Grumble, grumble.
When Sky Sports announced that Rachel Riley would be presenting their Friday night coverage of live Premier League games, the news was received with near universal approval. Riley is incredibly popular across pretty much every demographic and certainly knows her football.
The fact that Sky plan to buddy her up with Countdown sparring partner and established Soccer Saturday favourite Jeff Stelling makes perfect sense. The pair have a great chemistry and you can easily see them combining match analysis with relaxed humour befitting a Friday night.
Alas, despite all the positives, there are some people who are less than pleased with the announcement. The issue they have with Riley is not some sexist ‘what-does-she-know’ argument – rather the opposite in fact…which is weirdly refreshing in a way.
Their problem is that the 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown star is too into her football, or rather she’s such a committed Manchester United supporter that it means she will be biased towards the Red Devils and make Sky even more of an Old Trafford love-in.
One would assume she’s professional enough to do her job regardless, but this lot aren’t so sure…
https://twitter.com/RoBBoLFCx/status/762244225719205888
I hope Rachel Riley's stint on Sky is as a presenter, not a Man United fan. Too much fawning over them on TV as it is
— Rob Pearsall (@Robpearsall1) August 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/alanweston17/status/762286837041881088
https://twitter.com/FishmanMCFC/status/762221528243200000
Rachel Riley, another biased Manc on sky sports, there's a shocker.
— Shane* (@Conwaino) August 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/shawofit/status/762354858687094784
Rachel Riley …gary neville…..Just call it SKYUTD SPORTS TV…FFS
— ian barton (@bourneblue) August 7, 2016
