Jammy Jamie

Is it just me who finds Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp really, really annoying? And a useless pundit too.

As you may have noticed from this site’s raison d’être on the right hand side, lazy football analysis is something that rather infuriates us. And when it comes to tactical insight, there is no one more slovenly then Mr. Thomas Cook.

I think it is Redknapp’s innate smugness that seems to make it worse, for me personally anyway. There are other particularly poor pundits out there – Les Ferdinand, Martin Keown and Trevor Francis spring to mind, but none quite possess the same cocky, brash, ‘I’m good looking and wear stupid skinny ties so that means I can do what I want’ attitude as Redknapp.

Let’s take ‘Super’ Sunday’s clash between Chelsea and Arsenal as a chief point of reference. Redknapp not only displays that nauseating ex-player chummy-chummy attitude – “Frankie did this, Wazza did that”, but he also contradicts himself regularly. Asked by Richard ‘Hairy-Hands’ Keys at half time what he thought of John Terry’s performance, and Redknapp responded firmly in the positive. “He’s been world class Richard – you’d expect nothing less from JT”. Co-analyst Graeme Souness took that opportunity to remark that Andrey Arshavin was perhaps not the most taxing of centre forward opponents. Redknapp looked sheepish and went quiet. Come the end of the game, and the (inevitable) further discussion on Terry, and Redknapp suddenly offered a different view:

Keys: “John Terry – superb at the back wasn’t he?”
Redknapp: “Well, come on Richard. Arshavin ain’t exactly a difficult player to mark, is he? It was easy out there for JT. He was comfortable”

If you’re being out-thought and out-analysed by Graeme Souness, you know you’re in trouble.

Redknapp’s tardy approach to grammar also irks – “Bendtner come on”, “Drogba done well”, “Cech played good” – as does his habit of manhandling the co-pundit in a distasteful attempt to display camaraderie, as if all the Sky Sports boys enjoy a pint and further (crass) discussion after the game. Maybe they do, but frankly I don’t really want to know. Nor do I want to see Redknapp repeatedly squeezing Souness’ upper thigh.

Sunday’s game was perhaps not the most lucid example of Redknapp’s slapdash observations, but I felt the time had come to name and shame. And cheap shot it may be, but if you need further proof of how bothersome this man is, then simply watch the below video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1tgYDGG17s

"We give crap football analysis on it"