Couldn't anyone at ITV have told Andy Townsend to stop just shouting.
In disbelief how that man keeps his job most weeks but got embarrassing towards the end tonight.
If there's one thing I don't need while watching something it's being told what I've just seen. "He missed the chance, there". I know, Andy. I'm watching it on TV.
Townsend on Wildlife on One:
"That seal won't be happy at being eaten by the killer whale"
Townsend on the Antiques Roadshow
"That last bear was only worth £100. Did she say this one's a Stief? 500? Better."
Townsend on I'm a Celebrity
"Kangaroo vegetables? I bet that bloke from Five Star doesn't like those. You can tell by his face. He's literally exploding there. Nah. He's definitely not a fan."
I've been saying this for about 20 years now. Football commentary needs to be completely revamped.
I was watching a match recently with my flatmate and yeah, the commentator was just saying exactly what was happening on the pitch. We can see that, we don't need you to tell us.
I think perhaps what has happened is until about 25 years ago, we didn't really have live football on tv. You used to have the FA Cup final, the European Cup final, World Cups, Euro Championships. That was about it.
Of course you had Match of the Day but that is a highlights programme and doesn't lend itself to indepth analysis during the clips of play.
To follow a match live, we used to have to tune into the radio. And that's what these guys are currently providing, a radio commentary on tv!
It's utterly remarkable that in this tv age, this has gone on for so long.
What really opened my eyes to this was first getting into cricket in the early 1990s. The 1st Test series I ever watched was the West Indies vs England. It was an excellent series with W.I. narrowly winning 2-1.
But what blew me away was the commentary. 2 guys sitting in the commentary box, often hilariously slagging each other, constantly disagreeing and giving in depth analysis. Boycott and Gower in the box was just gold.
That's what football needs.
2 ex players or managers, with an intelligent understanding of the game, dissecting what is going on in the match, without the ball. If they disagree constantly, slag each other and tell old footballing stories whilst doing so, all the better
There should be no need for a 'professional football commentator' with no history actually playing the game, like Clive Tyldesley. They offer nothing apart from professionally filling empty air time.
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