This is a video clip with presenter Charlotte Jackson.
Andy Gray makes a lewd remark to Jackson which critics will see as sexist and supporters will consider harmless banter. But there is no mistake he crossed the line with Sian Massey simply because of her gender as the clip below shows.
She was proved absolutely spot on ruling Fernando Torres onside. The FA thinks very highly of her and she has spent hours training for this job. Meanwhile thousands of her male colleagues have demonstrated hapless incompetence interpreting the offside rule sometimes by a mile. Remember this Klose jawdropper against Fiorentina which robbed the Violas of a Champions League win. There are many such examples which never robs males of their cozy double standards.
There is a less obvious one at play here – defending such derogatory remarks as a sign of a macho culture (men being men) is hypocrisy when men proven wrong are not man enough to own up or apologize. Which is what Gray should have done to Massey.
It was surprising Richard Keys, his fellow commentator at Sky Sports got off lightly guilty of similar such remarks about Massey. But his career might be on the line with some leaked new footage where he uses sexist language to describe a former girlfriend of Jamie Redknapp. So the next question is who is sticking it to these two? Gray and Keys obviously rubbed some off the wrong way.
As for Gray, his gruff and opinionated style earned him much airtime. Mixed in with his often apt commentary on referees and divers were his awry judgments of players. He was also condescending of other leagues and their players belittling Barca or Real’s chances against real “English” clubs like Stoke or Blackburn and calling Messi “Little”. So he really won’t be missed by the cognoscenti. And neither it appears will those who found his off air sexism unfunny.
Update: Richard Keys and Andy Gray “apologize” for their remarks. Keys goes a bit Harry Potteresque when he says there are dark forces at work.