As an avid football fan weekends will never be the same again without hearing classic lines, bellowed out in that familiar Scottish accent, such as: "take a bow son!!"
Can this be accepted as just "off the cuff banter" amongst two men talking football; the kind of talk that would go on in any pub or bar across the UK and Ireland, or is it different?
Looking at it from the viewpoint of Sky as an organisation, I'm left with no option. This kind of thing can’t be seen to be associated with an established brand. Sky already battles with a reputation tarnished by squeezing out the little guy, having an owner who has a more than questionable personal history and a decade of high prices and market domination forcing a product upon the consumer.
Andy Gray and Richard Keys in no uncertain terms have made the Sky Sports brand, whose foundations lie around football, what it is today. They are recognised by aficionados of the game as the best around and will not be easily replaced.
All this being said it pains me to say that I'm glad Sky took a stand the football community as a whole suffers from a reputation of sexism and homophobia and this kind of thing only adds to making it seem more acceptable to the masses. While I respect Andy Gray as a pundit his personal character and values seem questionable at best!
Sorry lads but I'm with the women on this. In today’s culture and on this kind of global medium there is no place for this type of unprofessionalism and I dare were this the U.S Andy Gray would not be suing Sky the lawsuits would becoming the other way and fast!
Sean Wiemann
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