Viewers left baffled after Martin Keown 'switches off' while speaking about Ruud van Nistelrooy on BBC Football Focus show

Those who tuned into Saturday's episode of Football Focus were left baffled after Martin Keown "switched off" while speaking about Manchester United interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Keown, a regular pundit on the BBC show, was joined by Rachel Brown-Finnis and Alex Scott as they discussed a range of subjects, including Aston Villa's trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool.

The former defender also spoke about Sunday's much-anticipated clash between Chelsea and Arsenal, but it was his thoughts [or lack of them] on Ruud van Nistelrooy that got people talking.

As you can see in the footage below, Keown was full of praise for his former rival.

"You see the love he [Van Nistelrooy] has for the club," Keown said. "It's undoubted. He knows and understands the culture. It's certainly not a bad idea to ke..."

For no apparent reason, the 58-year-old stopped mid-sentence as fellow pundit Brown-Finnis looked on, confused by the unfolding events.

Did someone just switch Martin Keown off? pic.twitter.com/9FfI1KcN2H

— Helen Chamberlain (@HellsBellsy) November 9, 2024

Moments later, presenter Alex Scott introduced a new segment on the England national team but the bizarre incident involving Keown was still fresh in the memory for many viewers.

Here how fans on social media reacted to the bizarre segment involving Keown.

One said: "I thought my TV was broken," while another commented: "What an abrupt stop. Someone in his ear telling him to wrap it up and instead just full on stops."

A third wrote: It's just bizarre. Guests don't usually have ear pieces so wouldn't get producer direction. And anyway, floating that obvious pre record in shouldn't warrant a 'hard count' to stopping talking either. I can't work it out!"

A fourth said: "It was so weird. Glad it wasn’t my imagination. Didn’t know if Keown was glitching or if it was me," and a fifth added: "Bro froze mid sentence."

Last month, Keown accused Van Nistelrooy of waiting in the wings for United to sack Erik ten Hag, who was eventually relieved of his duties on October 28.

“This manager looks very lonely on the sideline. Is Van Nistelrooy waiting to take over? Because it looks as if there’s going to be change taking place there," he told talkSPORT.

“Is everyone adding to the group? I’m not seeing that from Van Nistelrooy. Ten Hag is just sitting there, nothing going on, no conversation. Pep [Guardiola] goes back and speaks to the gurus next to him. Is everybody looking in the mirror at themselves giving their best?"

He added: "It doesn’t look like the players are committed, it doesn't look like the staff are particularly committed. It’s a lone man in the dugout.”