The Soccer Blog: What is our obsession with pundits being Ex-Pros?

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

What is our obsession with pundits being Ex-Pros?

By: Rob | September 21st, 2010

“No-one really knows that muich about Ben Arfa”

shear motd Really? Alan Shearer delivered those words on Saturday night on BBC Staple Match of the Day, met with a splutter from serious football fans from around the land. Really? We don’t know that much about Ben Arfa? The Ben Arfa that’s been playing in the Champions League on a regular basis? The one who has been capped by his country and that even Raymond Domenech realised would be a good player to take to the World Cup?Sheesh! As a Geordie, I assumed Shearer would have at least have done his research to find out about this new guy Newcastle had signed on loan. Especially if that is EXACTLY WHAT HIS JOB WAS.

Still, its nothing new. TV stations constantly employ “pundits” who are invariably famous ex-pros, who usually don’t actually know very much about the game. It seems odd, you would think being an ex-pro you would know all about the game, but that obviously isn’t the case. There are some aspects of the game that only a pro can really relate to – say the feeling of scoring in a cup final – but of actual game analysis, footballers aren’t required to be that knowledgeable.

Yet reading newspapers (and often, blogs) you find intelligent, cutting analysis. Goodness knows why these people aren’t on TV, you know the ones that understand the game, because they’ve spent their whole life analysing it.

Of course its because the general public wouldn’t recognise these knowledgeable beings, and the casual football fan doesn’t want to see Rafael Honigstien or Henry Winter, or Barney Ronay or Simon Kuper, they want to see someone they recognise. Alan Shearer, Jamie Redknapp, Andy Townsend or Robbie Earle.

But for anyone with more than a basic knowledge of the game, these pundits often come up shockingly short. Remember in the World Cup where the BBC Team proudly stated that basically none of the German side would get in the England team (based on the fact they hadn’t heard of most of them)?

There has to be a balance. Get an ex-pro as the “face” by all means, but don’t supplement them with even less knowledgeable ex-pros (or worse, failed ex-managers who can’t get a job in the real world) back them up with people who know what they are talking about, or at least have a bloody opinon instead of stating some cliché or horrible lack of knowledge.

Which pundits would you like to see in the studio on BBC or ITV or wherever? Which ones are th exceptions? And who must go as soon as possible?

Category: EPL Ramblings

Tags: Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer, Andy Townsend, BBC< Sky, EPL Ramblings, ITV, Jamie Redknapp, Robbie Earle, Sky sports, TV
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Comments | Add your comment Aidan | September 21st, 2010 at 9:48 am

Excellent points.

On the Beeb, most of them are dire – Shearer, Lawrenson, Lee Dixon, Robbie Savage and most of the time Alan Hansen just give the usual cliche laden tripe that any pub bore could (and does) come up with. And Lineker is all about the cringeworthy puns and jokes.

ITV are even worse with Andy Townsend and their bland comments before going to yet another ad break.

Sky have some good ones and many bad ones too – Redknapp? dear me. But at least he had the balls to state how crap Torres has been lately.

I remember Channel 5 a couple of years ago with Italian football had a presenter, a pretty Italian woman, and Gabriele Marcotti in the studio – a killer combination!

People like Marcotti give excellent analysis – as you say that’s what he has studied and done for years.

The ex-pros just tell you stuff that you could easily see for himself. Someone misses an easy chance and the analysis from Shearer and co is “he’ll be disappointed with that”. Really? Wow, how did I not work that out for myself?

The trouble is that the BBC in particular have to cater for a wide range of people, not just a specialist sports channel audience and therefore tend to dumb down to the lowest common denominator. ITV just simply are the lowest common denominator themselves!

Those of us who want insightful analysis will rarely find it on UK tv, which is a crying shame.

Another problem with using ex-pros is that they are pals with many of those they are commenting on, and won’t criticise their mates. Also many TV companies don’t want to risk offending the managers, and so don’t ask some obvious questions in interviews, preferring to placate the manager who criticises the ref at every turn for fear that he will refuse to give interviews anymore (Ferguson and the BBC)

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What is our obsession with pundits being Ex-Pros?

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