Football

[destresserai]

Whilst I don't approve of what he said - being female and fully understanding of the offside rule - I think it's a little over the top sacking him. A suspension and public apology would have been more than sufficient. There is a place in our society for "pub banter" and I think this would definitely come under the heading after all he was made to look the bigger twit by calling against a decision that she did not and her decision being fully right and justified!

[ejwrank]

I think Andy Gray was sacked because an additional bit of audio came to light and it had to do with asking a female to put a microphone in a rather unusual place and that banter really did smack of nasty sexism. I don't have Sky so don't have to put up with him but I'm glad he was sacked. As a female football fan I think what he said was too much.

[butterfly]

What he said was out of order. I never really liked him as a red but i think it will be strange not seeing him on sky anymore. I wonder if we will get more Jamie Redknapp? Although i've never heard him do the commentary.

[The Sparrow]

There seemed to be 3 different bouts of sexist comments involving the Grey dinosaur but the microphone pack remark seems to have been the final straw for Sky.

To be perfectly honest I found what Richard Keys said about Karen Brady far more sickening. The way he spoke was very nasty, a smug attitude with a vile undertone. She's done a damn sight more for football than Keys has! Pathetic and jealous individual.

[ejwrank]

Agree with you, The Sparrow. I think they both should go. Just who do these two think they are?

[The Sparrow]

To be fair, banter in the workplace, within reason doesn't bother me. I think we are far too pc about everything these days. Some of the trivial complaints made by some people mean that genuine complaints can be trivialised or overlooked.

Sian Massey didn't turn up for the match on Saturday and say that as she had nothing better to do could she wave a flag about and run up n down the touchline. Like every other official, she has trained and studied to do that job and before being given an opportunity to work at a Premier league match, she will have worked her way up the ladder. She will have heard far worse from twits in the crowd. Whilst disappointed with the comments I doubt she was surprised by them.

She did the job well as we all know. My question is what excuse do other officials have when they have been proved to have made a wrong decision and lost a team valuable points in the past? Oh I know, it's 'cos they are men and we all know men can't multi task. We shouldn't expect them to be able to run, watch the field of play and blow a whistle all at the same time. Poor little mites!

[mattymc13]

His sacking is a disgrace. He only said what many, many, many other football fans were thinking and saying to their mates at the very time she was first seen on camera on Saturday. It's not in the least bit out of order if you think are saying it off camera, off microphone, off air. I was at QPR on Sunday, before all this stuff came to light, and I raised the point with him about the female assistant ref, and we engaged in a bit of banter about her not being suitable for the job. It's just what people do! Nobody necessarilly means what they say. I'll try and give a decent example of what I mean. My dad grew up in a rough part of Leeds and he still refers to Indian people (in conversations with myself and his mates) as they four letter word that is considered universally unacceptable. He knows and gets along with a lot of Indian/Pakistani people, and he wouldn't dream of saying it to their face. The same applies to Andy Gray. He would never say those things to the lineswoman's face. It was just a bit of banter between two mates that was never intended for the public domain. If we all got sacked for things like that there would barely be anybody left working. I feel really sorry for him. It's no different from the phone tapping stuff. It's just a private conversation (albeit this time in a public place) taken completely out of context and twisted to make him look like an appalling human being. I'm really angry about it because he's a top class football analyst who loves the game.

[Beate]

He might love the game but he is a sexist and this type of behaviour should not be allowed in this day and age. While I am not a football fan, a lot of women are or even play football themselves, so derogatory comments like that are totally out of order. It does not matter that he only says what a lot of men are thinking (and probably saying down the pub), it's still wrong for an official to say those, and we will never root out sexism if people like him are allowed to stay on. You have to behave at your place of work and if you don't know how to do that then you have no place there.

[ejwrank]

I think a lot of people hide behind this word 'banter' as if banter means it was lighthearted or said in private and therefore not open to scrutiny. If it's sexist, racist or discriminatory in any other way then it's bad and totally unacceptable and yes, both of these guys should go.

[destresserai]

I think a lot of people hide behind this word 'banter' as if banter means it was lighthearted or said in private and therefore not open to scrutiny. If it's sexist, racist or discriminatory in any other way then it's bad and totally unacceptable and yes, both of these guys should go.

I do agree and that's why I believe there has to be a distinction between discrimination and banter. What concerns me more is Sky's attitude to this. Both should have gone and not just one and Sky can not totally hold their heads up high. More importantly, my son and I watched the game at the time and my son (a qualified FA Youth Referee) was pleased to see a female official in place and even knew what game she had reffed before Christmas so a positive attitude from him. Both of us noticed that Sky camera men kept zooming in on her during play so it seemed that they wanted to make a big thing about her being female.

All that matters is that she was an official who was more than capable of doing the job being asked of her - simple as that. Us females do not make comments when males officiated a female games and not to blow my own trumpet I have a better understanding of the rules than quite a few male friends. They often know the simple decisions but not always why those are cancelled out! The one that often springs to mind is when phase of play comes into the equation.