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Alan Shearer in attendance at the Premier League match Leeds United vs Manchester City at Elland Road, Leeds, United Kingdom, 28th December 2022.

Ranking the BBC and ITV’s FA Cup pundits from worst to best

Michael Lee •

The FA Cup Fourth Round was largely free of upsets, but that didn’t stop us from consuming six matches of live football to bring you our inaugural domestic pundit ranking.

Our mission started on Friday night, eschewing drinks and socialising with other human beings to watch ITV’s coverage of Manchester City against Arsenal.

Saturday was similar; who needs fresh air when you’ve got offerings from Accrington, Walsall, Preston and Manchester United for sustenance?

The final day of our footballing marathon was thankfully limited to just two matches, as Brighton dumped holders Liverpool out and Wrexham were minutes away from knocking out Championship high-flyers Sheffield United.

But, with the majority of eyes concentrated on the pitch, we focused our attention towards those paid to talk about football and ranked their offerings this weekend from worst to best.

15. Martin Keown

Keown helped narrate Leeds’ banana-skin-side-stepping at Accrington Stanley, but sounded like he was stuck at the in-laws without WiFi throughout.

He’s definitely taken Lawrenson’s place as the ‘grumpy old man who gets most things wrong’ on the BBC, without any of Lawro’s strangely endearing dad jokes.

14. Danny Gabbidon

His analysis was fine, but we cannot forgive Gabbidon for calling Paul Mullin’s strike for Wrexham against Sheffield United the ‘winner’.

There were 10 minutes left. The United equaliser was inevitable and it was all Gabbidon’s fault. Boo.

13. Jermaine Jenas

Taken off co-comms and placed in the studio for Tottenham’s trip to Preston, Jenas offered little to make us rue his absence from the gantry.

We have the same issue with Jenas as we did during the World Cup; he generally speaks with more authority than his playing career should allow him.

Watching him explain the wing-back role to former wing-back Micah Richards was the footballing equivalent of giving Frank Sinatra singing lessons. The viewer deserves better.

12. Jermaine Beckford

Beckford wasn’t bad, despite Leeds supporters routinely describing him as a ‘company man’ on Twitter, and we were tickled by his description of ‘Accy Stanley’.

But we can’t imagine Pep Guardiola grabbing his notepad and furiously jotting down the former striker’s tactical analysis any time soon.

11. Lee Dixon

We’re on the fence with Dixon.

On one hand, his glass-half-empty demeanour makes Eeyore seem like a ray of sunshine and we suspect his partnership with Sam Matterface hinders both parties.

But he does offer nuggets of defensive wisdom and we’re thankful he didn’t spoil Matterface’s description of Reading’s climate-inspired kit with his own global warming scepticism.

10. Mark Hughes

Hughes’ presence at Wrexham was refreshing and, while he looks more like your nan with each passing year, the Bradford City manager hardly disgraced himself.

Never the most extroverted of personalities, Hughes still managed some textbook conspiracy theorising when suggesting Daniel Jebbison had been sent off because the fourth official was ‘looking to make a name for himself’.

9. Micah Richards

We particularly enjoyed Richards’ explanation of the differences between playing at full-back and wing-back at Deepdale on Saturday, a reminder he has more to offer than forced banter.

But our attention was mainly drawn to the struggle between his torso and his shirt; the guy must be breakfasting with Thomas Skinner on a daily basis.

8. Stephen Warnock

Shunted onto iPlayer’s coverage of Walsall against Leicester, Warnock was perfectly serviceable as the Premier League side narrowly avoided an upset.

It’s a shame there were no drones in the vicinity of the Bescot, though. We’d have seen the former Liverpool defender come into his own…

7. Jobi McAnuff

Nestled alongside Roy Keane and Ian Wright for ITV’s dispiriting choice of Manchester United against Reading, McAnuff clearly belongs in the tiny minority of middle-aged men going grey with dignity.

Taking good sense in measured tones, a skill honed in the hipster underworld of The Football League Show, we could see him becoming a future housewife’s favourite if he gets more mainstream exposure.

6. Karen Carney

Carney gets more hate than she deserves; while the former England midfielder’s punditry doesn’t represent the invention of the wheel, she offers good analysis and has the ability to get her point across in a down-to-earth manner.

She also suggested that one look at Fabinho’s face was enough to suggest the decision not to send him off at Brighton was incorrect, which was bang on.

5. Glenn Murray

The only pundit to appear on BBC & ITV this weekend, Murray put in decent shifts on both channels.

Despite claiming Liverpool deserved to beat Brighton, and referencing ‘the termination of the rules of the game’, the former striker was scathing over Fabinho’s non-red and correctly directed his anger at VAR.

His Cumbrian tones are also incredibly soothing and the perfect way to ease into the afternoon after a hungover morning. Murray also feels very FA Cup, which isn’t a bad thing.

4. Ian Wright

We saw both sides of Wright’s engaging punditry on ITV this weekend, putting up a spirited defence of Albert Sambi Lokonga after Arsenal’s defeat at City and reminiscing over playing Tomb Raider with Paul Ince just 24 hours later.

It’s hard to recall his early days in the studio – raw, lacking insight and powered by cheap supermarket batteries – when presented with the current mature version.

3. Ally McCoist

One of the many reasons McCoist is the perfect co-comms is that he appreciates the difficulty of elite football and is more forgiving of player errors because of it.

His presence in the commentary box elevates any game to must-watch status and simply listening to him enjoy a game of football, as he did at Brighton on Sunday, remains a treat.

2. Roy Keane

We’re fully paid-up members of the Keane fan club and him telling Pep Guardiola to smile more was our moment of the weekend; it married a tinder-dry wit and perfect delivery with an admirable self-awareness.

1. Alan Shearer

Shearer has come on leaps and bounds since admitting he sacked off research for the golf course at the 2010 World Cup, and his guise as the BBC’s newest co-comms is inspired.

Complimentary without being over-bearing, like the footballing equivalent of a bay leaf, the former England captain performed well during Tottenham’s win at Preston, albeit without the opportunity to goof on Danny Murphy.

And we enjoyed his praise of Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson, which sounded uncannily like calling him a ‘prick of a midfielder’.

We don’t think Shearer gets enough credit for his punditry, so congratulations on topping this ranking Al.

By Michael Lee

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