Kevin Keegan’s in the news again. He’s made some comments at a do in Bristol that have, shall we say, divided opinion on the role of women in the wacky world of TV punditry. This is what he said:
“I’m not as keen, I’ve got to be honest, and it may not be a view shared. I don’t like to listen to ladies talking about the England men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience. I have a problem with that.”
And:
“If I see an England lady footballer saying … ‘If I would have been in that position I would have done this,’ I don’t think it’s quite the same.”
The group Women In Football replied at great length and you can read their comments here in The Guardian. I am particularly interested in this comment:
“Kevin Keegan seems to be advocating a kind of gender apartheid in football, whereby the men’s game can only be discussed by men, and ‘ladies’ are banished to a separate room. Like everyone else he’s entitled to an opinion, but on social media the trolls and abusers are already out in force to applaud him.
“Women in Football’s survey earlier this year found that 82% of women working in the game have experienced discrimination at work, including sexism, sexual harassment and derogatory comments on ability based on gender. And let’s not forget the actions perpetrated by Luis Rubiales immediately after the Women’s World Cup final just a few weeks ago.
“In this context Keegan and people of a similar mindset have a moral obligation to keep their opinions to themselves, rather than add weight to the narrative that enables online abuse and threats of violence every day simply for doing their job.”
Putting aside the contradiction between what Women In Football say in the first paragraph, that “like everyone else he’s entitled to an opinion” and that he should “keep his (opinion) to (himself)“, I thought that theirs was generally fair comment. I felt that Keegan, who is into his seventies, spoke like a man who is in his seventies, in terms that were deemed to be normal, well, back in the 1970s. In his way, he was trying to be respectful and polite, regardless of how clunky the word “ladies” sounds these days. My personal feeling is that he is wrong.
My objection is not to female pundits, but crap pundits. If I am watching a televised game, my heart sinks when it is announced that the co-commentator is going to be Martin Keown, Glenn Hoddle, Steve McManaman and, worst of all, the execrable Jermaine Jenas, all former international footballers and pundits who add literally nothing to the table in terms of analysis. Women tend to be used in studio punditry and I find them to be no better and no worse than men, although none are as bad as Owen Hargreaves, Robbie Savage and Michael Owen.
So, all in all, I rather feel that Keegan is entitled to an opinion, I don’t agree with him and that should be the end of that. But just when I think the whole thing is fading into the ether, along comes all round wrong ‘un and, disgracefully, still Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton who posts on X that Keegan is right:
“Kevin Keegan. Ballon D’or winner 1978. England manager. He’s bang on.”
Presumably, then, Barton would put things rather like this:
“I’m not as keen, I’ve got to be honest, and it may not be a view shared. I don’t like to listen to ladies talking about the Bristol Rovers men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience. I have a problem with that.”
And:
“If I see a Bristol Rovers lady footballer saying … ‘If I would have been in that position I would have done this,’ I don’t think it’s quite the same.”
Look, Joey. I know you’re a hard man and all that – Christ, you’ve told us just how hard you are – but just fuck off. Haven’t you heard of Her Game Too, which has deep roots at the club you are, as I said earlier, disgracefully, manager of? Given you recently signed a player who hit and spat at women, I don’t suppose you have, but maybe you should have?
To many dinosaurs the very idea that women are capable of doing things men can do, often far better than men ever could (have you met my partner?), is anathema. Women, they still think, should know their place. But hang on: what happened to dinosaurs? They all died, thanks to a massive asteroid. Today’s asteroid is called enlightenment and those dinosaurs, like Keegan and Barton, will soon be extinct, at least their dreary prejudices will be.
In fact, Keegan and Barton – and in terms of footballing greatness, the latter could not be mentioned in the same book as the former, never mind on the same page – represent the way things used to be and not where the world is headed today. Keegan reminds us all that he’s yesterday’s man and Barton that he will be soon enough. As for Sunni Muslim owned Bristol Rovers, maybe they won’t think Barton has gone far enough?
