Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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I get the impression Savage was only hired to add a bit of controversy. But you are right, there are some duff ex-players out there, and the audition process the studios use, really must improve. I would still prefer to have a anchor or pundit who has played in big world cup/ European cup matches. How can a journalist possibly know what that experience is like?
I don't think I underestimate the job of an anchor. Chiles may have held it together for 3 hours before the world cup, but don't forget they had ad breaks, where others can feed him stuff to talk about, and also an ear piece so others could help him during the live broadcast. Most people can ask questions that are being fed to you if you run of out questions to ask yourself. Let's say Nicky Butt (a generally well respected footballer) was anchor and asking the questions, and a pundit gave a holding midfielder some stick which the anchor (Nicky Butt) disagreed with. Nicky Butt, who has played in that position at the highest level won just about everything an Englishman can expect to win, would be able to respond with a much better question or counter argument than you, me, a journalist, Adrian Chiles, Jake Humphries, Matt Smith, Richard Keys or Ben Shephard.
Let's not forget players were fans too and would have attended many games when children, I am sure many still attend games too. Their passion for the game is just as real as anyone else.
I fear we may have to agree to disagree on this point, I am happy to read your response, but I am happy to leave it there if you are.