Jamie Carragher will play a new role at Sky Sports next season

Jamie Carragher dissecting the weekend’s action on Monday Night Football was one of the highlights of every week last season.

But the former Liverpool defender won’t just be hovering over a tactics board in Sky Sports’ space-age studio next season.

Carragher has become one of football’s most high profile and respected pundits since hanging up his boots in 2013, and helped improve the already brilliant Monday show alongside Gary Neville.

And now Carragher, following in the footsteps of his former colleague, is set to expand his role with Sky Sports this season, and work as a co-commentator, as well as being a studio pundit.

The 38-year-old will begin his stint in the gantry with Liverpool’s trip to Burnley on August 20. As someone who has such passion for the game it will be intriguing to see how Carragher gets on when he’s caught up in the atmosphere and emotion live at a match.

Gary Hughes, Sky Sports’ head of football, has no doubts that he will excel in his new role.

“It’s something he wants to do (be a co-commentator). It will be good for him to do it on a Liverpool game. Jamie’s brave, he’s got strong opinions and he wants to try new things.”

Hughes is known as the ‘brains behind Sky’s football coverage’ and heads up their match selection, coordinates the transfer window drama, appoints the team to present the coverage and oversees the innovation and technology used in the reporting and analysis of live matches. 

At the launch of Sky’s coverage for the new season, Hughes told JOE that they will be making an announcement on August 8 on their full line-up for the coming season – including the future of former Valencia manager Gary Neville.

It’s clear that Hughes sees Neville and Jamie Carragher are the prototype for the modern analyst. The pair were earmarked for the role as players due to their successful careers, their ability to effectively articulate a strong opinion, and their insight into high-profile dressing rooms.

“Gary always spoke well at press conferences,” Hughes said.

“We look for someone who’s confident and has the ability to have an opinion. And that is really what we want in a pundit. I think when Gary joined us he came in with authority, he came in as a winner, and he came in with an opinion.”

“And then we followed that with Jamie Carragher, who was fresh out of the game, he gave us great insight, and what they bring is that dressing room experience.

“Carragher was in the dressing room with Luis Suarez. He was there, he brings that immediacy, he brings that insight. That enables us then to be able to give our viewers that extra insight.”

We look forward to seeing – or hearing – more of him next season.