In Praise of Motty...?

[Gregzy]

Martin Keltner's Screenbreak column in todays Guardian took quite the dislike to John Motson - in my mind the best commentator on TV. According to the article, MK is not alone in feeling a degree of anitpathy towards the BBC's number one mic choice.

I love Motty's wide-eyed, almost child-like enthusiasm for the game and find his trivia mildly amusing (if entirely useless) - I shall be most upset when the sheep-skin coat finally get's hung up for good..

But what does everybody else think? Is Motty a charming eccentric without whom televised football would be the duller place or do you find him as irritating as Keltner and co?

[singapore spur]

growing up i used to like motty, as a kid he used to inform me of things i didnt know and ok as most youngsters it got through to me on the 5th or 6th time of asking . but as an adult its kin annoying hearing the same banality trotted out every 5 minutes albeit posed in another way .

[mjbmedia]

motty is the most useless tosspot of a commentator, ok he doesnt get players wrong like Clive on ITV but he states the bleeding obvious so many times, is a born pessimist, makes the Italy v Germany game sound tedious and tries to comically outdo ****** Lawro too much and fails which shows just how unfunny he really is
Barry Davies come back , Johnny Pearce real passion , Motty sounds like hes goign thru the motions until he , hopefully retires soon.

[LEEBOYSPUR]

I agree with mjb - Motty was all well and good in the Seventies, standing on snow drifts in his sheepskin. He more suited the game then. He looks an anachronism in the modern game. He does often get players completely wrong (mistook Ribery for someone else during the final - given the huge facial scar, quite an achievement), witters on endlessly, and continues to employ that irritiating chuckle every 30 seconds.

Having said that, no commentator really does it for me, apart from the much-missed Barry Davies....."Is he going to have a shot? He is you know.....OH I SAY..schoolboy's own stuff.....". Mildly patrician, clearly enthused and yet deadly accurate

[spurs61]

Can't bloody stand Motson, he talks such drivel. Someonme should tell him that we are actually able to see what is going on on the pitch and thus there is no need to tell us "and Owen has gone down clutching his knee", if there was a prize for stating the bleeding obvious, Motty would be World Champion. I agree with mjb,bring back Davies.

[highlander]

i think motty is an absolute legend of the game. he is by far the best commentator on tv, way better than that channel 5 gooner jonathon pierce. motson is the daddy of commentary

[RuFuS]

I HATE Motty's wide-eyed, almost child-like UNDERSTANDING for the game and find his trivia EXTREMELY IRRITATING AND ENTIELY USELESS I shall be most PLEASED when the sheep-skin coat finally get's hung up for good.

Did you know that the big centrebacks go and join the attack when they have a corner but have to get back very quickly if it all go's wrong ?
JOHNNY DOES!!!!!!!

If he said it once he said it thousand times and it starts to grate after a while

[Gregzy]

Seems like I'm in the minority here then...

I've heard a few rumours over the years that he is a very passionate Spurs fan on the quiet (if that isn't an oxymoron), but this may just be nonsense...

[highlander]

motty may be a spurs fan but do you know who isnt a spurs fan?? johnathon pierce. and why is that, cos he's a gooner, scum. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Gregzy]

Yeah, that is very true. We have Danny Kelly, Richard "I'm not a fascist, but..." Littlejohn and of course Simon Mayo on our side elsewhere in the media.

[JJ]

I struggle to think of a commentator that doesn't annoy me. They're all shit in different ways, i guess it depends on what mood i'm in.

But ITV is a no-no for me unless completely necessary.

[Welsh Spur]

ITV is complete wank, and that guy off Five, his name escapes me, but I'm sure it's Johnny something....he is the most terrible commentator I've ever heard. Aside from Mick McCarthy.

[Houdini logic]

Jonathon Pierce

I don't like him either!

OOOH MY GOD, IT'S A GOOOOOAL, LISTEN TO MY ANNOYING VOICE, WHERE I CONSTANTLY SHOUT!

[highlander]

OOOH MY GOD, IT'S A GOOOOOAL, LISTEN TO MY ANNOYING VOICE, WHERE I CONSTANTLY SHOUT!


hahahahaha jokes, and so true