Mastering the art of commentary and punditry is a rare feat these days. Too often the man behind the microphone is pigeonholed as a caricature. Since the days of Barry Davies and Brian Moore, the quality has diminished. The voice of a great commentator encapsulates the crowning moment of a football match perfectly. These days, many stunning goals, immaculate tackles and finely-threaded passes are not appreciated for what they are by the summariser on television.

There is often a bet among football fans, as to how long it takes Clive Tyldesley to mention ‘that wonderful night in Barcelona’. The much maligned John Motson rarely speaks without a trail of often irrelevant statistics escaping from his lips. Jonathan Pearce has been criticised for his loud, over-excitable style and taking his own opinion as fact but in recent times he appears to be the best of a bad bunch in terrestrial television.

Naturally BSkyB has the edge in this field, practically monopolizing the industry for so long. Murdoch’s corporate machine employs Martin Tyler and Andy Gray to represent them concerning the beautiful game. Others don’t have the same quality. Apparently all you now need to be is a high-profile footballer. It’s the name that counts not your contribution.

We have ‘Match of the Day’, a proud part of British television heritage, partially dumbed down by the bland Alan Shearer, who only seems to have been given lead pundit, due to his affiliation with Newcastle and constant speculation his name attracts concerning a role at the club. His namesake Alan Hansen is better, but will surely depart soon enough (unless the pay cheque is large enough) as another season of little to none live football awaits.

The wonderful Sunday version of the same name is keeping the reputation of the brand ‘Match of the Day’ high. The charismatic Adrian Chiles, insightful Lee Dixon alongside a guest pundit (usually a manager or captain of a decent side) has given a formula, which the Beeb has obviously trying to ruin, by hauling over comedy double act - the two Alan’s – for a recent edition of the show. Yet Hansen and Dixon are two for the corporation to retain. Letting go of ‘court jester’ and idiotic Sun ‘columnist’ Ian Wright was the first step. The next move is to let go ‘anti-Jessie’ advocate Mark Lawrenson, whose tendency to agree with his colleagues is infuriating.

However laughable their coverage is, ITV have done well to obtain exclusive rights to a number of big competitions and games, increasing their viewing figures by drawing in those who cringe at their analysis. The actions undertaken this summer spoke for themselves, as the commercial channel declined showing the Euro 2008 final, for fear of humiliation by the BBC in the ratings war. Perhaps Andy Townsend’s tactics truck is needed to give the channel the rejuvenation it needs (nope, only a psycho would make that move).

In terms of actual analysis, ITV failed spectacularly. Their show is fine aesthetically - if you appreciate watching a poor pundit using a touch screen to demonstrate his point (is it really necessary to show how he does it?). Yet, when you pass off basic fact, such as ‘Steven Gerrard is a great player’ or ‘Theo Walcott is extremely fast’, as analytical points, it does seem very patronising to your audience. One expects you wouldn’t encounter such incompetence in another big football country. Another example is the attitude to the game. When Theo Walcott ran 60 yards past five players at Anfield, one would expect a eulogy to the youngster’s efforts, but instead we were treated to a cynical reaction, claiming someone should have fouled the winger. This only added to the English stereotype of preferring defensive grit and hard tackles to flair and technical ability.

Stepping aside from the train wreck that is ITV (and we haven’t even mentioned Setanta), the best commentary currently is present at bi-lingual US channel Gol TV, who employ the genius that is Ray Hudson: man who is almost certain to have gained arousal from a football match. The wonderfully eloquent Geordie (is that a first?) is famous for his ability to turn a phrase and emotional outbursts during games. Watch him at his best here: Ray Hudson