Yesterday we had a female commentator for the Portugal game. She has received a lot of abuse on social media which was unnecessary.

People who have defended her make the mistake of referencing her knowledge and professionalism. I accept that she is on both counts.

However a commentator lives or dies by their voice which has nothing to do with knowledge or professionalism. I am not saying that women should not commentate on football but I find her voice grating which is unfortunate as it is not her fault. No need for the abuse though.

Some voices are better suited to the occasion. There are plenty of male commentators I cannot stand.

One more point

Social media in general is unnecessary. Even worse is the BBC's habit of late which is reporting what happened on social media the day before as "news".

The main trouble with their commentary is that it just sounds contrived.

The powers that be have also seemingly decided that cricket must suffer the same fate,. So there is almost always now someone in the commentary box who I more than likely don't know, speaking about players who she can offer no insight to or experience of. The other week one of them didn't even know which end was bowling uphill or downhill!

Optimistic as ever