Jeff Stelling hit out at Sky Sports’ coverage of Arsenal against Brighton.
On Saturday evening Arsenal took on Brighton in a crucial clash Premier League encounter that provided Mikel Arteta’s men with the opportunity to overtake Manchester City and return to the Premier League summit.
During half-time, however, beloved former Soccer Saturday host Stelling hit out at Sky Sports’ coverage of the encounter, claiming it lacked balance.
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Sky’s punditry team featured Theo Walcott who played 270 games for the Gunners across 12 years as well as Karen Carney, who made 54 appearances for Arsenal between 2006 and 2009.
Meanwhile, distinguished former Arsenal striker Alan Smith was on Sky Sports co-comms.
On the coverage, Jeff Stelling wrote on X, formally Twitter: “Brighton v Arsenal has an ex-Arsenal co-commentator and both pundits are ex-Arsenal.
“Maybe next time Sky should be a bit more balanced. It is like using me on a Hartlepool game!!!”
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Stelling hosted Soccer Saturday for 25 years, but left the show this summer with the programme having ventured in a different “direction.”
Speaking to the Guardian in January, Stelling said: “I had the most fantastic run on the show.
“I made the greatest mates and was paid well for one of the best jobs in the world.
“But the show was heading in a direction which meant it wasn’t quite the same.
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“Even though I’d been there a long time, I felt some of my views weren’t considered at all. Every week I was fighting a battle. I got tired of fighting and it was making me ill.”
He continued: “Eventually, I went to Sky’s management and said: ‘This is making me unwell. I’ve got to step away from it.
“I’d become unclear [about Sky’s direction] before Shreevesy [Geoff Shreeves] or Martin [Tyler] left. Soccer Saturday used to be distinctive and we had a great team of reporters who would do off-the-wall features.
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“But it reached the point where I would go home Saturday [after the show] and never go out with my wife or family because I was so worn out.
“Sunday, I felt ill with the stress and that extended into Monday and I’d start work on the next show on Tuesday still feeling stressed out. All the time you were flat on the floorboards just to keep the show afloat.
“I’m almost ashamed to say it because my dad worked in a steelworks and would come back from his shift covered in grime and muck and absolutely exhausted.
“He would never have allowed me to say I was shattered after a TV show. But I felt it was making me ill so I had to step away.”
Topics: Arsenal, Jeff Stelling, Mikel Arteta, Premier League, Sky Sports
Chris Byfield