Sky want to judge public mood before wielding axe

‘I wish I could go back but all I can do is apologise as much as I can’

about Manchester United’s victory over Liverpool having spotted the Sky analyst driving along the same road in his Range Rover.

A devastated Carragher went on Sky News, ITV and the BBC yesterday to offer his fulsome apologies, calling it ‘a four or five-second moment of madness which is difficult to explain. It feels like an out of body thing... I have brought shame on the name of Sky Sports.’

Such is the widespread revulsion towards spitting, it remains in the balance whether this damage limitation exercise will be enough to see Carragher cling on to his high-profile role with Sky.

The best Carragher can hope for is a return next season when the dust has settled and Sky have had a chance to judge the public mood. The jury will be out for some time.

Football regards spitting as beyond the pale because of its lack of respect. Some consider it as bad as a leg-breaking tackle.

Yesterday morning, Carragher took a train from Liverpool to Euston and was then taken by motorcycle to Sky’s headquarters in Isleworth, West London, for a summit meeting with Sky Sports boss Barney Francis.

Such was the seriousness of the matter, it is understood Sky’s group CEO Jeremy Darroch was involved in the decision-making.

It is the second major sports matter to concern Darroch, who is under pressure to take action over Sky’s sponsorship of the British cycling team that is facing accusations about the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

A Sky statement said: ‘Sky takes this matter extremely seriously and strongly condemns Jamie’s actions. We have made that clear to him in person and suspended him from his duties. It falls well below the standards we expect of our people.’

Carragher was due to be on Sky’s Monday Night Football broadcast in Isleworth last night, the programme in which his knowledge and enthusiasm has been best showcased since joining the subscription channel in 2013. Instead, Sky switched to a studio at Stoke for their game against leaders Manchester City.

Scandinavian network TV3, who broadcast in Denmark, Sweden and Norway and employ Carragher for the Champions League, have also stood him down with immediate effect.

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said: ‘I think spitting is disgusting full stop. I know he’s apologised, he’s right to apologise and Sky Sports are right to have taken the decision they have. He has said himself he’s a father and wouldn’t be happy with someone spitting at his daughter.’

Carragher’s fellow pundit Gary Neville remained loyal. ‘I’ve just watched Carra say sorry,’ he said on Twitter. ‘No excuse, he’s made a big mistake. He’s massively passionate about football and he’s overstepped the mark and he shouldn’t have reacted. I’ve been on TV for 3 years with him and this isolated incident shouldn’t stop us working together.’

Carragher had no choice but to be contrite when he faced his TV interviewers yesterday.

Sky News’s Sarah Hewson began: ‘So Jamie — I’m recoiling watching that. It is disgusting — how do you feel when you see it back?’ Carragher replied: ‘Exactly the same. You can’t condone that behaviour no matter what in any way, shape or form.

‘Watching those clips back it feels like an out of body thing — just that moment of madness for four or five seconds. You can’t ever behave like that. That is just unacceptable. I have no excuse. It’s devastating for the family involved and also for my family, but I brought that on myself.’

Carragher called the family to apologise. He said: ‘There’s lots of regrets for what has happened but certainly the biggest one is for the 14-year-old girl to be caught in the middle of this. I have a young daughter the same age and if somebody had done that, it’s difficult for me to find the words to how I would react or what I would say to that person.’

Asked whether he deserved to keep his job, Carragher said: ‘What I would hope — not just for Sky but for the public who have known me for 25 years in the public eye since I started playing — is that five seconds of madness will not take over everything I have done.

‘People may or may not like me — even before this incident — but hopefully going forward I can show the real me.

‘I wish I could go back and change it, but all I can do now is apologise as much as I can. Spitting is the lowest of the low. I have never done it before and I will never do it again.’

Carragher’s road rage started when the driver of the other car beeped his horn. Carragher thought it was a Liverpool fan who wanted a picture so he wound down his window. The man started shouting about United’s win over Liverpool. Carragher ignored it.

A few hundred yards later, the driver returned. When it happened for the third time, Carragher snapped.