TV punditry is a massive part of the feel and vibe of a summer tournament – and both the BBC and ITV have rolled out the big guns for Euro 2024 this summer.
Both channels have gone all out for the European Championship in Germany and we’ve got our eye on exactly which pundits have been worth leaving off mute.
This is our ongoing and regularly updated power ranking of TV pundits at the Euros. Check back to see who’s impressing and who’s doing our bleeding nut in.
31. Danny Murphy
The b*stard son of Mark Lawrenson and a pint of Carling staking his claim to the Iron Throne of smarmy misery. In the bin.
30. Martin Keown
We feel bad saying this because word on the street is that Keown tries very hard to avoid this, but when you stick the match on and Keown’s on co-comms, you just know your favourite player’s name is about to be criminally mispronounced.
He also speaks about football the way posh boys talk about rugby union, and that rubs us up the wrong way.
29. Joleon Lescott
Champions League player, midtable pundit. Moving on…
28. Jose Fonte
The main impression of Fonte’s cameo during Albania v Spain was his sensationally dark hair. Someone’s bought a Just For Men subscription from Luis Figo…
27. Rio Ferdinand
Nothing to do with the Euros but we can’t bring ourself to get over that cringe video of him very purposefully not stepping on the Real Madrid badge on the ground. F*cking yuck.
26. Lee Dixon
The ex-Arsenal right-back is far more likeable, but he does have a similar commentary style to Danny Murphy, and we cannot encourage this sort of behaviour. Very sarcastic. Very Lawro.
Not sure why we’re dragging Lawro so much in an article written well after his retirement but we’ve come too far to stop now.
25. Eni Aluko
Aluko gets a lot of stick in the press and on social media. Some of it unfounded, some of it completely fair. What is not in question is that she knows her stuff, quite obviously as an ex-pro, and that a mathematical slip of the tongue is not a stick to beat anybody with.
Still, there are better pundits out there.
24. Ashley Williams
Williams is fine. He’s alright. Gets the job done. Feel like he’d be having a better time if Wales were at the tournament, but that can’t be helped.
READ NEXT: Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament Power Ranking: Kroos and Bellingham lead the way…
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every member of Italy’s Euro 2020-winning squad?
23. Graeme Souness
We’re all well accustomed to seeing Souness on our screens—you know what you’re getting with the Scotsman, and that’s very frank and perhaps slightly outdated opinions.
However, the ex-Liverpool man is bumped up a few places here for his genuine and emotional tribute to his former teammate Alan Hansen live on telly the other night.
A beautiful and heartbreaking moment of vulnerability. Fair play.
22. Frank Lampard
Haha yeah, could’ve used some of that goal-line technology when I was playing for England! Yeah, no, but seriously that was really upsetting.
Life’s good now, though, haha, yeah, I saw Cristiano with his shirt off on holiday— I just hid and put my shirt back on. No but at the end of the day he looks after himself and that’s really important as you get older.
Might just f*ck about and put Frank at the top of our punditry power ranking hahaha. Yeah, no but, in all seriousness, he’s not getting a sniff.
Gary Lineker has just absolutely bodied Frank Lampard on live TV 🤣😂 Lampards face is killing me. The fume 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/cGmdAHnvjO
— Slaughts_1 (@Slaughts_1) June 19, 2024
21. Jermaine Jenas
We’re putting it out there—whatever Jermaine Jenas’ agent is earning, they need a pay rise. How JJ ended up on The One Show we will never know.
Admittedly, he’s more engaging and insightful than some of the aforementioned co-commentators in this ranking, but we still do a little sigh of exasperation when the ex-Tottenham and Toon man rocks up in the gantry.
20. Conor Coady
What we will say is that Coady has been absolutely fine so far.
19. James McFadden
The Glaswegian might be higher in this ranking, but your author is a Newcastle fan and McFadden played three games for Sunderland. It is what it is.
18. Thomas Hitzelsperger
Sensible, educational, measured. The epitome of a European pundit at these tournaments.
17. Karen Carney
Good solid pundit. If you’ve got 144 England caps, there’s a solid chance you understand tournament football, and Carney is no stranger to an international summer tournament. The ex-Chelsea baller is right at home in the broadcast world.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the first club for every member of England’s Euro 2024 squad?
16. Gary Neville
Whatever you think about Gary Neville, you can’t deny he’s good at his job.The Overlaphas been wildly successful since the former right-back properly stepped into the world of YouTube, and his punditry has been superb for years now.
Of all the pundits that covered England’s dire draw with Slovenia, Neville got the closest to diagnosing the problem by describing the first-half display as ‘basic’.
ITV wheel G-Nev out for the big fixtures, as they should. Would love to see him on co-comms for one, though. Making noises like one of those rubber chickens with the squeakers in ’em.
15. David Moyes
We’re happy for Moyesy. The man needs a break, and a little summer holiday in Germany is just what the doctor ordered. Potential lifetime ban for Lucas Paqueta? Julen Lopetgui’s problem now. Auf wiedersehen, lads.
Hope he’s having a nice time in Deutschland.
14. Roy Keane
Would we go for a pint with Roy Keane? You know what? Yeah, we would. Would he go for one with us? Listen, probably not.
