It’s one of the highlights of the week.
Jamie Carragher, on Sky Sports, dissecting the weekend’s action on Monday Night Football.
But the former Liverpool defender won’t just be hovering over a tactics board in the space-age studio next season.
Carragher has become one of football’s most high profile and respected pundits since hanging up his boots in 2013, and helped improve the already brilliant Monday show alongside Gary Neville.
And now Carragher, following in the footsteps of his former colleague, is set to expand his role with Sky Sports this season, and work as a co-commentator, as well as being a studio pundit.
The 38-year-old will begin his stint in the gantry with Liverpool’s trip to Burnley on August 20th. As someone who has such passion for the game it will be intriguing to see how Carragher gets on when he’s caught up in the atmosphere and emotion live at a match.
That game will be exclusive for Irish viewers as part of Sky’s expanded coverage for the new season, which now includes live coverage of 33 Saturday 3pm kick offs, as part of the 159 live games Sky Sports will broadcast during the upcoming season.
Irish fans will be the first to get to hear Carragher in his role and Gary Hughes, Sky Sports’ head of football, has no doubts that he will excel in his new role.
“It’s something he wants to do (be a co-commentator). It will be good for him to do it on a Liverpool game. Jamie’s brave, he’s got strong opinions and he wants to try new things.”
Hughes is known as the ‘brains behind Sky’s football coverage’ and heads up their match selection, coordinates the transfer window drama, appoints the team to present the coverage and oversees the innovation and technology used in the reporting and analysis of live matches.
He was in Dublin to launch their coverage for the new season and was joined by former Republic of Ireland international Niall Quinn, and Hayley McQueen, who together will front the Saturday 3pm kick-offs. Jamie Redknapp, Graeme Souness and Carragher will be guest pundits throughout the season.
On whether Neville, the former Monday Night Football pundit, will be making a return to his former role this season, Hughes told SportsJOE that the broadcasters will be making an announcement on August 8 on their full line-up for the coming season.
Niall Quinn and Gary Hughes with Hayley McQueenFollowing the end of his 30-year association with RTE, John Giles was even recently linked to a punditry role with Sky Sports.
As unlikely a move as that would be, Hughes confirmed that he had seen the reports, but wouldn’t rule in or out the chances of the former Leeds United midfielder joining as a guest pundit, but he did tell us exactly what the broadcasters look for when recruiting analysts.
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher are the prototype, it would see. The pair were earmarked for the role as players due to their successful careers, their ability to effectively articulate a strong opinion, and their insight into high-profile dressing rooms.
“Gary always spoke well at press conferences,” Hughes said.
“We look for someone who’s confident and has the ability to have an opinion. And that is really what we want in a pundit. I think when Gary joined us he came in with authority, he came in as a winner, and he came in with an opinion.”
“And then we followed that with Jamie Carragher, who was fresh out of the game, he gave us great insight, and what they bring is that dressing room experience.
“Carragher was in the dressing room with Luis Suarez. He was there, he brings that immediacy, he brings that insight. That enables us then to be able to give our viewers that extra insight.”
