| Every time I turn on the television to watch a live | | | | Ten or fifteen years ago in the 'Saint and Greavsie' |
| football match on the BBC, I'm filled with a familiar | | | | era, this knowledgeable but slightly irritating duo might |
| sense of dread. It might just be my opinion, but the | | | | have been suitable, but I'd now like to see the line-up |
| commentary on the 'Beeb' has slipped to a | | | | revamped to suit the modern game. |
| substandard quality. | | | | Drawing comparisons with Sky Sports, there is simply |
| It was when viewing a recent cup tie between | | | | no competition. The commentary is first rate, no matter |
| Liverpool and Arsenal that my loathing of the Match of | | | | who they seem to line up and the overall coverage is |
| the Day coverage reached boiling point. That being | | | | unrivaled. For me, Martin Tyler and Andy Gray are the |
| said, the senseless babble of an ageing John Motson | | | | best commentary team of all time and listening to |
| has been aggravating me for sometime now. I can | | | | them adds (rather than detracts) from the sense of |
| only liken him to an old relative who somehow still | | | | occasion. |
| manages to see the same things you do - only about | | | | I suppose at least now, you can switch to 'Interactive' |
| thirty seconds later. | | | | BBC coverage and have the radio commentary as an |
| Then there's the problem of who they team up with | | | | alternative, but more often than not this is Jonathan |
| Motson, and more often than not it's Mark Lawrenson. | | | | Pearce - who I think is best suited to football phone-ins |
| He's not a bad pundit to have in the studio alongside | | | | and reporting on small robots pushing each other |
| the jug-eared one and the Scottish football professor | | | | around a small arena. |
| but I don't think he's at all right for commentary. For the | | | | Of the staff they have on their books, I'd promote |
| cup tie in question, he was so obviously biased | | | | Simon Brotherton to first choice, put Alan Hansen |
| towards Liverpool it was painful - practically screaming | | | | alongside him and throw the current commentary |
| for a penalty in one instance when Xavi Alonso took a | | | | team a long overdue retirement bash. |
| contentious tumble in the Arsenal box. | | | | |