Some might say Gallagher had no place as Sky Sports pundit
THIERRY Henry, Jamie Redknapp and Craig Bellamy – with their 847 Premier League appearances between them – were all left on the Sky Sports subs bench for coverage of Manchester United vs Manchester City.
Why? Because it turned out a football fan named Noel Gallagher had a bit of space in his diary.
First things first: Gallagher is a legendary Rock and Roll Star, and he is usually entertaining when making semi-frequent cameo appearances on Sky Sports. But by his own admission he knows as much about football as the average punter – so should he really have been invited along?
Instead of one of their expensive roster of ex-pros, Gallagher happily trotted out a series of standard, anodyne observations, as regular guests Graeme Souness and Gary Neville shifted awkwardly in their seats, wishing they were Half the World Away. And who did presenter David Jones turn to first for professional insight at half-time? Yup, you guessed it – Gallagher.
The majority of City fans will no doubt have been delighted to see Gallagher in the studio, beating the City drum and generally looking to slip in digs at United. But really – was anybody else that impressed by his presence?
For one thing, a Sky Sports subscription doesn’t come cheap, and people pay for a high level of service, not to hear a former musician spout on about his beloved team.
The success of Sky’s much-trumpeted Monday Night Football, which isn’t afraid to take a serious, analytical view of the Premier League, has shown that there is genuine interest in informative, intellectual football broadcasting. So what sense does it make for Sky to utterly ignore that and turn their coverage of one of the biggest games of the season into little more than a pub chat?
Gallagher is a likeable chap, but he is not a football pundit, and so as a fan cheering on his team, Some Might Say he has little place in the Sky studio for one of the biggest matches of the season.