Phil Neville Harshly Mocked For Dreary BBC Co-Commentary Stint – Was He Really That Bad?

Chris Wright

16th, June 2014

6 Comments

By Chris Wright

Soccer - FA Cup - Third Round - Replay - Manchester City v Blackburn Rovers - Ewood Park

With reports today that he might be prematurely dropped from the BBC roster despite being scheduled to provide co-commentary for the BBC’s highlights of both of England’s remaining group games – we feel we must ask: was Phil Neville’s punditry really that bad during England’s opening World Cup game against Italy on Saturday night?

Despite it being his maiden foray into co-comms, Neville was ridiculed incessantly on Twitter during and after the match, being labelled “robotic”, “dreary” and akin to a “Dignitas sat-nav” among many, many other things.

It would appear that then, not satisfied with merely mocking from afar, several people actually rang the BBC switchboard to actively complain about how boring Neville was (let that sink in for a moment).

Even the bloody Police, erstwhile bastions of the joyless and profane, have been weighing in with gags about how dull P-Nev’s delivery was…

neville-police

We can’t pass judgement as we were unable to hear any of the commentary above the general din of the pub we watched the game in, but what we will say is that Neville’s punditry on the morning of the match seemed perfectly passable: erudite and knowledgeable without being particularly engaging.

What giveth? Was he really that bad?

Posted in Media, Newsnow, Opinion, World Cup

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6 Comments

  1. Zam says:

    His delivery was quiet, and dry, but what he had to say was interesting and insightful.

  2. Ross says:

    He was average, not a patch on Gary but still a little harsh to mock

  3. Nick says:

    Definitely wasnt that bad. I for one was a lot more aggrieved by Jonathan Pearces comms in the france game. bloody useless. Its almost as if hes never seen a football game before

  4. Mr Sensible says:

    I’m pretty sure Jonathan Pearce is completely off his tits most of the time, every time you see him talking on the telly before a game he looks a fucking state. Having a Neanderthal next to him probably doesn’t help.

    P Nev was pretty bad from what I could hear, made Alan Smith sound interesting.

  5. sk187 says:

    He always was the sh**te Neville bro

  6. Moxey says:

    He’s fine as a pundit in the studio but not on commentary.

Leave a Reply to Moxey