Absolutely, definitely, bang on condemnation of the sorry state of TV punditry:
Before the Algeria versus Slovenia game in Group C on Sunday, Shearer seemed to be speaking for the entire BBC panel when he said, “Our knowledge of these two teams is limited.” Limited! What the former England striker was saying was that he hadn’t done his homework, that he hadn’t spoken to any of his vast array of contacts in the game, hadn’t tapped into the BBC’s huge research machinery, hadn’t even bothered, seemingly, to peruse the internet for some background on Algeria and Slovenia or even flick through a newspaper or a magazine. Shearer was content to sit in front of the cameras and tell the viewers that, really, he didn’t know much.
In the 1960s, this may have been defensible, but in an era where players of over seventy different nationalities ply their trade in the Premier League, and dozens of leagues from around the world are shown on satellite (not to mention the Internet), to be ignorant of even the names of the players in the sides when you’re being paid God knows how much to sum up, is nothing short of insulting to the viewer.
Even when it is about players they do know - such as the England-USA game - they have talked garbage:
Keegan’s summing-up: “It was a very, very good performance, good enough to win any game.” This classic piece of Keegan claptrap should have been jumped upon and ripped apart for the nonsensical garbage that it was, but it sailed through pretty much. Chiles doesn’t do confrontation – neither does the BBC – and it’s a terrible weakness. There is no edge, no passion. It’s all so bloody harmless and dull.
Our pundits and commentators, instead of giving us knowledge or insight, are instead intent on treating the whole World Cup as some sort of middle-aged lads’ tour away at our expense, joking with each other on camera in between rounds of golf and moaning about the cold weather. As eloquently put on Twitter by Zonalmarking, it’s “Alan Hansen constantly complaining about being forced to watch football”, and we’re fed up of it. Tell us something new, or get off our screens
