It's all in the Balance

George Best, it seems, had balance. And balance is important in a footballer acccording to those that know. Balance is also something prized in journalists and pundits. I don't know if in his playing days that Eamonn Dunphy had any balance. But it is quite evident - even to those of us that know nothing about football - that the TV pundit cum journalist doesn't really have any balance.

Now I know there is a school of thought that says the most important thing in punditry is to have strong opinions. But I would have thought objectivity is also an important attribute. Recently watching from some remove as I was - okay so I shared the TV sofa with Tony but I was dug into a great book - it was still clear to me that Mr Dunphy had lost the plot more than a little.

I think loyalty is a most under-rated attribute and when it comes to defending his friend Roy Keane, Mr Dunphy is nothing if not loyal. However it must be possible to defend one person constructively rather than totally disrespecting someone else. Roy Keane is probably a brilliant family man, footballing genius and general hail-fellow-well-met. But surely it's possible that Niall Quinn is each of these things also.

Why does it always have to be an either/or situation. Could they both not be great sons of Ireland? Just because Roy might not be best friends with Niall, does everyone have to take sides like some sort of school yard squabble? I've a sneaky regard for Mr Keane but will also admit to being more than a little impressed with Mr Quinn. The one person who comes out of the whole thing looking more than a little stupid, purile, partisan and unbalanced is Eamonn Dunphy.