IAN LADYMAN: It’s OK to love Graeme Souness now… so why did Sky think it was OK to get rid of him?

So it looks like it’s okay to like Graeme Souness again. Now that he’s been on television talking emotionally about his plan to swim across the channel to help poor children, it’s okay to tell the world how much you admire him.

Strange that it was not so fashionable to stand up for him in the opening month of the football season. That was when Souness spoke on Sky after a match between Chelsea and Tottenham, describing it as a ‘man’s game’. No, in those days it was much easier to join the social media crowd, shake your head and talk about what a dinosaur he was.

One thing we’ve learned in this strange new world where alternative opinions aren’t encouraged and debate carries risks is that being on the wrong side of a conversation can take you to a dark place. So the sane tend to swirl and spit platforms like Twitter until the focus shifts to something else and then we all go back to our lives.

Only for Souness it wasn’t that easy. At 70 years old, the former Liverpool and Scotland captain is still running (or swimming, as the case may be). He has a lot to offer, but will no longer be offering it to Sky viewers. The broadcaster decided it was time for a change, for some new voices, and one wonders if what happened last August wasn’t entirely separate from their thinking.

Souness, who had reached the end of his contract, is not complaining and wondered if it was time to move on. He will fill the hole in his life. But as TV and broadcasting continue to change, it’s worth wondering who exactly the big beasts like the BBC and in this case Sky have in mind when compiling their output. When it’s the viewers, it doesn’t always feel that way.

It seems fashionable to love Souness as he swims across the channel to raise money for sick children (pictured Isla Grint – who suffers from Epidermolysis Bullosa, a life-threatening condition)

Sky has already chased David Lloyd out of town and decimated the brilliant Soccer Saturday to such an extent that it has recently come to resemble the local pub in the throwing away of time. Random talking men and women. Nobody listens.

And there’s more to come. Sky is currently looking to restructure its reporting staff with Geoff Shreeves, who has been on the sidelines for a long time and is known to be at risk. As I understand it, Shreeves will probably go this summer. It feels strange that a man with 30 years of experience in the toughest roles might have covered his last Premier League game for Sky, but that seems to be where we are now.

It often feels like the paying audience is no longer the main priority of TV channels

Shreeves is 58. Like Souness, when it comes down to it, he’ll handle it. He’s a big boy. If I may indeed say so.

Likewise, he’s the best there is in what is one of the toughest TV appearances in the game. It’s one thing to sit in a studio and criticize a manager. Quite a different thing to stand there with a microphone and ask why they did everything wrong during a game.

Some will contradict this and say that the identity of the person asking the questions should not matter. It is true that a journalist should never be the story.

But Sky subscribers deserve the best in return for their monthly expense. Ultimately, if it’s not the viewers and listeners that matter, then who are we making TV and radio for anyway?

Sky has handled its diversity issue admirably in recent years. Other media outlets – including this one – continue to do the same. But if any of us do that at the expense of the quality of what we do, then no one wins – least of all the customers.

Optics are everything these days, or so it seems. Gordon Strachan will never forget the day he walked out of a Sky studio after a debate programme, was thanked by a producer for his contribution to a ‘great show’ and went home.

Souness was criticized for describing Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham as a ‘man’s game’

Sky have already lost David Lloyd (left) and the brilliant Geoff Shreeves (right) could be next

Just a week later, the former Leeds and Manchester United player was called to say a complaint had been made about something he had said. Strachan never worked for Sky again and to this day remembers the episode in his life with the face of someone hanged, scarred and quartered for a crime he never fully understood.

Sky has changed the way we watch football. Over the decades of their investment, they have raised standards and forced others to follow. Their Monday Night Football show is a tour de force.

I couldn’t live without my subscription, but I want something in return. I want to feel that decisions are made based on the quality of what I see. At the moment I’m less confident about that.

Souness was right, by the way. Tottenham against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It was a man’s game. Quite literally. Look at the pictures. Anyone who saw malice or intent or lack of understanding in that comment is looking at life the wrong way.

EUROPE’S PROFIT WOULD NOT HAVE CHANGED FACT MOURINHO IS THE MAN OF YESTERDAY

If Roma had triumphed in their Europa League final against Sevilla, there were a few ready to celebrate Jose Mourinho’s return as elite coach. That would have been nonsense.

The season before Mourinho arrived in Rome, the club had finished seventh in Serie A with 62 points. In his first season they finished sixth with 63 points and this season they are currently sixth with 60 points. So any improvement in Roma’s positioning is because of cups.

Last year they won the Europa Conference League – the football equivalent of the eggs-and-spoon race – and on Wednesday they lost a mediocre game on penalties to Sevilla.

Then Mourinho waited in the parking lot to verbally attack referee Anthony Taylor and in that sad moment we saw him for what he is. A once great manager who was furious about dying the light.

INSPIRING MACARI DESERVES ALL THE APPLAUSES

I first met Lou Macari in the mid-1990s when he was manager of Stoke City.

I covered non-league football for the local evening paper, but sometimes had to fill in the big stuff. Calling Lou at his house always scared me a little. I don’t really know why. I asked for injury updates, not the secrets of the Enigma code.

It was hard not to think back to the days when I saw Lou pick up an award at the League Managers Association dinner on Tuesday evening in recognition of the work he has done to help Stoke’s homeless community.

Lou has faced challenges and tragedies in his life that would have defeated lesser men. But at the age of 73, he remains inspiring, tireless and often hilarious company. Thanks to the facilities located in the Macari Center, hundreds of homeless people have been received, helped and sheltered. Lou has undoubtedly saved lives in the adopted town he has long called home.

We watched Pep Guardiola pick up two awards on Tuesday. Vincent Kompany grabbed one, as did Emma Hayes, Richie Wellens of Leyton Orient and Steven Schumacher of Plymouth. But football is just football. Macari’s world is not. It’s bigger. There was only one standing ovation that night and it was his.

Lou Macari is an inspirational figure and I was delighted to see him recognized this week

IS IT TIME TO CROP SANCTIONS?

The EFL play-off trilogy was magnificent, but we have to talk about penalties.

Yes, they add to the drama and suspense. But it is one thing to decide a cup competition in this way, quite another to determine who wins promotion and who doesn’t.

So let’s think about alternatives. The first taxi of the rank came from David Pleat when we spoke after his former club Luton’s victory over Coventry.

“If the game is still tied after extra time, the team that finished highest in the standings should move up,” Pleat said.

It sounded strange at first, but after some thought it turned out not to be the case. If anyone has a better idea, let me know…

Let me know at ian.ladyman@dailymail.co.uk

The drama of the playoffs last weekend was great, but penalties seem to be a particularly harsh way of deciding who wins promotion and who doesn’t

NEW NICKENS FOR EVERTON STAFF

Some referees are rumored to have nicknames for Everton’s coaching staff.

Stone, moan and groan.

Everton coaching staff Steve Stone (left), Ian Woan (second from left) and Sean Dyche (second from right) have become known as Stone, Woan and Moan by some umpires