They should transfer Roy Keane to the BBC. He'd be walking that fecking labrador again within a month.
But for what reason has their been an influx of female presenters and pundits over the last few years when there's an abundance of male candidates that have played men's football that are no less qualified.
I do think it’s ridiculous what they’ve done with female analysts. You could be a solid championship pro, play at a good standard for 10+ years in front of 20,000+ crowds, be brilliant as a pundit, well spoken & knowledgeable yet you won’t get a job on big games for BBC, ITV, Sky or BT as you haven’t played at the top level. Yet you can be a female footballer who’s played in a game where there’s only about 10 decent international sides, where next to no one goes to watch the games, at a far weaker level & you might be bang average as a pundit yet you’ll get to commentate / analyse big games to fill a quota. Alex Scott was good but the vast majority of female pundits I’ve seen have added nothing to the coverage, some of the ones Sky Sports have had sat in the studio covering games have been dreadful. It all stemmed from putting male footballers on the coverage of the women’s World Cup a few years back which was also wrong in my opinion. The BBC put recognisable faces on the coverage like Jeans, Keown & Murphy but it’d be far better with pundits who actually cover Women’s football regularly & after that the pressure was on for women to analyse men’s football.
Personally I don't care if a vertically challenged, afro-Caribbean, lesbian racist does the commentary on the footy. I'm just not bothered at all. The only issue for me is if the pundit is any good on telly/radio. If they're good then great. If they're not any good then they should be kicked off. If the political correctness of deliberately selecting 'appropriate' types of people to commentate blinds the programme producers from seeing that the said person is actually crap then they have indeed made an error. However, as I said its irrelevant to me per se.
I don’t see the problem, most pundits regurgitate the same turgid tripe whether male or female. It seems that each and every one of them has a degree in stating the chuffing obvious. Lawrenson for instance makes me want to tug on a dangling rope with an anvil attached to it
A good pundit is a good pundit, regardless of gender. Merson, Kamara and Thompson are utterly terrible, yet they continue to get a gig for no real reason. Give me Alex Scott or Faye Carruthers any day of the week.
I went to the doctors the other day and guess what, it was a bloody woman. Bang out of order I thought.
Unfortunately Helen I suspect it’s more about being significantly cheaper and ticking PC boxes. For me it should be someone who can offer expert opinion and insight into the game, irrelevant of race,age or sex.
One of several things where Italy is like living in the '70's....... the TV, particularly Mediaset (Berlusconi's) channels, are full of absolute dross. The variety programmes that last for hours are usually presented by two ageing men (who think they are a) funny and b) God's gift to women, surrounded by half a dozen scantily clad girls who cavort around and are basically 'eye candy'. Much of the 'comedy' (if you can call it that) belongs in the Benny Hill era. (And please!... no snidey comments from a few on here saying I should be well suited to it then. After 35+ years of marriage the regular verbal beatings from my wife took care any misogynist tendencies a long time ago) Worst still are the endless football programmes where you don't actually see any football (unlike Gillette soccer special these are usually on at times when no matches are actually being played and all follow the same format. In a large sparsely unfurnished studio there is a sofa on which are sat 3 or 4 old men pontificating on matches, teams etc. Usually several yards away in front of a large screen (which doesnt actually EVER show any football just logos and stats is a host link person, invariably an extremely attractive, long legged woman in a very short skirt or exposing quite a lot of cleavage (sometimes both) and she has to stand throughout, (sometimes with a lectern) who often appears to know more than all the pundits combined but gets little opportunity to contribute to the endless waffle. My wife insists she is only there to try to attract male viewers who are not interested in football. Anyway, a quick very old (misogynistic) joke to raise the hackles of Red Helen (and my wife if she sees this) .... Q Why do women have smaller feet than men? A So they can stand closer to the sink and the ironing board
I've no problem with women, gay, straight or ethnic origin doing commentary. What I have got a problem with is when it's obvious it's a token women, gay, straight or ethnic person doing the commentary. The BBC and Sky make me cringe sometimes with their coverage.
Exactly. It's like there's a HR dept in the background ticking the equality boxes, making sure there's a 'balance', regardless of skill set, experience and suitability.
Didn’t watch it but the BBC have a team of presenters pundits and commentators they use for football There are far more men than Women in all 3. I don’t care whether the presenter is Gary or Gabby. They are both equally good I think Alex Scott is one of the better pundits. Not so keen on Jackie oatley as a commentator but that’s not because she is female. There are a few male commentators I don’t like either. But she is on the team. So will commentate on games just because on time you get 3 women you are all upset. Really. It’s quite common to have none at all. I think you are inventing an issue based on one random selection but there is nothing there
