Pundits.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Little and Large were ace. Won't have a bad word said against them.

[Richard E]

I suspect Ads may have been joking.

Clearly you don't know him. He's dead straight serious.

He's a lawyer. We don't have a sense of humour, as my missus never ceases to remind me.

[Percy McCarthy]

That was brilliant. I wasn't expecting to say that.

Tony Daley on the credits, loads of Villa interest, b-lose lost and Greavsie was hilarious.

[Toronto Villa]

That was brilliant. I wasn't expecting to say that.

Tony Daley on the credits, loads of Villa interest, b-lose lost and Greavsie was hilarious.

The Dave Bassett/Big Ron joke was superb. Brought back so many good memories of when I just enjoyed football.

[Percy McCarthy]

That was brilliant. I wasn't expecting to say that.

Tony Daley on the credits, loads of Villa interest, b-lose lost and Greavsie was hilarious.

The Dave Bassett/Big Ron joke was superb. Brought back so many good memories of when I just enjoyed football.

Prophetic too. They actually did win the Rumbelow's Cup and get promoted that season. Not sure if they were champions.

[PeterWithe]

My apologies for not reading the preceding 9 pages, but can I say how good the pundits are on BT Sport's Goals Show for the champions league nights. 

They're journalists plus Howard Webb anchored by James Richardson.  I've been a big fan of the guardian podcast for years, because they are not afraid to have an alternative view and indeed take the piss out of the pantomime that is modern football.  Whilst slightly less piss taking - after all they've paid a lot of money for the broadcasting rights - their observations are still very erudite and much more likely to ignore the usual agenda. 

I recommend it.

I always loved Channel Four's Football Italia. James Richardson looked so cool sitting outside Italian cafes reading the Gazetta De La Sport headlines.

i was going to mention football Italia- it was a slick presentation, but the football was slow and mostly boring as fuck. There was another guy on there Guiaullme sp? Someone or other who had all the stats to hand aswell? Channel 4 did really well with it, as they also did when they had the cricket before sky got it after the 2005 ashes win.

Do you remember when they had a period of having The Times writer, Brian Glanville (?sp) on to tell some mafia related tale about Italian football back in the old days. He was more like a Harry Enfield character but strangely entertaining.

[Stirchley Villain]

Pundits in general are rarely more insightful than the average man in the street.

[dave.woodhall]

The Absolute Game used to have a Bruno Glanvilla column with Scottish football written about in the style of Glanville describing Italian.

[LukeJames]

Goooooaalazzzzooooo!

Golaccio

I always used to think they were extremely biased and it was Go Lazio!

[Dave]

Goooooaalazzzzooooo!

Golaccio

I always used to think they were extremely biased and it was Go Lazio!

You about me both.

[Gregorys Boy]

I quite like Kevin Kilbane and don't mind Danny Murphy too much

Yeah out of the recent crop I think these two are the best. Their down to earth, and offer good insight, and seem to have a sense of humour too.

My thing with the lead poster here is that how could they were as players doesn't really have anything to do with if they are good pundits or not. The Kilbane thing proves that, even if he wasn't the best player, he has played at a high level, had good experience, and is able to speak in an engaging way about those experiences, whereas Shearer who was a much better player doesn't seem to have grasp that concept.

[LeeB]

So is the Beano. Won't have a word said against it. Is Ads really dead. Serious?

No, he's been smuggled out of the country by his wealthy pals, had facial reconstruction, and will be running for the next president of FIFA.

[kippaxvilla2]

Who was the co-commentator on the Salford game last night?  It sounded suspiciously like either Jenas or Sinclair but I couldn't tell from the clip I saw.

Now I know it was a massive shock and what makes the cup but since when have the supposedly unbiased broadcasters been allowed to go shout 'yes get in' when a goal is scored?!

[seanthevillan]

There was an interesting moment on 5live with Chapman, Roberts et al on the Sunday when Sherwood got sacked. Inbetween spending ages discussing the nuances of a Manchester derby, with insight and research, they gave Villa a good 5-10 minutes I think.

At one point one of them, I think Jason Roberts, got stuck into Villa a bit - saying it was a place where you always went thinking 'a good twenty minutes and their fans will get on their back', easy away win etc. Without reflecting whether this was true of most clubs or not, they started reciting the same old pro-Sherwood clichés and expectation lines.

Then I think Roberts realised he'd gone a bit far, and started to big up Villa as a big club, obviously Chapman showed his disdain, and he said 'why are you making that face'. Chapman got all flustered about it.

I thought that in that moment the thin veil of respect came down and we saw what we all knew - the pundits and broadcasters, whether its the BBC, Sky or wherever, don't really give a toss about Villa and don't see us ever doing anything or being worth their time. We don't compete for airtime and don't merit journalists actually doing their job properly. In fact, since Sherwood left I don't think I've heard anyone say something I actually agree with or think makes sense regarding Villa.

[phantom limb]

I'm sure it's been mentioned before but Adrian Durham knows his onions and often bigs us up. I know his remit on Talksport is to be controversial and wind people up but he's a lot more intelligent and erudite than most other pundits I can think of, especially ex-footballers. Although saying that if your co-host is Darren Gough it's not hard to sound like the brains of the operation.