Shephard? Stelling? Bolton? What now for Sky after Keys' departure?

By Martin Lipton in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 11:59 27/01/11

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It will go down as a milestone broadcasting moment.

The day Richard Keys ignored all the rules in the culpability play-book, dug a hole deeper than a mine and disappeared into it.

Within hours of his appearance in the talkSPORT studio, the "dark forces" seemed to have got their wish, as Keys followed partner-in-attitudinal-crime Andy Gray into Sky Sports history.

And while it is what happens on the pitch that matters far, far more than the names of the men behind the microphone, Sky's coverage is so much a part of the whole Premier League package that what happens next will have an effect on the game.

What is certain is that new Sky Sports boss Barney Francis, in his second season at the helm, has made it clear who is in charge.

Francis knows he inherited a massive beast, but also one that was still caught up in the mind-set of its formative years.

Back in the early 1990s, the new kids on the block had to be brash and bold, trying to create an entirely new market.

Now, those upstarts are part of the football furniture - the broadcaster truly associated with the game.

By taking such firm action in easing both Gray and Keys out and creating a vacuum that will have to be filled swiftly, Francis has a chance to reshape things in his chosen image.

The importance of those decisions are genuine. It is Sky's presentation and analysis that sets the tone of football coverage. No question about that.

General sports viewers and the armchair fans may trust the BBC more, believe Gary Lineker, Mark Lawrenson, Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer more.

But the hard-core supporters who want to watch 90 minutes - and spend even longer before and after the event mulling over every intimate detail - get their fix from Sky.

So who could be the new face of football?

Parachuted in for coverage of last night's Carling Cup semi-final in Birmingham was Hartlepool's finest, Jeff Stelling.

A veteran broadcaster - I remember him as a regular voice on LBC, also the home of Bob "Countdown" Holness and Radio Five Live's Peter Allen in the mid-1980s - Stelling has created his own niche as the host of Soccer Saturday.

There is no question that Stelling is a true football anorak, putting in the long hours of research. But taking him out of his natural arena on Saturday afternoons would create a huge hole nobody else could fill.

The bookies' favourite, already, to replace Keys is Ben Shephard.

Lured from the cosiness of the GMTV studio last year and already presenting the Sunday magazine show Goals On Sunday, Shephard was dubbed Keys' likely heir from the day of his arrival.

Now we will see if the accession is quite so clear-cut, as there will be many within Sky looking to advance the claims of Mark Bolton, the current host of the station's excellent Spanish football programmes.

Bolton is enthusiastic and diligent, helping to add an extra strength to what was already one of the stand-out elements of Sky's football coverage - how can it not be when you have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on show most weekends? - but with a critical football eye as well, asking questions that are not the normal bland nonsense.

Personally, I would go for Bolton, although it may be seen that throwing him into the lion's den in the immediate aftermath of Lino-Gate is a step too far.

Does it matter? Well, yes.

Whatever you think of Keys and Gray - and attitudes have doubtless altered over the past few days, just as it seems long-standing internal scores have been publicly settled - they were part of the making of the Premier League.

The gadgets and gizmos were all part of the show, as were the on-air rucks with managers and the frequent berating of officials.

But there was a buzz about the production that enhanced the games, made it work.

Now, virtually overnight, all has changed and there are big calls to be made.

You might even suggest that, suddenly, it has become a whole new ball game.

Except, of course, that we have seen that one from Sky before.

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