You get to wear a natty suit. You get to appear on the telly. You get to tear into your rivals on a public forum. You get to refer to Sir Alex Ferguson simply as ‘Alex.’ And you get paid for all this. You are a football pundit.
The genesis of this great sinecure is quite obscure. It may well have started as a way to keep former footballers off the dole queue.
Whatever the reason behind its original conception, football punditry has flourished and is now an indispensable part of our football diet. I cannot speak for other fans, but I continue to watch those great drab exercises called previews and reviews and whatnot. All this despite the fact that I can very well predict what Big Mac, the great pundit is going to say next. Addicted, that is the word. The only useful thing about a preview is that you get to see which of the ten thousand permutations Sir Alex has opted for in his team selection. Reviews? You get to hear an authentic Scouse accent and an even more authentic display of Scouse bitterness. Not quite mentally uplifting, but I do watch it all the same. That is how these eminent pundits earn their keep.
Becoming a football pundit is quite easy, believe me. Although a pundit has to be non-aligned like Nehru’s Emerging India, a little bit of bias does bump up the TRPs and keeps the producers happy. Look at Big Mac. It must have been him who invented the great Scouse motto, ‘this is our year.’ “We have Stevie Gerrard, this is our year.” “We have Kuyt, this is our year.” “We have Suarez, this is our year.” “We have King Kenny, this is our year.” “We have Lucas, this is our year.” Yes, he did actually say that last bit too. Just goes to illustrate how much a pundit can get away with. So, if you view the world with tinted glasses, it ought not to hinder your punditerial aspirations.
