Pundits - the newbies

I know it's only four games into the season, but what have people made of the new pundits (as usual, mostly comprising of ex players who have retired and have been allowed into another comfortably paid job where they don't have to do a lot other than spout clichés and state the obvious) that have graced our screens on BT, Sky and MOTD?

My opinion, none of them have really improved things, and some have been worse than Shearer and Andy Townsend, which really is the benchmark for lowest of the low.

Carragher showed promise at the Euros, when, once you got past the accent, he offered some decent analysis and insight over on ITV, but it doesn't seem like moving him to Sky and partnering him with the mostly brilliant Gary Neville has worked very well. Carra, in all honesty, hasn't got the best voice for broadcasting, whiny and high-pitched and sometimes in need of subtitles, and he does, at times, seem to be trying way too hard. He also seems to have diluted Neville's contribution for no obvious reason, as they engage in some tedious Liverpool v Manchester United banter. He also can't work the bloomin' machine very well. Stick him in a studio environment instead, for the Champions League maybe, and he'll probably do better. I think the MNF should be left to Ed and Gary.

BT haven't exactly set the world alight with their coverage so far either, given the amount of money they've spent to try and compete with Sky's slick operation. Jake Humphreys is a fairly competent anchor, although his boyish enthusiasm can grate, and his ubiquity is starting to do his appeal some harm. He's not an upgrade on Lineker or Chamberlain in my eyes, although he is much better than Chiles or Ray 'forever in the shadows' Stubbs, who's back in the wings, thank God, after his starring role for ESPN. A solid, steady Eddie, but nothing more, is Stubbsy.

'Macca', another transfer from ESPN, is a decent addition. He has opinions and at least tries to offer insight. I haven't seen enough of BT's studio coverage yet to properly rate Hargreaves and David James, so maybe others have more of a view, but from what I've heard and read, they divide opinion somewhat. One person who doesn't divide opinion is poor little Michael Owen, who has received a Twitter mauling during every game he's been co-commentator on, and has been shoved down our throats not just on BT, but on MOTD too. Some people just don't possess an interesting voice, and Owen is one of those. Listening to him is the equivalent of eating a digestive whilst watching paint dry, reading Hardy, and listening to a Leonard Cohen track. As Craig on Strictly would say, dull, dull, dull.

Even worse than Owen, though, is the weird little third commentator thing that they've got Mark Halsey doing, where he offers about four sentences each game, that tell us nothing about the referees and basically amounts to 'yeah, Phil's got that right there, good refereeing' or 'yeah, he's made the right decision there. Good call.' Utterly pointless. Can he go back to being a fourth official again or something, so we don't have to suffer his banal drivel.

I like Danny Murphy and think he should be used more. Always struck me as one of the more intelligent, erudite footballers out there - he is, of course, often touted as the man behind 'The Secret Footballer - he does try and offer something other than Shearer/Dublin/Keown/Hansen/Lawro's say exactly what you see approach to punditry. Hopefully he'll get more outings.

Oh, and finally, Savage being promoted to the main MOTD show is another reason to record and fast forward through the bits of analysis. He's all teeth, hair and inane opinions that he can't back up with well-argued evidence. He's at home with the forced, irritating matey banter, as smug as they come, and desperate to be as controversial and despised a pundit as he was a player. A panto pundit. God, I really don't like him - he's even more objectionable now than he was niggling and moaning and being a general nuisance in a Leicester, Blackburn, B'ham and Derby shirt.

Have I missed anyone out? Thoughts on the new crop? Ones who should be kicked into touch immediately? Any that show promise to be the new Gary Neville?