[andy_m]

No, there are some ex pros who are excellent pundits. What I'm saying is it doesn't necessarily follow that every ex pro will be good. Gary Neville is excellent, so is Danny Murphy, but Robbie Fowler is dreadful. Glenn Hoddle, not just a great player but also a very good coach, is always worth listening to, Alan Shearer had upped his game, but Robbie Savage is a clown.

What I said was that some ex pros don't understand the game, and I stand by that.

As far as the anchor goes I can't think of many ex pros who could have chaired a conversation for three hours live on tv whilst an England match was eventually called off, I think it's probably a much difficult job than you think, and what I've always liked about Chiles is that he's a football fan, like you and me, not a player (well, I never got near that level, anyway). Stood on the terraces as a kid and still goes now when he can. He's asking these ex pros the sort of questions we would ask, and as a result he's getting the sort of analysis we would want - it doesn't matter that he can't provide it himself.

As for who else could do it I reckon there are probably enough Gary Neville's out there to keep us going, but there are probably also some very knowledgeable, and articulate, sports journalists who would be worth listening to. One of the best members of the BBC's World Cup team was their South American football correspondent who's name I forget but who was based out there. No-one else on their team came close to him. Imo.