Raining on Chelsea parade

Chelsea brought out all that is characteristic in Shearer and Savage when they locked horns on the subject of the champions-in-waiting on Match of the Day at the weekend.

Alan Shearer is not exactly over-flowing with charisma as a pundit, even if he has noticeably developed a little more bite since Alan Hansen hung up his mic.

Robbie Savage, by contrast, is someone of whom it might be said that he is burdened by his own delusional sense of charisma, making him the kind of television personality who, in keeping with his provovative profile as a player, a lot of people love to hate.