Latest news with #pundit
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Charles Barkley speaks out on Michael Jordan's return to the NBA
Charles Barkley is relishing the return of Michael Jordan to the NBA - but admits he has no idea what to expect when his fellow Hall of Famer begins life as a pundit. The Chicago Bulls legend is joining NBC as a 'special contributor', with the network set to broadcast NBA games from the 2025-26 season. Jordan, now 62, has built a reputation for being fiercely private since retiring from the NBA. But he will soon be back in front of the cameras on a rival network to Barkley and some of basketball's most beloved analysts. Barkley is part of the hugely popular 'Inside the NBA' crew, which will be shown on ESPN and ABC from next season after TNT lost broadcast rights. He and Jordan were rivals on the court for more than a decade but 'Chuck' played down talk of a battle between the broadcasters. 'We ain't rivals. We're all promoting the same sport. And that's the good thing about it,' he said. 'We're not in competition. We're both trying to make sure the game grows. I'm glad to have him back.' Barkley was speaking just a couple of weeks after the NBA Draft, when Cooper Flagg and the class of 2025 joined the league. Flagg is considered one of the brightest NBA prospects of recent times but Barkley doesn't put much too stock in the pedigree of any rookie. 'I don't really pay attention to (the draft) because that's just the beginning of the job,' he said. 'I want to see them play first, because what they did in college don't mean anything to us in the NBA. (But) we have some good young players coming in and I'm looking forward to seeing that growth.' Earlier this week, meanwhile, the New York Knicks appointed Mike Brown following the firing of Tom Thibodeau in the wake of their playoff loss to the Pacers. 'I like Mike Brown, he's a good coach,' Barkley said. '(But) I don't think it was fair what happened to Tom Thibodeau.' Barkley was speaking to the Daily Mail ahead of the American Century Championship on the shores of Lake Tahoe, California. A star-studded field of 90 celebrities will battle it out over three rounds at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, with the winner set to receive $150,000.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Charles Barkley opens up on impending on-air 'rivalry' with new NBC analyst Michael Jordan
Charles Barkley is relishing the return of Michael Jordan to the NBA - but admits he has no idea what to expect when his fellow Hall of Famer begins life as a pundit. The Chicago Bulls legend is joining NBC as a 'special contributor', with the network set to broadcast NBA games from the 2025-26 season. Jordan, now 62, has built a reputation for being fiercely private since retiring from the NBA. But he will soon be back in front of the cameras on a rival network to Barkley and some of basketball's most beloved analysts. 'I'm glad to have him back, it's going to be fun watching him,' NBA legend Barkley told the Daily Mail. When asked what Jordan will have in store for fans, he added: 'I don't even know that. I wish I knew!' Barkley is part of the hugely popular 'Inside the NBA' crew, which will be shown on ESPN and ABC from next season after TNT lost broadcast rights. He and Jordan were rivals on the court for more than a decade but 'Chuck' played down talk of a battle between the broadcasters. 'We ain't rivals. We're all promoting the same sport. And that's the good thing about it,' he said. 'We're not in competition. We're both trying to make sure the game grows. I'm glad to have him back.' Barkley was speaking just a couple of weeks after the NBA Draft, when Cooper Flagg and the class of 2025 joined the league. Flagg is considered one of the brightest NBA prospects of recent times but Barkley doesn't put much too stock in the pedigree of any rookie. 'I don't really pay attention to (the draft) because that's just the beginning of the job,' he said. 'I want to see them play first, because what they did in college don't mean anything to us in the NBA. (But) we have some good young players coming in and I'm looking forward to seeing that growth.' Earlier this week, meanwhile, the New York Knicks appointed Mike Brown following the firing of Tom Thibodeau in the wake of their playoff loss to the Pacers. 'I like Mike Brown, he's a good coach,' Barkley said. '(But) I don't think it was fair what happened to Tom Thibodeau.' Barkley was speaking to the Daily Mail ahead of the American Century Championship on the shores of Lake Tahoe, California. A star-studded field of 90 celebrities will battle it out over three rounds at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, with the winner set to receive $150,000. NBA icon Steph Curry is among the favorites but Barkley is the rank outsider at 7,500-1 (+750,000). Aaron Rodgers, Travis Kelce and Jerry Rice are among the other huge names competing. 'I never worry about (the doubters). I just come into have fun,' Barkley said. 'This is the first thing I put on my calendar every year and I'm looking forward to another fun week.'
