Best World Cup Commentator

[Branton Rover]

Thought I’d put the present lot on - not including Jonathan Pearce - personally I’d go with Motty or Brian Moore - I’m not a convert to the woman commentator, having said that the pundits Eni Aluko & Alex Scott have added something new but don’t reckon they’ll displace Shearer, Ferdinand and Lampard for the big matches anytime soon.

[BillyStubbsTears]

If there’s one big letdown about this WC (in fact, any modern WC)  it’s that the media tech is all so high quality. The images and sound are such high quality, the matches could be next door. There’s no sense of distance.

World Cups are supposed to have fuzzy images, dropping out every few minutes, with Barry Davies saying condescending things about foreigners down a crackly phone for commentary.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Why have you excluded Pearce? I'd prefer him to any of those you've listed. I'd still go for Motty or John Helm (one for the teenagers!) over him though. I never warmed to Brian Moore at all, I always got the impression he felt as though rather be doing something more worthwhile.

[Branton Rover]

I run out of space to include Pearce anyway I find him annoying

[Glyn_Wigley]

If this is all about what you think, why bother starting a poll?

[RoversAlias]

You've excluded a few. I'd ordinarily say Guy Mowbray but he's annoyed me a few times this tournament. BBC's best at the moment for me is Steve Bower. Vicki Sparks was good but I only heard her in one game so not sure it's enough to judge her properly.

[Silkscarf]

Anyone but Clive Tyldesley. Literally anyone - Trump and Putin together would be preferable.

I can’t bear his interminable drivel. Irrelevant historical trivia and poor attempts at humour.

[Bristol Red Rover]

I've been impressed by Alex Scott as pundit.

[redandwhitearmy]

What about Mark lawrenson ? 

[tommy toes]

Steve Bower.

[Padge_DRFC]

Pundits on itv are miles better for me.

[pib]

I think overall the BBC punditry is better, but I think Jon Champion and Ally McCoist have probably been the best commentary duo.

As for Jonathan Pearce - give me a break!! Can't stand his commentary. Always forcing his unwanted opinion and always looking for controversy even when there isn't any.

[RedJ]

I think overall the BBC punditry is better, but I think Jon Champion and Ally McCoist have probably been the best commentary duo.

As for Jonathan Pearce - give me a break!! Can't stand his commentary. Always forcing his unwanted opinion and always looking for controversy even when there isn't any.

That time in Brazil when he had a meltdown over goal line technology because it originally - correctly - said there was no goal in an incident where the ball bounced down off one post and not in but then bounced in off the other (or something weird like that) even though it did say on the second bounce down the ball crossed the line and the goal was given.

[Bentley Bullet]

Whatever happened to Adrian Chiles?

[RedJ]

Got punted by ITV, got his own show on BBC Radio 5 Live for a bit. f**k knows what he's doing lately.

[BillyStubbsTears]

You’d think in this day and age there’d be an option on the box to have the crowd atmosphere noise but no f**king commentary.

Commentators are totally irrelevant these days. We al have Google so we can find out stuff about the players. We don’t need Mark Lawrenson’s antediluvian opinions rammed down our necks. We don’t need to know Clive Tyldesley’s thoughts on the quality of the play. We can make up our own minds. Just let us watch it for ourselves with the stadium noise and the sound of the ref’s whistle.

Excellent example of the vacuousness of commentators yesterday. Mo Salah scored from 15 yards.
Commentator: “Mo Salah just doesn’t miss from that sort of range.”
Five minutes later, Mo Salah missed from exactly the same position.
What did that “Mo Salah doesn’t miss from that sort of range” comment add to anyone’s knowledge, understanding or enjoyment of the game. It’s just verbal diarrhoea to fill a space. It’s unnecessary and pointless.

[Bentley Bullet]

Bloody 'ell, don't hold back, Billy!

If you thought this thread was all over before that post, it is now.

[The Red Baron]

You’d think in this day and age there’d be an option on the box to have the crowd atmosphere noise but no f**king commentary.

Commentators are totally irrelevant these days. We al have Google so we can find out stuff about the players. We don’t need Mark Lawrenson’s antediluvian opinions rammed down our necks. We don’t need to know Clive Tyldesley’s thoughts on the quality of the play. We can make up our own minds. Just let us watch it for ourselves with the stadium noise and the sound of the ref’s whistle.

