Thread by @shaunjlawson

Nice piece @maxrushden. 👍

McCoist - who dressed up as Hearty Harry the week before the Rangers-Hearts Coca-Cola Cup Final in 1996, and when he did his big reveal, the Hearts fans laughed along with him - is quite amazing. Best summariser ever.

theguardian.com/football/blog/…

Keane definitely won't like the comparison, but he's Eamon Dunphy's true heir if you ask me. And DEFINITELY plays up to his image all the time.

I'd add James Richardson to the 'universally loved' category and take out Barry Davies: who I was in awe of but who divided opinion.

But compare and contrast McCoist's sheer love of the game with the absolutely horrendous Mark Lawrenson: whose rise coincided with the BBC's football coverage disappearing off a cliff.

I doubt anyone ever had a bad word to say about Trevor Brooking, by the way.

Or Peter "Signori... Oh, fabaloos goal!" Brackley.

Or Ray "good afternoon Peter, good afternoon everyone. Smashing" Wilkins. Both the last two are very sadly missed.

Alan Hansen was also the absolute BUSINESS when he started in the job.

Practically revolutionised punditry - and had this fantastically entertaining, not even disguised contempt for Jimmy Hill, who I loved too. Jimmy knew the game and did his job superbly well.

But the BBC dumbed down, it all turned into a weekly Lineker/Shearer/Hansen smugfest, and only recently has its coverage re-emerged.

ITV, the atrocious Matterface excepted, beat it hands down at Euro 2021. That's new. Sky's changes over the last decade have really worked too.