Irish Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Roy Keane Live at the Marquee: ‘I think Paul McGrath could kill the Pope and they'd say the Pope deserved it'
Pity poor Éanna Hardwicke , the Cork actor charged with playing Roy Maurice Keane in the soon to be released film 'Saipan'. Why? Because, unlike, say Bob Dylan, nobody plays The Boy Roy better than Roy himself as he proved last night with a polished performance in his native Cork. A brilliant midfielder in his day, bursting with determination and a fiercely combative, competitive streak, Keane has become the most intriguing football TV pundit in these isles, his mixture of brooding menace and occasional wickedly funny put downs making him TV gold. Whether by accident or design or maybe because it's just the way he is, Keane has cornered the market in old school grump, his no-nonsense approach to calling out modern day fancy dan figaries, ensuring he is the go-to-guy at half time for an opinion on a player or a performance. [ Roy Keane's life has had many twists and turns, but his love for Cork never wavered Opens in new window ] But enough of the pre-review warm up – last night Roy returned to Leeside for the second of three Live at the Marquee shows and the huge crowd proved the veracity of Oscar winner, Cillian Murphy's statement 'that no one will be more famous than Roy Keane coming out of Cork'. READ MORE Unlike his appearance with Tommy Tiernan on RTÉ television in 2023 when he wore a permanently querulous 'Are you off your f**king chuck?' frown, particularly when Tiernan went full Freud asking about father figures, Keane was last night the epitome of chill. It helped that his interviewer, his most recent biographer, Roddy Doyle was more focused on football than psychology and Keane delivered a fine first half performance sailing through his career from Rockmount to Cobh Ramblers to Nottingham Forest to Manchester Utd to Celtic. En route we were treated to some familiar themes – how lucky he was to find himself in good dressingrooms with senior players serving as role models with the likes of Stuart Pearce, Paul McGrath, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona among those name-checked along the way. Roddy Doyle and Roy Keane clearly get on well and they played a lovely series of neat exchanges midway through the first half. Photograph: John Allen We also heard him sing the praises of Brian Clough and to a lesser extent Alex Ferguson while he also told a hilarious tale about how he spent a holiday in Ayia Napa looking over his shoulder after Kenny Daglish threatened to find him when he reneged on a handshake to sign for Blackburn. Doyle and Keane clearly get on well and they played a lovely series of neat exchanges midway through the first half where Doyle teed him up perfectly by mentioning how his mother's cousin was a US Marine who fought in the Pacific in the second World War II, including at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. 'Where's this going?' asked Keane. 'Saipan,' shot back Doyle. We then got Keano's take on the whole debacle with Mick McCarthy and the preparations for the 2002 World Cup which concluded with Keano revealing that he 'hadn't lost a wink of sleep over it'. The second half was perhaps a more perfunctory affair where Roy could be accused of coasting as he named the best XI that he ever played with and the best XI he played against with his selection of Paul McGrath and Denis Irwin in the former earning loud applause. Irwin was flawless – 'apart from coming for the Southside' while everyone loved McGrath given all the trials he had been through. 'I think Paul could kill the Pope and people would forgive him – everyone loves Paul – they'd say the Pope deserved it,' declared Keano to roars of laughter. A pro in every sense, Keane put in some crunching tackles on Jason McAteer and Alan Shearer, each hit with deliciously barbed quips, delivered with perfect comic timing and an exaggerated raising of the eyebrows or roll of the eyes that screamed 'McAteer, Shearer – seriously?' Doyle wrapped it up by asking the once media shy Keane why he became a pundit and just when we thought we had him figured, he comes in from left field with a surprising admission it was down to his horoscope – to which one can but say, punditry, like football, is a funny old game.
