sport news IAN LADYMAN: It's OK to love Graeme Souness now... so why did Sky think it was ... trends now
So it seems it’s okay to like Graeme Souness again. Now that he has been on television talking emotionally about his plan to swim the channel to help poorly children, it’s okay to tell the world how much you admire him.
Strange how it wasn’t so fashionable to stand up for him back in the opening month of the football season. That was when Souness spoke on Sky following a match between Chelsea and Tottenham and described it as a “man’s game”. No, back then, it was much easier to join the social media throng, shake your head and talk about what a dinosaur he was.
One thing we have learned in this strange new world where alternative opinions are not encouraged and debate comes with risks attached, is that to be on the wrong side of a conversation can lead you to a dark place. So the sensible people tend to let platforms like Twitter whirl and spit until the focus switches to something else and then we all go back to our lives.
Only for Souness, it has not been so simple. At 70, the former Liverpool and Scotland captain is still full of running (or swimming, as it happens). He has much to offer but will no longer be offering it to Sky viewers. The broadcaster decided that it was time for a change, for some new voices, and it’s hard not to wonder whether what happened last August may not have been entirely unconnected to their thinking.
Souness, who had reached the end of his contract, is not complaining and had wondered whether it was time to move on. He will fill the gap in his life.
Graeme Souness still has so much to offer as a broadcaster but it will not be on Sky Sports
It's seems fashionable to love Souness now he is swimming the channel raise money for sick children (pictured with Isla Grint - who suffers with Epidermolysis Bullosa, a life-threatening condition)
It often feels as if the paying audiences are no longer the main priorities of TV broadcasters
But as TV and broadcasting continues to change, it is worth asking who exactly the big beasts like the BBC and in this instance Sky have in mind when putting their output together. If it’s the viewers, then it doesn’t always feel like it.
Sky have already run David Lloyd out of town and decimated their brilliant Soccer Saturday show to the extent it has recently come to resemble the local pub at chucking out time. Random men and women talking. Nobody listening.
And there is more to come. Sky is currently looking to restructure its reporting staff with long-time touchline presence Geoff Shreeves known to be among those at risk. Indeed, as I understand it, Shreeves is more than likely to go this summer. It feels strange that a man with thirty years of experience in the toughest of roles may well have covered his final Premier League game for Sky but that would appear to be where we are.
Shreeves is 58. Like Souness, if it comes to it he will cope. He’s a big boy. If indeed I am allowed to say that. Equally, he’s the best there is at what is one of the toughest TV gigs in the game. It’s one thing to sit in a studio and criticise a manager. Quite another to stand there with a microphone and ask them why they have just got everything wrong during a game.
Some will counter this and say the identity of the person asking the questions shouldn’t matter. It’s true that a journalist should never be the story. But Sky subscribers deserve the best in return for their monthly outlay. Ultimately, if it’s not the viewers and listeners who matter then who are we actually making TV and radio for?
Sky has addressed its diversity problem admirably in recent years. Other media outlets – including this one – continue to do likewise. But if any of us do that at the expense of the quality of what we do then nobody wins, least of all the customers.
Souness was slammed for describing Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham as a 'man's game'
Sky have already lost David Lloyd (left) and the brilliant Geoff Shreeves (right) could be next
Optics are everything these days, or so it seems. Gordon Strachan will never forget the day he
