Paul Merson was a wonderfully talented football player who did some magical things for Arsenal, Aston Villa, and of course Portsmouth in the twilight of his career.
Having made the switch to becoming a pundit, he tends to divide opinion between those who would rather have actual analysis of football, and those who enjoy moments like this:
Paul Merson's attempt at saying Victor Wanyama. ?
pic.twitter.com/NONTRXH00S
— Footy Memes (@FootyMemes) September 2, 2015
Merson has also developed a knack for contradicting himself, which was clearly on display as he graded each club's transfer window for the start of the 2015/16 season, and despite being highly critical of many clubs' activity in the trasnfer market, the worst grade he gave out was a C (Everton).
He also said some of the following things, we have resulted in a bit of a backlash on social media.
On Manchester United:
I feel for Anthony Martial as well. He was playing for 5,000 people at Monaco on top of a car park and now he is going to be playing in front of 70,000 at Old Trafford. That's a big ask for the lad. They have let a lot of strikers go and I think they will be left short after not getting a top-drawer centre-forward in. Money talks and this club has money to get one. And you have to wonder if David De Gea wants to be there. I'll give them a B- because they didn't get what they should have.
On Arsenal:
If you keep doing the same things you'll keep getting the same results. It will be the same again this year - top four, but no Premier League title. I'll give them a B because the goalie is that good, but it should have been more.
On Aston Villa:
Staying up is going to be hard but I will give them a B+.
On Chelsea:
I feel they needed a top-drawer centre-half - a £30million one - if I'm being honest.
But then on Manchester City..:
I think Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne are pathetically over-priced. They have spent £54.5m on De Bruyne - and he's a player they don't really need. That position wasn't on their hit-list and now someone like Samir Nasri isn't going to get a game, which is phenomenal for me. They have bought well, but I am going to give them a B- for the money they have had to pay.
And then spending money is good again for Newcastle:
They have spent some money so I am going to give them a B with a question mark because we need to see what these lads are like.
On Sunderland:
This is another club that have brought in a lot of players and are likely to end up in the bottom half. B-.
And finally, on Watford:
I can only give them a B- because they're another team who've bought a lorryload of players and are in the bottom half of the table while they try to gel.
Does he know that a B grade is supposed to be quite decent? He's also given the same rating to Manchester City who have brought in some key signings to ensure serious depth, as Arsenal who only signed a goalkeeper.
Twitter users were quick to point out the flaws they found in Merse's reasoning:
According to Merson @SkySportsNewsHQ arsenal and city both get a b rating for the tfr window deals. Arsenal who only signed a gk.
— Drabaleta (@Drabs79) September 2, 2015
Move over paul merson & let Ian wright replace you're non sensical opinions!
— Paul Betts (@paulbetts1980) September 2, 2015
@SkyFootball how is Merson still in a job?
— tom ritchie (@TomRitchie1993) September 2, 2015
Paul Merson is a joke
— THEO (@Theocrawfs96) September 2, 2015
I'm actually getting fed up of seeing Paul Merson over my @SkySportsNewsHQ app, get someone else to do previews and reviews, please!!!
— Dan Thomas (@DanielRT11) September 2, 2015
@SkyFootball I pay a lot of money for Sky Sports and expect decent pundits , which Merson isn't. Asenal didn`t sign 1 outfielder player ?
— stephen carlisle (@skytots) September 2, 2015
Paul Merson's a nonce
— KDB (@JimmyCunliffe) September 2, 2015
Hahahahahahah fucking Merson
Speaks shit deliberately
— King Wazza (@onelovemanutd_) September 2, 2015
Merson's transfer scoring translates to - any team I played for made good signings, any player who played for a team I played = good signing
— Entire Design (@EntireDesign_) September 2, 2015
@grandoldteam Merson of @SkySports rated us the worst in the window because we kept Stones! He also recently said Soton would beat us 3-0!
— Jim Tindale (@jimtindale) September 2, 2015
So Merson says Arsenal had a better transfer window than Man City because Man City overspent on players they didn't need.... Silly bastard!
— Frazer Hallam (@FrazerHallam) September 2, 2015
I'm not sure what's worse: this tweet, using football manager stats or the fact you still employ Paul Merson @SkyFootball
— Jack (@UtdTait) September 2, 2015
If it's true that Paul Merson on @SkySportsNewsHQ @SkyFootball said arsenal had a better window than city, he should be sacked immediately
— Conrad (@Abousamra23) September 2, 2015
When Paul Merson says #Afc had a better transfer window then #Mcfc pic.twitter.com/oqQ1pdURJq
— Mash (@ThatPavementKid) September 2, 2015
It's safe to say it hasn't gone down to well. You can read the article in full here if you have the patience.
