He's a 'Scottish' pundit who constantly acts like an Englishman and feres to England as "we". And that little quote at the top is bad enough. For me, it's pretty unforgivable.
Nice to see that we Americans don't have a complete monopoly on idiotic, sycophantic commentators. Does he confine himself to sport or is he an all-around ass?
Alan Hansen is a hand job, he is a resident pundit, who is way too biased over Liverpool and Michael Owen. IMO he shouldn't be on MOTD at all he's a Bell, i think to be on there you have to have played football within the last 5 years, because the game has changed a lot since Alan Hansen was playing.
I'd disagree. They very fact that he's completely out of the picture means he can say what he thinks rather than sitting on the fence because he doesn't want to upset some of his old mates. He's one of the few pundits actually worth listening to. It is odd hearing saying "we" about England though. First time he did it I thought I'd mis-heard.
Considering the crap we have to put up with in the states, its so nice to listen to a commentator who's intelligent and willing to take players to task. I can understand you don't like him for pretending he's English, but as a commentator, I think he's great.
Just pisses me off that him or Mark Lawrenson never have the guts to say when Michael Owen plays sh1t they'll pick problems with others but never Owen for some weird reason and if they do they make a ghey excuse
I actually think he's an alright pundit. He knows the game and can talk intelligently about tactics and things without descending into the cliches that Ian Wright and those losers at ITV rely on. In saying that, he's no Gordon Strachan. The best pundit around and a true Scotsman.
If were talking poor punditry i point the finger to Ian Wright and John Barnes, these two could make a pair of deaf mutes seem competent.
Before all the England games with France, Switzerland, Croatia & Portugal, Ian Wright kept saying “I fancy Owen to score”, then at half-time in the Portugal game, he’s like “what did I tell you? Michael’s to man!”
Hansen famously said in 1995, "You can't win the title with kids!" in reference to the young Manure side. Then, at the end of that season, they did the Double.
Gary Linekar: "Tou have to give the Portugese some credit, don't you?" Ian Wright: "Nah, you don't!" What a tit. he was almost crying when France won and then again when Portugal won.
Trust me it's the same with Mark Lawrenson and Ireland. I watched Football Focus last Saturday and all the way through the programme and the tournament he refers to England as "We" but then when Garth Crookes, Terry Butcher and Ray Stubbs talk about how dissapointing England were he turns around and says "Fortunately for me I can step out of this one cos I'm Irish". What a tosser should've made him choke on that rat he had glued to his face!
Mark Lawrenson is English. He was born in Preston, grew up there, joined them from school, and spent his whole life in England. He qualified for Ireland through his parents.
Agreed, but what if John Barnes turns around and starts sayin he's Jamaican and he has nothing to do with England when they start doing bad or Owen Hargreaves? He's Irish, he was good enough to play for England and he didn't, he chose Ireland and he should stick to his loyalties instead of being an Irishman when it suits him.
About Mark Lawrenson - he did choose Ricardo's penalty against England as his "moment of the tournament", so he can’t be such a big England fan! BTW, did anybody else see Hansen's reaction in the studio when Lampard scored against Portugal?
Ian Wright is the most useless pundit in the history of TV punditry. There are several reasons why he gets on air, and none are to do with anything remotely relating to analysis.
He was good enough to play for England by the time he was at Liverpool, but probably wasn't when Ireland first called him up as a teenager playing for Preston in the old second division. Not many would turn down the chance. I'd have no problem with John Barnes getting excited and saying "we" with reference to Jamaica. I've got more problems with Owen Hargreaves claiming to be English.
Quote in today's Daily Record - Ian Wright on Portugal's Pauleta: "tha fing is, e's their best shooter!"