Times
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
John Barnes: ‘Kabul isn't a place you imagine going on holiday'
John Barnes, 61, is one of England's most celebrated footballers. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he moved to London when he was 12 and spent most of his playing career at Watford and Liverpool, earning 79 England caps. He is a pundit and campaigner and was awarded the MBE in 1998 for his services to football. He lives in Heswall, in the Wirral, with his wife, Andrea, and children, Isabella, 20, Tia, 19, and Alexander, 14. Football has taken me to 92 countries — almost half the world. Some of those trips, to places such as Somalia and Rwanda, leave a deeper mark. In Rwanda I met boys the same age as my kids who had been child soldiers. You hear their stories and realise that they didn't choose that life — soldiers came, killed their families, gave them guns and drugs and told them to fight. You can't judge them; you just feel grateful for what you have. But I've never needed tragedy to understand what matters. After the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 a lot of players said they re-evaluated things, but I already knew that football wasn't the most important thing in life. Kabul, the Afghan capital, isn't the kind of place you imagine going on holiday, but when I went there with the UN to coach children I was struck by how beautiful it was. The city stands in a natural amphitheatre surrounded by the snow-capped Hindu Kush, as though it's inside a vast football stadium. People imagine that growing up in Jamaica must have felt like a holiday, but when you live there it's just normal life. We weren't by the beach — we lived in a big house on an army base in Kingston, because my dad was a colonel. He was also the national boxing champion, played squash and football for the country and ended up being president of the Jamaican Football Federation and Swimming Association. My sister played squash for the national team and I swam competitively, but I was always kicking a ball and would even fall asleep with one in bed. If no one was around I'd just kick one against a wall, usually breaking something in the process. We moved to London in 1976. One day a taxi driver happened to see me playing football and told a scout about me, and within weeks I was training with Watford. That was six months before we were scheduled to go back to Jamaica. I'd already accepted a scholarship to study international relations at Howard University in Washington DC; then Watford offered me a contract, and that was that. I was in the first team within two months and two years later I was playing for England, on a Jamaican passport — no one ever asked (my dad was a diplomat so we hadn't emigrated). Every time we travelled for matches I'd be stuck in a separate immigration queue while the team waited on the coach. Eventually, I got a British passport. These days my wife organises everything to do with our travels — I just show up in a sunhat. We went to Bali when our daughter was a week old and the locals made such a fuss of her. In their culture babies are considered divine beings until they reach three months, so seeing a newborn was a huge deal for them. We stayed near Seminyak, right on the beach — it was paradise. That is one reason that the Maldives is so great too — turquoise water, white sand and nothing to do but relax. My next stop there, at the end of the month, is with the Campioni Soccer Academy on Kuramathi Island, where I run coaching sessions for children while their parents sip pina coladas — it's not serious, but occasionally I do spot a talented player and pass their name on. • 24 of the best hotels in Bali for 2025 I don't have a travel bucket list. My wife wants to go to Hawaii, so we probably will. Personally I just want to tick off more countries and get that count over 50 per cent, even if it means flying somewhere obscure just to say I've been there. That said I'd love to go to Argentina, to La Bombonera, Boca Juniors' stadium, for a derby match against River Plate — that's where Maradona used to play, whipping the crowd into a frenzy, and I want to feel that South American intensity for myself. My favourite country? South Africa, hands down. I've done the Garden Route to Durban and spent time in Johannesburg, but it's Cape Town that does it for me, particularly Camps Bay, with the Atlantic on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. If you want to ski, surf and hike, it's all there in South Africa — and the favourable exchange rate makes it unbeatable too. • 21 of the best things to do in Cape Town And then there's Anfield in Liverpool. It's not the biggest stadium in the world, but it's the most intense and you feel it in your chest. The beauty of football is that it connects people everywhere — whether you're on a pitch in a refugee camp or a private beach, kids just want to play. That's the magic, and why — despite all the places I've been — the biggest buzz for me still comes from sitting on my sofa watching the first game of the season. Campioni Soccer Academy will be at Kuramathi Maldives from July 28 to August 8, with John Barnes and his fellow former England player Stuart Pearce ( For more on the resort see
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ferdinand to step down from TNT Sports pundit role
Rio Ferdinand has confirmed he will step down from his role as a pundit with broadcaster TNT former Manchester United and England defender, 46, has worked for the company, previously known as BT Sport, for 10 years but will step aside to focus on "other business interests" and time with last game will be Saturday's Champions League final between Paris St-Germain and Inter Milan in Munich (20:00 BST)."Since retiring from football, it has been a privilege talking about the game I love for a decade," Ferdinand said in a statement posted on his X account, external."I want to acknowledge the tremendous support from the team behind the scenes, whose hard work often goes unseen but has been essential to our success." "As I turn the page to the next chapter, I carry with me countless memories. I am excited about what the future holds - spending more time with my family, focusing on Rio Ferdinand Presents and my other business interests," he YouTube channel has 1.32 million subscribers and he has also launched his own clothing line, called FIVE, in collaboration with retailer Sports Direct.
