Jamie Carragher and 5 other pundits who courted controversy

Liverpool Legend Jamie Carragher is in trouble. The former Reds and England defender turned pundit was suspended from his job with Sky Sports yesterday following the emergence of a controversial video that saw him spit through his car window at the teenage daughter of a fan who taunted him about Liverpool’s loss this weekend to Manchester United.

Carragher has since issued a public apology for the incident, but despite the likes of Gary Neville – and even the family of the girl he spat at – suggesting the issue was a mistake and the pundit should be able to remain in his job, it’s anyone’s guess whether Sky will decide to sack him or not.

After all, if he continues in his role, how can he criticise the behaviour of players on the pitch when he’s shown himself capable of behaviour like this off it? It’s a tricky situation that Sky will have to deal with in the upcoming days.

Unfortunately for the game of football, Carragher isn’t the first pundit or commentator to find himself in trouble following controversial behaviour. Here are five other examples.

#1 Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson was fired by ITV following allegations of racism

A successful manager in the 80’s and 90’s with sides like West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United and Aston Villa, ‘Big’ Ron Atkinson was one of the most widely recognised characters in football a few years ago due to his colourful personality, perma-tan and loud jewellery.

In 2004 though, Atkinson found himself caught up in some serious controversy that was enough to cost him his job with ITV.

Atkinson had been a pundit and commentator for the channel for years at that stage, largely featuring in ITV’s coverage of the Champions League, usually as the co-commentator alongside Clive Tyldesley.

He became known for some odd phrases such as “early doors” and “bagatelle football”, but made his biggest gaffe during the 2004 Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Monaco.

Believing he was off-air, Atkinson discussed the under-performance of Chelsea’s French defender Marcel Desailly and quipped “he’s what is known in some schools as a f*cking thick lazy n*gger”.

The dialogue was caught by microphones that the broadcast team believed were switched off, and with the game being shown worldwide, Atkinson’s slur was heard in places such as Dubai and Egypt.

Just days later, Atkinson was forced to resign, stating that he’d made a “stupid mistake”. It was an unfortunate end to Big Ron’s career with ITV, and the stench of racism has followed him ever since, despite his consistent denials of being racist and references to his signing of black players for West Brom in the 1980’s as evidence of this.

#2 Rodney Marsh

Rodney Marsh (far right) was fired by Sky following a tasteless joke on air

When Sky Sports first began to broadcast the much-loved Soccer Saturday programme in the mid-1990’s with its multitude of pundits, one of the most recognisable of them was former England and Manchester City striker Rodney Marsh.

His comical, opinionated style made him somewhat of a fan favourite with viewers, but it would be an attempt at comedy that eventually cost him his job.

He’d already courted controversy in the 1999/00 season by dismissing Bradford City’s chances of Premier League survival, promising to shave his head if they stayed up – and when they indeed survived, he lived up to his word and had his head shaved in the centre circle of Valley Parade. This was light-hearted, though, in comparison to his later gaffe.

Appearing on a January 2005 edition of You’re on Sky Sports, Marsh joked about the recent Asian tsunami disaster, quipping “David Beckham has turned down a move to Newcastle United because of trouble with the ‘Toon Army in Asia’”.

Viewers were outraged by the tasteless joke and although Marsh apologised for the pun, stating that he’d only intended to make a “light-hearted football joke”, Sky Sports fired him two days after the incident. Marsh has since appeared on a string of reality TV shows but has not featured as a football pundit again.

#3 Alan Pardew

Due to the volatile nature of football management, bosses who are out of a job quite often appear as guest pundits on football shows such as Match of the Day and Monday Night Football. Back in 2009 – after his stint as Charlton boss and a few months prior to his time as Southampton manager – current West Bromwich Albion boss Alan Pardew appeared on Match of the Day 2 and caused a major storm.

Discussing the highlights of a game between Manchester City and Chelsea, Pardew spoke about a tackle by Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien on City’s Ched Evans, and said “he’s a strong boy. He knocks him off...he absolutely rapes him”.

Unsurprisingly, comparing a tackle in football to rape horrified viewers at home and the BBC received 35 complaints, and were forced to apologise, stating that the producer believed Pardew had used the word “rakes”.

Pardew for his part apologised for the remark, but was condemned by anti-rape charities and somewhat unsurprisingly, was never asked back as a pundit by the BBC.

#4 Andy Gray and Richard Keys

The faces of football on Sky Sports for over a decade, Richard Keys and Andy Gray were almost synonymous with the sport and presented practically every live football show that Sky broadcast, including Super Sunday, Monday Night Football and Sky’s coverage of the Champions League.

It all came crashing down in 2011, however, when the duo was hit with allegations of sexism and bullying.

First came a leaked video that showed Keys and Gray discussing the female assistant referee Sian Massey – the two appeared to be disgusted by the idea of a “female linesman” as they put it, and questioned whether she could possibly understand the offside rule. While the shockwaves surrounding this video were still being felt, further footage then leaked out.

Clips included Gray asking female presenter Charlotte Jackson to tuck a microphone down his trousers, and Keys discussing an ex-girlfriend with fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp and asking “did you smash it?” After the public were outraged by their behaviour, Sky decided to dismiss Gray, and Keys swiftly resigned days later.

Keys apologised after the incident but dismissed the clips as “prehistoric banter”, and five years later both men appeared to be remorseless, as they made a Twitter post “celebrating” the anniversary of their firing with a glass of champagne while describing the incident as a “carve-up”.

#5 Robbie Earle

Robbie Earle (pictured with Edgar Davids) was fired by ITV in 2010 following a World Cup ticket scandal

Former Wimbledon and Jamaica midfielder Robbie Earle moved into the world of sports journalism and punditry after his retirement in 2000 and appeared to be doing well for himself, working for channels such as BBC and ESPN and regularly appearing on ITV’s coverage of football.

One big mistake in 2010 ended all that, though, and cost him his job with the broadcaster.

As part of his role as a pundit with ITV for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Earle was given free tickets for games during the tournament – tickets that were supposed to be given away to family and friends of the presenter. Unfortunately for Earle, tickets he gave away for the match between Holland and Denmark ended up in the wrong hands.

Earle’s allocation for the game was sold to Dutch company Bavaria Brewing – who sent 36 women wearing orange mini-dresses to the game as part of an ambush marketing scheme. The women were ejected from the stadium as such marketing was in breach of FIFA rules, and when the incident was traced back to Earle, he was fired by ITV.

Earle apologised for the incident but claimed he’d given the tickets to a friend, who then sold them to the brewing company, and described his actions as “naive” – but the public hardly had sympathy for him when it emerged he’d been given 400 tickets for the tournament – including 40 for the final – that had an RRP of around £70,000.