Graeme Souness held back tears on air after it was announced that he will be stepping down from his role as a Sky Sports pundit at the end of the season.
Souness has featured as an analyst and a pundit for Sky for 15 years, but presenter Kelly Cates confirmed after Sky’s Super Sunday coverage of Liverpool’s win over Tottenham that this season will be the Scotsman’s last.
Sky showed a montage of the usual straight-talking Souness acting as a pundit throughout the years which was greeted by a round of applause by the Sky Sports team including Cates, Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Keane.
“I’m going to miss you guys, the guys behind the scenes, our makeup girl, I’ll miss you all. “You know, for me, I decided that football management wasn’t for me anymore. I had the wrong temperament for it, the wrong personality,” former Liverpool player Souness, 69, said.
“And then I was given the opportunity to do this and it’s been magnificent. It’s just been the most fantastic time for me, because I love football, I care about football and I worry about it going forward.
“But in Sky’s hands it’s in good hands, safe hands, and I think over the years we’ve created a Premier League with great detail and I think we look after football very well. But for me personally, I’ve got the buzz of live football coming to some fantastic games and some fantastic stadiums and some great events. I think I owe 100 apologies to people, but we haven’t got time for that.”
Souness became a fixture of Sky Sports pundits for having hard-hitting opinions which often led to a heated debate in the studio.
“I think people at home obviously don’t always agree with us, but it’s been great guys it really has,” Souness added.
“And it’s great right now to be among friends and nothing goes on forever, but I’ve got a lot of things coming up. I’m involved in my DEBRA charity and on the 27th of this month I’ll announce the challenge I’m getting involved in.
“But it’s been great so thank you to everyone.”
Sky Sports director of football Gary Hughes said: “We will miss Graeme’s no-nonsense approach in the studio – matched only by his playing style.
“The insight and winning mentality he brought to our viewers as a result of his years of experience as both a player and a manager has been invaluable to our coverage. We wish him all the best for the future.”