Paul Merson lifts the lid on ‘close friend’ Matt Le Tissier’s Sky Sports sacking
>
Paul Merson has said Matt Le Tissier received several warnings before being fired by Sky and recalled the time he told his “close friend it’s not always smart to be smart.”
Le Tissier – who worked for Sky for 15 years – was fired in August 2020 after becoming a regular member of Soccer Saturday, hosted by popular presenter Jeff Stelling.
The former Premier League footballer got his marching orders after sharing his controversial views on various topics, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Paul Merson has said Matt Le Tissier received several warnings before being fired
Le Tissier was sacked by Sky in August 2020, which he said was due to his views
When asked about Le Tissier’s resignation, Merson said his “friend” should have curtailed it after being warned multiple times. He also said Le Tissier didn’t have to “share his beliefs.”
Talk about Rob Moore’s YouTube Channelsaid Merson, “We’re close to me and Matt. We’re close. My thing I said to Matt, and I think this is a great compliment, sometimes it’s not always smart to be smart.
“He had a few warnings and you know, when you have a few warnings, you retract it. If you have certain beliefs, you don’t have to share them.
“I just got on the radio and Trevor Sinclair did something yesterday. He believes that, but he shouldn’t have said it.’
Le Tissier suggested Covid PCR tests were ‘the biggest fraud against humanity’
He again shared an image posted by a user in response to a video of a police officer taunting a member of the public about not wearing a protective mask
He added: “I think Tis (Le Tissier) got a few warnings. So you know, if you have a few warnings, you retract it.
“That’s why it sometimes helps me not to be smart. I am smart in some ways and not smart in other ways.
‘I love Tis. This was one of the best English footballers when it comes to gifts. That’s a gift. But, I’m not participating.
“I didn’t get involved in the Covid thing. Those conversations, that way I’m just not that smart about certain things, so I don’t say them.’
Le Tissier used his Twitter account to spread conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccine to his 593,000 followers. It was reported that his posts were also shared by Premier League footballers who were hesitant to get vaccinated.
Le Tissier was criticized on social media but went on to share more controversial views on the pandemic – claiming that ‘PCR testing was the biggest fraud ever committed against humanity’.
On Twitter, Le Tissier retweeted a post suggesting that the media ‘lied’ about certain events
The former footballer also suggested that news outlets used “actors” to portray the impact of Covid-19.
In an interview with The timesRegarding images of intensive care patients struggling to breathe due to Covid, Le Tissier said: “Some of them were actors, by the way.”
Le Tissier went on to share his beliefs about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He found that images of the destruction in Ukrainian cities during the conflict had been ‘falsified’.
As a result, Le Tissier stepped down as ambassador to Southampton Football Club in April after he made no apologies for spreading conspiracy theories about Russia’s massacre of civilians in Bucha.
However, the former Premier League star later admitted that his Tweet questioning the truth about the events in Bucha was ‘the wrong thing to do’.
However, he was still fired by Sky.
Pictured: Bags with bodies of civilians, which residents say were shot by Russian troops
A visibly emotional President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the devastation in the war-torn city
Describing how he was told he had been fired, Le Tissier said: The Rob Moore Podcast: ‘Within five seconds I was told that there was no more work for me at Sky.
“I had about seven months left to run my contract, but I was told I wouldn’t be needed anymore.
“They didn’t really give a specific reason, they just said ‘the show was going in a different direction’, it was the words I think they were using. So I asked the question, “does this have anything to do with my social media posts?”
To which their response was, “Well, we have to consider the reputation of the company when making these decisions.” At that point I said “oh that’s interesting because right now you have someone who spat at a girl from his car”.
Le Tissier criticized Sky for holding Jamie Carragher – who had ‘spit at a girl’
Le Tissier played 270 Premier League games for Southampton and scored 100 goals
“Jamie Carragher, who spat at a young girl through his car. They suspended him for six months and then brought him back into the herd.
“I said, ‘Don’t you think that hurt the company’s reputation at all?’ and I was told “we can’t talk about this about other people”. So that really was it.”
Le Tissier played 270 times for Southampton in the Premier League, scoring 100 goals. He also played eight times for England.