Some good stuff from Gary Neville last night, again. They should give him his own show. He gets VERY apologetic when criticising Man U players "Im not just sitting here in me ivory tower, ive been there" but he's clearly taken a few hours to prepare his analysis rather than a few minutes.

and now for the good news, Colin Murray is no longer hosting Match of the Day 2!!! YEEEEEES!!! (Sorry for linking to The Sun...)

I don't think he's that bad!

The fucker's just EVERYWHERE. Clearly a sincere fan, but id prefer to have Gaby Logan or James Richardson (i dreamed a dream...).

Mark "Chappers" Chapman isnt much better, he's just as prone to talking like a radio DJ - Its the same reason Jonathan Pearce was an awesome commentator for Capital FM when i was growing up but when you introduce pictures he becomes too intrusive.

there doesnt appear to be any honour in being a radio commentator any more, they all want to be on TV. Five Live has 3 or 4 absolutely fantastic commentators.

1 -1 didnt see that coming. Bullet Header, he was far too strong for the defender

Thank fuck the BBC have seen sense and given Colin Murray the boot. Even his radio stuff is unlistenable. They need to go further though, and get rid of Shearer at MotD, as well as showing the door to Robbie Savage on 606.

I must be the only person who really doesn't like James Richardson. He was great in the 80s on that Football Italia programme but since then I've started to find him insufferably smug. It must be me though, cos everyone I know seems to think he's great.

And yeah, the BBC should break the bank and poach Gary Neville from Sky. Best pundit by a long way.

ITV needs a major shake up, too. How Andy Townsend is still allowed to commentate is a total mystery to me. Is he even capable of saying a sentence without mentioning a player's "engine"? Useless cunt.

Hear Hear

Do you listen to the Guardian's football weekly podcast? Richardson's great on that, gives everyone else ample time to speak and chimes in when a subject he knows alot about (i.e. Serie A) comes up.

Savage on Five Live is dreadful, the worst of the worst. He never discusses tactics because he doesnt understand them, he uses the "Ive been a player so i know" arguement whenever someone disagrees with him (see this weeks 606) and he loves the sound of his own voice. He's the absolute bottom of the barrel.

To be honest, it's that podcast that I'm basing my dislike of him on. I just find him so smug. The only bit of that podcast I really like is when Sid Lowe comes on. The rest of it just seems to be Richardson trying to appear as uninterested as possible. Like I say, maybe it's just me. There's certainly no doubting he knows his stuff and he's a million times less annoying than that Gab Marcotti on the Times podcast. The only podcast I really like these days is The Football Ramble.

Would I be jumping the gun in saying that West Ham aren't gonna come back to win this now?:o

Sullivan's face in my avatar about sums it up.

So UEFA have now officially decided to fuck up the best tournament in football.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...continent-uefa

Just a little Hazard-Ballboy spinoff...

http://www.mousebreaker.com/games/do...llboy/playgame

I know they were talking about it but didn't think they'd actually go through with it.

My one word opinion-silly.

oh, i saw that hazard footage now, that fucking ballboy deserved more than just one kick. the shit some people do to get their 15 minutes!

---

speaking of fuck ups, and the uefa, what do you guys think of this?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle7866445/

in theory, i agree, in practice, i don't know enough

Don't be hating on the Black Lions, we ain't been deep in the Africas Cup for 30 years, but don't trip, we got this ;)

I tend to agree with you. My instinct is that it should be scrapped but I've heard strong arguments both for and against.

@ suchfriends - i haven't been following the african cup. when is the final? i might try to catch that if it's not over yet.

@ demonrail - i thought you liked hazard! if i'm not mistaken, you had recommended that i try to watch him play. but yes, he's the oligarch's cattle and hence your enemy, right?

I think the Final February 10. Unfortunately last night Ethiopia got tossed up by Burkina Faso. So its a MUST WIN against Nigeria and even then, we need Zambia to lose or draw. Either way we're just happy to be here with a young, under-experienced squad and we will be rising in African football soon come ;)

In all seriousness I do, a lot.

@ suchfriends-- oh it's in the group phase! okay. the best ethiopian player i've seen in recent times actually plays for the czech republic, ha ha (well some dude w/ a very ethiopian name).

anyway hm i should sniff around this tournament, they have it up on espn3...

Burkina Faso are freakin awesome! Where the fuck did they come from? I didn't even know there was a country called Burkina Faso. I think Ethiopia can beat Nigeria even though they won't be favourites and Zambia, while better than their position maybe suggests, will struggle against Burkina. Of the countries still trying to qualify, I'm most hoping it's Ethiopia, for the tournament overall, though, I really want the Ivory Coast to win it. But I have to say I'm loving Burkina Faso, wherever the fuck it is.

El Symbols, if you can, watch either Ethiopa's or Zambia's games on Tuesday. Guaranteed epics, I think.