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Pat Nevin
He was the quiet man of football, but he’s certainly no shrinking violet as a pundit, especially when it comes to lauding the virtues of Ricardo Carvalho. It’s the one, the only PAT NEVIN…
First thing first Pat. Do pundits make it up as they go along?
Everyone’s got their own style, some that I like and some that I’m not mad keen on, but that doesn’t make me any different from any other member of the population to be honest. Some of the ones who are on sometimes don’t know any of the names, but may well give great technical insights. And the reason why us ex-footballers do it is we will give members of the public an insight that you might not have if you haven’t played the game at a certain level. That’s my reason for doing it.
So how much research do you do?
I do plenty of research on it, more research than I need. Different roles for different matches, as a pundit on 5live you don’t do the same job as a commentator would do, it’s slightly more technical stuff I would argue. But you do need to know who the players are and it helps to have a bit of background on them.
As for your old side Chelsea, were you surprised to see Grant sacked and replaced by Scolari?
I write for the Chelsea website every week, and I’ll be honest with you, it’s not been difficult this year! I said when Mourinho left, apart from being very disappointed, the powers that be at Chelsea decided not to cut a word that I said, which I was very impressed with as I was pretty forthright. But I said at the time, if Avram Grant is the man, then I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a stand in for a short period of time.
Do you think Jose will end up signing Lampard and Drogba?
It gets quite complicated that, because the Italian game, I’m not convinced it’s as strong as it was. I think a lot of people feel now that England is where it is, and it’s tough to beat that. He may well take Drogba and Shevchenko, but as long as he doesn’t take Carvalho I won’t mind!
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Alan Hanson
Join Alan Hansen as he talks pools, punditry and the art of prediction.....
What are your personal memories of the football pools?
When I grew up the pools were like a dream. Everybody talked about ‘When I win the Pools’ and ‘If I win the pools I am going to buy…………homes, holidays, cars etc.’ Everybody was convinced that the big win was just around the corner.
Is punditry a lost art?
Of course not, but the longer you do it, the harder it gets. Plenty of people come into the game thinking it is easy and then realize just how hard it is. Some people are naturals, but there are a lot of ex-players who think it will be easy and they find it very difficult.
Who do you think has the biggest football brain?
Kenny Dalgleish
What’s the best prediction you have ever made?
94/95 – Man U at the time were 4th and Blackburn were 7th. I said only two teams can win this and they are Man U and BB. Both teams went to the wire and in the last day of the season Blackburn won and Manchester United came second.
What’s the worst prediction you have ever made?
95/6 I said about Manchester United that they would never win anything with kids and they won!
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