Keys Out

Apology Turns into Last Straw for Sky Sports Front Man

“There was much banter”. Richard Keys' description of the conversation he had with Sian Massey as he apologised to her over the telephone Sunday afternoon. But is that how you would want to describe a conversation that was meant to be a sincere apology for one of the biggest blunders in sports broadcasting.

Speaking on TalkSport radio yesterday Keys said he was on the station to get his side of the story across to the public, something he felt he hadn't been allowed or had the opportunity to do since Sunday mornings bombshell hit. But Keys, rather then coming across as genuinely sorry for his comments and actions released into the public domain this weekend, came across as a slightly paranoid ego, that is obviously desperate to hold onto his job and maintain his status as the face of Premier League football coverage.

Keys claimed he would answer any question given to him on Hawksbee and Jacobs, yet with the skill that any politician would be proud of, twisted and turned questions to make sure he got his apology across to the listeners and avoid any question or comment that could incriminate him further.

When asked if he would have apologised to Massey had the comments not been released to the media Keys skipped away from an answer saying “If the comments hadn't been released, and she got that [the offside call for Liverpool's opener] right, and there was a way to find her......you'd be looking back on that saying well done, and we said that......this shouldn't go on to affect her, leave her alone”

Keys when he did try to be sincere could stop himself from making little jibes and attacks at others around him.

“are you telling me it doesn't take place in the Manchester United dressing room? Because my information is it does” was his response to comments made by Rio Ferdinand about Keys' and Gray's comments on social network site twitter.

“Im not proud of what we did at the weekend. I'm sorry that happened but with success comes envy”. “There are dark forces at work”. “Its [the apology to Massey] just being reported today as though I've just got round to doing it, thats how the media works isn't it”. Keys didn't come across as a man looking to repair his image and apologise. He made it obvious that this whole incident is some sort of plot to remove him and Andy Gray from Sky Sports like some sort of JFK conspiracy.

When Keys did say the words “I'm sorry” they sounded forced and exasperated. Like a child who is tired of apologising to his parents because the meaning and sincerity of the words are gone, replaced by exasperation at a situation that he obviously wants to be swept away.

Even when discussing the latest YouTube video release of him talking to Jamie Redknapp and other co-hosts prior to a broadcast about a former girlfriend of Redknapps, (with Keys asking “did you smash it” before going on to make other offensive sexual comments about the lady in question) Keys spun out the same line that he had used to describe his thoughts on the Massey comments.

“Shocking, horrible, out of order, wrong, old fashioned, no place for it.

Not only that but the tone of voice he used (ironically something which has made his comments about Massey last saturday so damning) to real off this sentence of almost pure adjectives seemed to show just how exasperated and tired Keys already is, of talking about the media storm thats surrounded him.

The 53 minutes or so that he was talking on TalkSport couldn't have gone much worse for Keys. Unclear with what he was trying to get across at most stages the interview/discussion, the former Sky Sports front man seemed to flick across from apology, to excusing himself, to secret plots and dark forces and finally almost pleading to the media and coworkers to not judge him as harshly as he is. In what should have taken 15 minutes to apologise publicly, say a few words about the recent video release, say how he's helped many female journalists in his career and then finally say he's looking into his own behaviour and trying to change it for the future, turned into a whining pleading paranoid rant, trying to pass blame and excuse himself for what happened.

Keys' resignation last night from his post at Sky just goes to show how badly he came across in his radio exclusive. Speculation now has turned to who will take over from Keys as Sky's main face of football coverage, with Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling tipped as the 4-1 favourite.

To listen to the full interview head to - http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/hawksbee-and-jacobs/blog/2011-01-26/listen-richard-keys-discussing-massey-brady-and-sexism-exclusively-talksport