Soccer Pundits Must Study Coaching Badges to Improve Broadcasting Skills: Nightly Soccer Report

Sky Sports analyst and co-commentator Gary Neville argues that soccer pundits on UK TV must study coaching badges in order to improve broadcasting skills.

You could argue that Neville’s comments are an indirect criticism of many of the pundits on BBC’s Match Of The Day program that are woefully lacking in constructive analysis on television.

“From a broadcasting point of view, they don’t just want telling that the ball has ended up in the back of the net, they want to know why it has ended up in the back of the net. They want to know who made the mistake, why they made the mistake, how they made the mistake and how to rectify the mistake.

“Even if you don’t believe in getting the certificate because you know everything yourself, or you believe your knowledge is great, you’re going to be listening to and sharing ideas with 22 very good people on this course.”

While I agree with Neville, I would argue that we shouldn’t stop there. In addition to TV pundits (worldwide, not just the UK) being encouraged to pass their coaching badges, the same should apply to journalists at mainstream news outlets who can afford to go on the courses, which would benefit their analysis of matches.

Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:

Premier League

• TV football pundits must study coaching badges to improve broadcasting skills says Gary Neville — Mail
• Manchester United play tough with Wayne Rooney over prospective transfer — The Guardian
• Higuain’s father reveals Real Madrid have given Arsenal permission to speak to the striker — The Mail
• Chelsea transfers: Daniele de Rossi is a target after Roma admit all their players are available — The Mirror
• New PSG coach Laurent Blanc keen on Yohan Cabaye — Sky Sports
• Henrikh Mkhitaryan can force a £20m move admit Shakhtar Donetsk — The Mirror
• Brendan Rodgers wants to add two more players to Liverpool squad this summer — The Independent
• Roma have opened negotiations with Manchester United over move for Nani — The Mirror
• Swansea shocked by asking price for Tom Ince — Sky Sports
• David Moyes tracking Udinese and Italy midfielder Antonio Candreva — The Mirror
• Crystal Palace sign Dwight Gayle on four year deal from Peterborough — Crystal Palace
• Vito Mannone is sold to Sunderland for around £2million — The Mirror
• Shay Given excluded from Aston Villa pre-season tour — The Mail

Football League

• Blackburn are in advanced talks with former Sunderland defender Matthew Kilgallon — Sky Sports
• Joey Barton’s agent takes the blame for midfielder’s late arrival at training with QPR — Telegraph
• Huddersfield Town sign James Vaughan on three-year contract — Sky Sports
• Coventry City agree groundshare with Northampton Town — Coventry Telegraph

International soccer

• Real Madrid’s Isco hopes move will boost his World Cup chances — BBC Sport
• DaMarcus Beasley’s Gold Cup captaincy: Not everything is about Landon Donovan — Pro Soccer Talk

Major League Soccer

• Three head coaches reprimanded by MLS Disciplinary Committee — Pro Soccer Talk
• D.C. United signs Jared Jeffrey — Washington Post

The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.