Fighting Talk: just not good enough

It's a nice idea, Fighting Talk, a forum for contrarians and controversialists to cut through the cant surrounding sport, and football in particular, but it's almost always disappointing. They do just enough to keep me coming back, hoping that it's going to catch fire, but it's so cosy, so safe, so reliant on the same reference points (Wayne Rooney fancies old ladies, Drogba dives) in lieu of perspicacity and invention.

To really work it needs a less conventional and egomaniacal host, and a smaller pool of guests to pick from: Brady can stay, so can Mills, Bunce, Anderson, Watt and Watson. Park, Buckley and Kelner should never be heard from again.