- Gary Neville was banned from the City Ground for Forest’s clash with Chelsea
- Sky’s final day coverage was tarnished due to their absence from the stadium
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Nottingham Forest fans loved the fact that Gary Neville was banned from entering the City Ground, but they were the only ones. If you were a Sky Sports viewer, you certainly weren’t enjoying yourself watching their coverage.
Neville may be a brilliant commentator, but it wasn’t the lack of his voice that made this a hard watch. In fact, the lack of groans over big chances – not that there were many – were welcome.
However, with Forest taking the unprecedented action to bar Neville from their final day crunch match with Chelsea, Sky Sports decided to cover the game from their studio.
It made it feel like you were watching a meaningless Monday Night Football show when this was meant to be a mammoth match between two teams going for Champions League football.
It was bizarre. As soon as Neville was banned, Sky should have made the decision to lead on Liverpool’s title party at Anfield. After all, that’s all anybody wanted to watch after the final whistle anyway.
Now, Neville’s denial of access should be cause for concern for many – a journalist or broadcaster should never be shut down for their opinion. The fact that Neville has is worrying.
Sky Sports covered the Nottingham Forest game from the studio which felt bizarre to viewers
Many Nottingham Forest fans decided to mock Neville by wearing masks inside the ground
Neville was banned due to after making heavily critical points on social media after Nottingham Forest’s draw with Leicester two weeks ago
It’s understandable that Sky stood with Neville, by deciding to only send their commentary team and reporter Patrick Davison to the City Ground. They called the ban ‘unwelcome’, and that’s them being rather kind, in my book.
But the answer was certainly not leading their final day bonanza with the lacklustre coverage they provided in the East Midlands. It wasn’t their fault they were thrust into that position, of course, but they could have easily switched Liverpool’s clash with Crystal Palace to Main Event.
However, the Forest fans, who weren’t subject to the poor coverage, were lapping it up in the hours before kick-off and during the match. Many of the Garibaldis turned up in masks with Neville’s face on, with signs saying, ‘Where’s Gary?’
Fans also took only 40 seconds to mock Neville in the stands by singing, ‘Gary Neville is a w*****’, while Alan Smith, who replaced Neville, sat in silence. It was probably good that Neville wasn’t there to hear it because he wouldn’t have stayed quiet.
