Richard Keys and Andy Gray

[PEARCEY]

^ I just don't think there is much competition around. Keys got lucky IMO. Jeff Stelling is streets ahead but was probably still a BBC reporter when Keys got the job. Keys comes across as a smug so and so.
Gray isn't that bad but I wouldn't exactly miss him. The overall standard of football punditry is pretty dismal really and rarely enlightening.

[DelBoyRodders]

I'm relatively indifferent to them - Keys is just a presenter, Gray I quite like now and then, and I enjoy his post-Super Sunday analyses of all the games. But if he was mediocre, would he really have held down this job since the early 90s (and Keys and Tyler for that matter). Either they genuinely are the cream of the crop, or Sky think they are, or they are too much part of the 'furniture' of the Sky football package to dispense of.

+1

[Victor Meldrew]

My take on it is "what creep decided that this needed airing?"
The problem lies IMHO with the creep rather than with Gray or Keys.
As an oldie I sometimes despair at what we have bred.
BTW this has had about 100 times as much airtime on a number of radio stations today as 30 people being killed by a suicide bomber in Russia but there again a few Ruskis dying is insignificant compared with a few words that TV people said off-air about a British woman.

Agreed. I'd have loved to have been given the opportunity to listen to 5 hours uninterrupted coverage about that particular tragedy.

Maybe the creep is a woman who serves them refreshments, powders their nose or waits hand and foot on them in some other way and has got fed up with their misogyny? Who knows eh?

Male or female still a creep of the lowest order.

[Royal Rother]

Ok, it's a long shot but you believe that a woman who had been consistently humiliated and patronised whilst carrying out her menial duties for them would be the creep rather than the misogynistic twats themselves?

[Victor Meldrew]

On the general point about presenters and co-commentators and studio pundits.
Are any of them necessary.
I'm sure that the vast majority watching are already football fans who have their own views about what they are seeing therefore it's not as if non-regular followers of the game are being informed.
Cricket is different because there are so many more intricacies and to have the different inputs is interesting but the trend to have so many people put their twopenneth seems pointless to me.

[EPR]

I don't think the opposite gender should officiate over a single sex sport full stop, and it's got nothing to do with capability or sexism, but pure human biology.

Every football supporter knows that making it clear to the ref that he has cocked up DOES influence his decision later in the game; and the players know this too - and will give the referees assistant a word of their mind if they think they've called an offside wrongly.

But put a woman on the line, and all of a sudden the player starts thinking with their dick and won't be inclined to give the official such a hard time.

Especially if they're hot.

[Victor Meldrew]

Ok, it's a long shot but you believe that a woman who had been consistently humiliated and patronised whilst carrying out her menial duties for them would be the creep rather than the misogynistic twats themselves?

A very long shot-it will be interesting to discover (as we will know eventually) who the whistleblower was-my money would not be on a poor repressed and abused employee of female gender.
Surely Murdoch wouldn't employ that sort.
Now about that explosion in Russia
I am now going to report you to any Russians I can find in this country for demeaning what has just happened there-the politburo member will shortly be calling at your house.
Signed
A Creep.

[Royal Rother]

And you didn't answer my bloody question you creep!

[SLAMMED]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi1joKn9SJs

[T.R.O.L.I.]

Ok, it's a long shot but you believe that a woman who had been consistently humiliated and patronised whilst carrying out her menial duties for them would be the creep rather than the misogynistic twats themselves?

Maybe its Clare Tomlinson...

[Royalee]

Women should officiate women's football, men should officiate men's football end of.

[paultheroyal]

Women should officiate women's football, men should officiate men's football end of.

Disagree totally.

Refereeing is all about ability and fitness. Providing a female match official match the criteria and testing there is absolutely no reason why they cant referee mens football matches. Anyone who believes different probably falls in the sexist pig category.

[Zammo]

Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys has telephoned assistant referee Sian Massey to apologise for his off-air remarks about her at the weekend, a Professional Game Match Officials spokesman has confirmed.

Microphones picked up comments made by Keys and co-presenter Andy Gray in what they thought was an off-air conversation before the Wolves v Liverpool match on Saturday.

The pair were not involved in Sky Sports' coverage of Monday night's Bolton v Chelsea match as a result.

The PGMO confirmed that Keys had telephoned Massey on Monday.

She accepted the apology and is now keen to move on from the matter, and will be an assistant at the npower League Two match between Crewe and Bradford on Tuesday night.

The PGMO insist that Massey holds her position on merit and is keen to act as a positive role model for women's refereeing.

[Royalee]

Women should officiate women's football, men should officiate men's football end of.

Disagree totally.

Refereeing is all about ability and fitness. Providing a female match official match the criteria and testing there is absolutely no reason why they cant referee mens football matches. Anyone who believes different probably falls in the sexist pig category.

The criteria and testing isn't up to scratch at the moment - indeed there are many male officials who aren't good enough and refereeing as a whole needs an overhaul. Officials command respect and although many will argue that respect should be given to anyone, it just does't work that way I'm afraid. Women's football is played at a completely different pace and skill level to the men's equivalent and referees in men's football have to be much more robust both physically to keep up with play and mentally as there is more at stake financially and there is far more pressure on them. Can you honestly envisage or wish for a female official to be in charge of a Merseyside or Manchester or Old Firm derby with thousands of men screaming at her? Also, do you think it is reasonable to expect them to keep the peace if tempers flare?

Women's football is improving and that's a good thing, it's excellent that females are enjoying football and their officials should be female, but why complicate things and bring yet more controversy on the richest sport in the country by seemingly forcing feminism across all areas? You don't see the likes of American Sports having female officials in their men's games, so why the clamour for it here?

[sandman]

They're an utter disgrraaaaccccce! Take em out and shoot em in the street right now. There is no reason why a woman can't be as useless, blind and stupid as the male match officials.

[SpaceCruiser]

Does anyone think Kendricks School for Girls is a sexist school?

[RobRoyal]

Women should officiate women's football, men should officiate men's football end of.

Phew. Royalee is always a good moral compass. You'd hate to wake up one morning and find yourself agreeing with him.

[Row Z Royal]

Women should officiate women's football, men should officiate men's football end of.

Phew. Royalee is always a good moral compass. You'd hate to wake up one morning and find yourself agreeing with him.

It's funny because it's true.

[leon]

Does anyone think Kendricks School for Girls is a sexist school?

twat

[leon]

this all would be fine if we all didn't normally slag off the (male) officials. this particular assistant referee had a decent game by all accounts.

I don't give a f*ck if the assistant referee has 4 cocks and a c*nt, as long as they understand the offside rule and general laws of the game - which is something that the vast majority of pundits (including a vast queue of ex footballers and managers) clearly don't - but it doesn't stop them having an opinion.