Sitting side by side on high stools in the Monday Night Football studio in front of an invited audience fielding questions from the presenter Dave Jones, the pundits Roy Keane, Micah Richards, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville do not so much resemble a crack team of in-house analysts assembled to publicise Sky Sports’ coverage of the imminent Premier League season as a has-been boy band announcing a comeback tour prompted by multiple mid-life crises or a large bill from HMRC.
With Kelly Cates, Emma Saunders and the Guardian columnist Karen Carney unavailable due to prior engagements, the empty stool at one end is reserved for one of the original Spice Boys, Jamie Redknapp, who is running late in a state of affairs unlikely to please his bearded Irish bandmate. To be fair, Keane seems in good spirits and is looking fit, tanned and extremely lean.
