Sky Sports Sack Andy Gray
January 25th 2011 18:05
This afternoon the news came through that Andy Gray has had his contract at Sky Sports terminated with immediate effect after controversial comments he made about a female assistant referee.
Gray and colleague Richard Keys had been disciplined earlier this week after they were caught on microphone making sexist comments about Sian
Massey the linesperson in question. Both seemed to agree that female officials had no understanding of the offside rule and they also insinuated that old fashioned manager Kenny Dalglish would have a problem with the appointment of a female official and that she would make a controversial call that would put her under the spotlight in the post match analysis.
The decision the sack Gray then came after further reports from last year (2010) showed Gray and another Sky Sports co-worker Andy Burton discussing another female official.
The comments made by Gray, Keys and Burton are no doubt insensitive, unnecessary and old fashioned but on the other hand they have been blown massively out of proportion.
Gray and Keys, who have been a part of Sky’s football coverage since its inception, are good friends and were simply having a bit of banter before the game. Exactly the same as almost every other football fan who turned up at Molynieux that day. And out of those fans who knew that Sian Massey was going to be running the line will have had a laugh and a joke about all the possible outcomes and ramifications – male and female alike.
I would even go as far as to say that Sian Massey herself will have had shared in some light hearted banter with family and friends and probably even the referee of the day Mark Atkinson.
It just doesn’t seem right that Andy Gray should be punished so severely for jovial comments he made to a friend.
It also doesn’t seem fair that Andy Gray and Richard Keys have been put under so much scrutiny when Loose Women gets an hour of air time five days a week.
It appears quite alright for the cast of the Loose Women show to subtly spread their feminist views across the airwaves without being reprimanded.
The amount of times I’ve heard the loose women attack the character of all men in general for their personal hygiene and lack of help in and the around the house is almost on a daily basis. Yet I’m quite confident that there are many stay at home dads and even working husbands who pitch in just as equally who would disagree. There are also many who the accusations might apply too. Not too dissimilar from the remarks surrounding Andy Gray about women not knowing the offside rule. There are many that statement would apply too and I could name a dozen of them now. Equally there are girls I know who do know the offside rule and have just brushed off the comments made not giving it a second thought.
Quite frankly Sky have made a foolish, hasty decision sacking one their leading pundits and had the tables been turned very little would have been made of it.
Gray and colleague Richard Keys had been disciplined earlier this week after they were caught on microphone making sexist comments about Sian
Massey the linesperson in question. Both seemed to agree that female officials had no understanding of the offside rule and they also insinuated that old fashioned manager Kenny Dalglish would have a problem with the appointment of a female official and that she would make a controversial call that would put her under the spotlight in the post match analysis.
The decision the sack Gray then came after further reports from last year (2010) showed Gray and another Sky Sports co-worker Andy Burton discussing another female official.
The comments made by Gray, Keys and Burton are no doubt insensitive, unnecessary and old fashioned but on the other hand they have been blown massively out of proportion.
Gray and Keys, who have been a part of Sky’s football coverage since its inception, are good friends and were simply having a bit of banter before the game. Exactly the same as almost every other football fan who turned up at Molynieux that day. And out of those fans who knew that Sian Massey was going to be running the line will have had a laugh and a joke about all the possible outcomes and ramifications – male and female alike.
I would even go as far as to say that Sian Massey herself will have had shared in some light hearted banter with family and friends and probably even the referee of the day Mark Atkinson.
It just doesn’t seem right that Andy Gray should be punished so severely for jovial comments he made to a friend.
It also doesn’t seem fair that Andy Gray and Richard Keys have been put under so much scrutiny when Loose Women gets an hour of air time five days a week.
It appears quite alright for the cast of the Loose Women show to subtly spread their feminist views across the airwaves without being reprimanded.
The amount of times I’ve heard the loose women attack the character of all men in general for their personal hygiene and lack of help in and the around the house is almost on a daily basis. Yet I’m quite confident that there are many stay at home dads and even working husbands who pitch in just as equally who would disagree. There are also many who the accusations might apply too. Not too dissimilar from the remarks surrounding Andy Gray about women not knowing the offside rule. There are many that statement would apply too and I could name a dozen of them now. Equally there are girls I know who do know the offside rule and have just brushed off the comments made not giving it a second thought.
Quite frankly Sky have made a foolish, hasty decision sacking one their leading pundits and had the tables been turned very little would have been made of it.
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