine. Get the 'co-commentators' binned. 

I did enjoy one World Cup match that had Mick McCarthy as co-commentator, essentially because a goalkeeper feigned injury and McCarthy scoffed 'get up you tart'. I don't think he was asked back after that haha.