Sky Sports really need to start showing Newcastle United some fairness, because the pattern of their coverage is becoming too obvious to ignore. I couldn’t make it to the match last night, so watching from home was my only option.
Normally that wouldn’t bother me, but the longer I listened, the more frustrated I became. The coverage just wasn’t good enough, and it’s starting to feel like Newcastle fans are being served a second-rate experience compared to supporters of other clubs.
The commentary during the game was the first thing that got under my skin. Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool defender, was on co-comms and within minutes he was doing my head in.
It wasn’t even subtle; everything from his tone to his analysis felt tilted in favour of Tottenham. But if I thought Carragher was bad, the punditry in the studio took things to another level entirely.
Micah Richards was trying to play the cheerful middle man, but Jamie Redknapp… that was something else. Watching him talk about Spurs while analysing a Newcastle game felt like watching someone trying to hide bias without making even the slightest effort.
It was as if he would have happily sat there in a Spurs kit, boots and all. You could almost hear the disappointment in his voice every time Newcastle did something positive.
It becomes even more frustrating when there is no ex-Newcastle player present to offer even a hint of balance. If you’re going to stack the panel with former players from one club, at least make an attempt to even things out.
And the funny thing is, this wasn’t the first time lately that Sky Sports have turned a Newcastle match into something that feels like a broadcast dedicated to the opposition.
The previous time I watched Newcastle on Sky was the 4–1 win over Everton. I enjoyed the game, but the coverage was unbelievable for all the wrong reasons. Sky decided it was a great idea to fill the entire setup with Everton old boys.
Andy Hinchcliffe on co-comms, Phil Jagielka in the studio and Izzy Christiansen joining him all three with big Everton connections. The bias was so painfully obvious that it felt like watching Everton TV instead of a national sports broadcaster.
When Newcastle went on to hammer them, the mood in the Sky studio was so gloomy that it sounded like they were holding a memorial service instead of analysing a football match.
That’s what’s getting tiring. How can Sky Sports, with all their resources and experience, keep putting together panels that are so openly slanted towards one team?
Newcastle fans pay the same subscriptions as everyone else. They deserve a fair broadcast, not one loaded with pundits who clearly don’t want them to win.
It’s also worth asking why Sky seem obsessed with stacking the pundit lineup with former players from the North West. Time after time, the experts are either ex-Liverpool, ex-Manchester United, ex-Manchester City or sometimes one of the big London clubs. That clique never changes.
It is always the same familiar faces who built their careers miles away from the North East, and it creates a predictable narrative that rarely favours Newcastle.
Nobody expects every pundit to support Newcastle. That’s unrealistic. But is it really too much to ask for a bit of variety? A bit of balance? At the very least, a panel that doesn’t look like it was deliberately built to favour one side?
When you are watching your team and every voice you hear feels attached to the opposition, it sucks enjoyment out of the experience.
Newcastle fans don’t want anything special from Sky Sports. They just want fairness. A commentary team that analyses the match rather than leaning towards the club they used to play for.
A studio panel that represents the game properly, not one that treats a Newcastle win like a tragedy. And above all, a broadcaster that remembers football exists outside of the North West and London.