It feels like Roy is mellowing a little as time goes on, and that actually works in his favour in terms of punditry.
Viewers tuning in hoping to see him rip into an underperforming England have instead been met with the manner of a parent trying positive reinforcement for the first time ever.
Perhaps he’s pacing himself…
13. Rachel Corsie
Big fan of Corsie. Getting the current Scotland captain and Aston Villa centre-back on the team as a pundit is a great move, and she speaks very well.
In fact, Corsie & Moyes on Scotland duty was a pretty strong pairing—a lot of insight from people still very much involved in the game at the highest level.
12. Micah Richards
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
11. Joe Hart
Literally can’t focus on what the bloke is saying. His mouth is moving but our brain is just repeating,look at the state of those tattoos,look at the state of those tattoos,look at the state of those tattoos,look at the state of those tattoos,look at the state of those tattoos…etc. to infinity.
Which is a shame, because what he says has actually been worth listening to.
10. Christina Unkel
Notstrictlya classic pundit but on the VAR analysis Unkel acts as the Peter Walton of ITV’s Euros coverage, but in a world where Peter Walton has an engaging manner of speaking and an actual personality.
Good shout from ITV, bringing in the American. It’s a little bit NFL, but we don’t mind it at all.
9. Ange Postecoglou
It’s nice seeing Big Ange under a little less pressure and able to relax a bit. Feel like the Prem ground him down a little last season.
Looked as baffled as everybody by England’s ineptitude against Slovenia. The Aussie is getting a crash course in English tournament angst.
8. Wayne Rooney
To be fair, right, Wazza is way better in the studio than anybody expected him to be.
He’s not in the upper echelons of punditry—not yet—but his recent hall-of-fame playing career does lend him a certain gravitas that helps his standing in this arena. Doesn’t beat around the bush, either.
His debut alongside Cesc Fabregas included a lovely little anecdote about Rooney watching videos of the Spaniard in order to play alongside Robin Van Persie more effectively.
Rooney has gone back to his new job as manager of Plymouth Argyle, but his absence from our screens will be felt.
7. Danny Rohl
Danny Rohl is the most German man ever to German, and it’s class. A European Championship in Germany? Roll out the Rohl.
Sheffield Wednesday should change their name to Sheffield Mittwoch with this fella in charge. The slim fit, light blazer, the plain tee underneath, the unspoken absolute certainty that this man enjoys road cycling.
Fantastisch!
❓ “Danny, does it ever stop raining in Germany..?”
😆 “I feel at home it’s like Sheffield!”
👥 @IanWright0 | @swfc | #Euro2024 pic.twitter.com/Q947vtIlnT
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 19, 2024
6. Andros Townsend
Townsend has been a refreshing voice on the co-comms at Euro 2024, partially because he’s a current player giving insight on his colleagues and ex-opponents, mainly because he just obviously loves football.
When the final whistle blew on a thrilling game between Croatia and Albania which Townsend was clearly thoroughly enjoying, he muttered a melancholy little“oh no…”that every single viewer could relate to.
He didn’t want it to end and neither did we. A beautiful moment. You can stay, Andros.
5. Alan Shearer
The rare genuinely legendary ex-player who is also a superb pundit. You can say what you like about Big Al, the man knows what he’s talking about and he gets his points across clearly and concisely.
We could do with just a touch less of the constant FA Cup jokes and friendly jibes at Micah Richards’ playing career, but Shearer is still one of the very best out there.
Would 100% still back him to score a penalty if any of England’s games go to a shootout, too.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every goalkeeper with 5+ European Championship clean sheets?
4. Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas knows his sh*t. Running intellectual rings around his colleagues. Still looks in superb nick, as well. Absolutely love that he seems to pop us a pundit at every international tournament, too. The man is a specialist summer tournament pundit. That’s niche and it pleases us.
Cesc Fabregas’ punditry is levels above. ⬆️🔝 pic.twitter.com/WuXJ4375za
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) June 17, 2024
3. Thomas Frank
He’s been quite refreshing, has Thomas Frank. An active Premier League manager who’s a good talker and doesn’t mind going into tactics in an accessible way.
Particularly enjoyed the Dane suggesting that if he was in charge of Georgia, he’d go mad if his players passed to anyone other than Kvicha Kvaratskhelia. Good to see that even Premier League managers aren’t above the‘let him cook’philosophy.
He’s gone home now, but we miss him.
2. Ian Wright
The GOAT when it comes to punditry, let’s be honest. No one comes close.
A national treasure to be protected at all costs. A massive, massive coup for ITV—don’t mind watching a few adverts if it means we get Wrighty in the studio. The spiritual opposite of Danny Murphy.
But he does need to let Saka at LWB go. Gareth isn’t going for that in any of our lifetimes.
1. Ally McCoist
We love football, Ally McCoist loves it more. In fact, Coisty loves a lot of things, and that’s his charm.
You have to be one cynical son of a bitch to be annoyed by Ally McCoist, to the point that we think we’d actually prefer to watch a less appealing game with Coisty on co-comms than we would a stellar match-up with an inferior co-commentator in the gantry.
We really hope he gets to meet Rammstein whilst he’s over in Deutschland, and we really hope it’s committed to film. Coisty forever.
