Paul Merson has revealed that he phoned two Premier League players to personally apologise for comments he made about them on Sky Sports.
Former Arsenal and Aston Villa star Merson, 57, is a much-loved pundit and has been a long-standing panellist on Sky's Soccer Saturday show for two decades.
His passionate opinions and inability to correctly pronounce players' names have made him a fan favourite, but Merson admits there have been a few occasions where his comments have overstepped the mark.
Speaking on the latest Stick to Football episode, Merson said he regretted previous comments he'd made about England internationals Harry Maguire and James Maddison while appearing on Sky.
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"I've rung up two players since I've been on that show to apologise," he revealed.
"One was Harry Maguire when he signed for Manchester United because I thought it was a bad signing. I didn't think he could play on the halfway line and I stick by that.
"I felt like I carried on and on and I came away from the show and I thought to myself you're out of order. It didn't feel good.
"Then last season I did Arsenal against Tottenham and Tottenham were at home. They were atrocious that day, but I picked out James Madison. I just said it wasn’t good enough and he had to be doing more.
"He played in my position, and I think Scholes said it earlier when you're playing at 10 you've got to affect a football match.
"It doesn't matter how bad the team are playing and he didn't do that."
Merson is not the only Sky pundit to have apologised to Manchester United defender Maguire for previous comments.
Former Red Devils captain Roy Keane said he phoned the player to offer his personal apologies for 'crossing the line' with his criticism.
"I was harsh on Harry Maguire for footballing reasons, and obviously we do a lot of United matches," Keane said on a previous episode of Stick to Football.
"Obviously he's struggled at United and had a tough time with England, but more so at club level. We're on about the mental health of players, and I've crossed the line with Maguire. I mocked him a little bit, and it's not nice.
"I've played the game, I know how hard it is. But I'm also big enough. I bumped into Harry a few months ago and I apologised to him. Sometimes as pundits we get it wrong as well, but there is a point where you go, if it's personal then it's crossing the line."
Former Arsenal star and boyhood Chelsea fan Merson also revealed that there's one team Sky producers don't allow him to watch on Soccer Saturday, for obvious reasons.
"Every now and again you get a shocking game. I can't watch Tottenham and I'm not a great lover of watching Man City," he said.
"I think the other teams come and get their stomach's tickled a lot of the time. I like a game where you’re going to get a bit excited.
"They (the producers) won't let me watch Tottenham; I don't want them to win!"
This week’s Stick to Football podcast is available now on YouTube and all leading podcast platforms.
Topics: Paul Merson, Harry Maguire, James Maddison, Sky Sports, Football, Premier League
Rory O'Callaghan