Excellent example of the vacuousness of commentators yesterday. Mo Salah scored from 15 yards.
Commentator: “Mo Salah just doesn’t miss from that sort of range.”
Five minutes later, Mo Salah missed from exactly the same position.
What did that “Mo Salah doesn’t miss from that sort of range” comment add to anyone’s knowledge, understanding or enjoyment of the game. It’s just verbal diarrhoea to fill a space. It’s unnecessary and pointless.

I don't think they are totally irrelevant but they need to remember that their role is to identify the players for the viewer. Other than that, they should remember the great Richie Benaud's rule and only say something when it adds to what the viewer can see on the screen.

The role I do think is irrelevant, in the days of multiple replays and studio pundits, is the co-commentator. Most of them are pretty hopeless anyway and only succeeded in encouraging the main commentator to say more than he or she should.

[RoversAlias]

I think it's pretty daft personally to suggest the role of a commentator is irrelevant. If I want to watch, say, Morocco v Iran at this tournament and there's no commentary I'm not going to bother watching because I'll not know who any of the players are, I'll get no clarification on any incidents or decisions taken that may not be clear and I might miss things that happen off-camera. It's not like watching a game live in person where you can view the entire stadium and have people all around you watching the same thing.

If the argument is that the standard of commentating is sometimes not up to scratch then fair enough. But a commentator's role is not obsolete just because we now have Google.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Yeah folks. Sorry. I was over the top earlier.

I’m currently revelling in Simon Brotherton and Danny Murphy in the Iceland-Croatia match discussing whether the ref has blown for a foul because he needed a breather, when it was bleeding obvious that there’d been a body check. Then taking three replays to see a handball that was obvious first time. And saying that you’ve got to keep your head over the ball when you hit a shot from distance.

I don’t know how I’d possibly follow the action without those insights to help me out.

[drfchound]

I think it's pretty daft personally to suggest the role of a commentator is irrelevant. If I want to watch, say, Morocco v Iran at this tournament and there's no commentary I'm not going to bother watching because I'll not know who any of the players are, I'll get no clarification on any incidents or decisions taken that may not be clear and I might miss things that happen off-camera. It's not like watching a game live in person where you can view the entire stadium and have people all around you watching the same thing.

If the argument is that the standard of commentating is sometimes not up to scratch then fair enough. But a commentator's role is not obsolete just because we now have Google.

RA, you should know very well that fans in the stadium never see the same thing.

[BillyStubbsTears]

In the first 90 seconds of the 2nd half, Brotherton has told me that the referee has blown for a free kick, after I saw a foul and heard the whistle, then explained that if the scores stay as they are, Croatia will win the group.

I’m truly in awe of this service.

[RedJ]

You'll be even more pleased when you find out that his salary is paid by your taxes.

[BillyStubbsTears]

And the most priceless word of wisdom from Danny Murphy.
“There’s all sorts ofpermutations about who could go through.”

Then the two of them decided that if Iceland get a winner, they are through. Which is incorrect.

[RoversAlias]

What I will agree with you is that some of the people they have on commentary are idiots. Murphy and Jenas, both on tonight, are the worst of BBC's crop.

[arkseyrover]

sack em all. I don't need to listen to their ramblings and meaningless statistics. Or the so called experts coming on, telling me what I have just watched and talking in terms of football being a life or death situation. There are far more important issues around - such as how to get Carphone Warehouse to sort my mobile out and provide a degree of customer service.

[drfchound]

But if the experts didn’t explain what had been going on then lots of people wouldn’t be able to post expert opinions on forums.

[Bentley Bullet]

There are very few characters anymore, and the only one I can think of now is Neil Warnock, sadly hardly seen on TV.

The World Cup used to be great when we had Clough, John Bond, Greavsie etc, along with Brian Moore.

https://youtu.be/totmUp0-KKA

[PDX_Rover]

Can we have a Graham Poll?

Gunner
George
Herol "I'd like to meet people who wrote on buses' Bomber
Jackie

[BillyStubbsTears]

BBC reporter to DeBruyne.

“Do you think you’re ready to take on the best in the world Kevin?”

DeBruyne was consummately professional in his response. Didn’t say what I would have said: “Have you bee watching the last two hours you vacuous bell-end?”