Larry Ryan: How much bad TV was made trying to replicate Ian St John's genuine amusement?

Banter only became a dangerous force when the Saint stopped supervising it after Saint and Greavsie was dropped

TWO UP FRONT: Ian St John (left) and Jimmy Greaves in 2009, when they reformed their legendary double-act for for Setanta Sports’s FA Cup Special. St John played the straight man to Greaves in their much-loved football show.

Inconveniently, I have very little experience dealing with the gee-gees in this column. But luckily there is plenty of knowhow to call upon vis-a-vis the dangerous force at the heart of the week’s big story — banter.

Yes, we have kept a watchful eye on the bantz in these quarters, and its close links with ‘controvassy’.