Sky Sports presenter Geoff Shreeves could be the latest to lose his job as their brutal overhaul continues.
Sky have made a number of cuts to their existing football coverage over recent years. Saturday morning cult programme Soccer AM is the latest that will be taken off-screens - that decision being made public in a shock announcement on Wednesday.
It follows programmes such as Goals on Sunday and the Sunday Supplement to be canned as Sky battles against rising costs. Now, legendary pitchside reporter Shreeves could potentially become the latest to leave the channel with his position currently under consideration.
The presenter has been a staple of Sky’s football offerings since joining in 1992. He has regularly been at the heart of the channel’s Premier League coverage with his pitchside reports and post-match interviews.
His potential exit comes amid reports that Sky were asking their football staff to apply for their own jobs. A spokesperson for the corporation said to The Sun: "Our coverage of football is evolving to reflect the changing habits of our viewers and ensures we continue to deliver the best experience for customers.
"Our proposal would mean the creation of new roles, and the closing of some existing roles, and we are currently in a consultation period with our people."
Mirror Football has approached Sky for comment.
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Shreeves has had a couple of run-ins with Premier League bosses during his lengthy career with Sky. Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger previously revealed that he wanted to ‘hit him’ after the Gunners’ 8-2 defeat to Manchester United in 2011.
Writing in his autobiography, Shreeves said: “I asked if he would resign and if he thought the board would back him. Brutal questions. I could see the anger building in his eyes and afterwards Arsenal’s head of media, Mark Gonnella said: ‘The boss has just told me he wanted to hit you during that interview, he was so angry.’
“Years later, Arsene told me: ‘Geoff, I wanted to hit you that day, it’s true. But you were not the only one — there were many others.’”
Shreeves also had a particularly expletive-ridden disagreement with legendary former Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
He revealed: "He [Ferguson] stood up for his players, as I discovered after an FA Cup win over Middlesbrough when Cristiano Ronaldo went tumbling to win a penalty. I asked Cristiano whether he went down easily. Ronaldo is pretty non-committal but says it was a penalty. I certainly wasn’t aware of the impending explosion.
"Sir Alex comes out of the dressing room and stalks straight towards me. 'You and your f***ing questions, you’re f***ing out of order,' he snarled. 'The boy hardly speaks English, you’re f***ing bang out of order', plus even more colourful language. 'Don’t talk to me like that,' I replied. 'I’m not one of your daft, young players'."
"That saw the Ferguson red mist turn deep crimson. He launched himself at me physically, with only United’s head of communications, Di Law, who jumped between us, preventing a full confrontation.”
