Kelly Cates has been warned she has made an error leaving Sky Sports to host Match of the Day by Richard Keys.
The 49-year-old is set to join the BBC’s Match of the Day line-up when Gary Lineker leaves.
Cates will form part of a three-person presenting team alongside Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan from next season, with former England striker Lineker stepping down.
The triumvirate will share presenting duties for the flagship Match of the Day highlights show on a Saturday night, plus Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evenings.
Keys, who left Sky in controversial circumstances back 2011 amid a sexism scandal, has warned Cates, the daughter of Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish, that the grass may not be greener especially when it comes to working alongside one of her new colleagues.
‘Gabby Logan is someone else I opened the door for,’ Keys wrote on his personal blog. ‘I did that because her dad [Terry Yorath] had played for Coventry and I was a big fan! She’s good – but a handful.
‘Sadly she p***** everybody off at Sky with her demanding attitude and my gaffer then – Vic Wakeling – let her go after two years.
‘I’m told by people that work with her now nothing has changed. Oh well – one day maybe.’
Keys did, however, conceded that the BBC had made a shrewd appointment in Cates but fears the final bell isn’t far off for Match of the Day in its current format.
‘Kenny and I once fell out about her getting a job at Sky. ‘It meant she didn’t finish Uni’ he said to me. ‘No’ I replied. ‘But you asked me to get her a job’. Her dad is a man of many contradictions – but that one was a belter. I’m not holding my breath expecting he’ll call now to apologise.
‘Kelly is good. Very good. But I’m still surprised she’s making the move. There’s nothing like presenting live football. I would never have made that decision. Highlights shows are deadly dull.
‘MotD desperately needs fresh blood, but I’m not sure it will survive for very much longer. Eventually Grandstand died for similar reasons – the march of time.’
Lineker, who has hosted the highlights programme since 1999, will continue to front the BBC’s live FA Cup coverage next season and its coverage of the 2026 World Cup finals.
The former England striker said last month it had been a ‘joy and a privilege’ to present Match of the Day but added on The Rest Is Football podcast: “I feel this is now the right time (to leave).
‘I think the next contract they’re looking to do Match of the Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.’
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