Feathers are being ruffled for parrots and pundits
ARECENT report revealed that while households have been hoovering up puppies and kittens during the coronavirus lockdown, parrots have found themselves out of favour.
Apparently, organisations that re-home the pirate’s favourite have been inundated with new arrivals as folks stuck at home grow tired of their one-time feathered friend’s constant squawking and endless talking nonsense.
It is a sad indictment of our times but one that’s not just affecting poor old Polly, as many white, middle-aged football pundits will tell you having also found themselves pushed off their perch as TV companies – fed up with their constant squawking and endless talking nonsense – look for more youthful, diverse lineups to entice a new generation of viewers.
And it is not just confined to the pundit. Only this week it was revealed that Sue Barker, Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell are to be ousted from the iconic A Question of Sport as the BBC looks to refresh a quiz show which has entertained us for more than half a century – leaving Sue to fend off the inevitable question: ‘What happens next?’
With this in mind and with the new Premier League season getting under way last weekend, it was the turn of Sky Sports to launch its revamped Soccer Saturday show. Recent news that old pros Matt Le Tissier, Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas had been given their marching orders surprised many fans, so there was much anticipation as to what we would find when tuning in at the weekend.
Would there be more diversity, more gender equality, more youth? Would Matt be replaced by a Labrador? Has Phil made way for the world’s first inflatable pundit? One, at the end of the show you could just let down, something sadly you can’t do with Robbie Savage.
No, what we got was all rather familiar. Jeff Stelling, still the best anchorman bar none, alongside old favourite Paul Merson, who survived the cull, and Tim Sherwood.
Elsewhere, sitting rather awkwardly in a semicircle of swivel chairs anxiously waiting for the desk to arrive were Glen Johnson, Clinton Morrison and Tony Pulis, with Sue Smith occasionally popping up from seemingly another galaxy. It was all rather flat.
It is early days but a big part of Soccer Saturday’s charm was the chemistry between the regular team. If something’s not broke don’t fix it, even if it does ruffle a few parrot feathers.