Richard Keys has aimed a dig at Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards by suggesting some of their recent punditry work was 'unprofessional' and similar to what saw him leave Sky Sports under a cloud.
Keys and his long-time broadcasting partner Andy Gray were forced to leave Sky in January 2011 after they made sexist comments on air. Their derogatory words concerned female referee Sian Massey-Ellis and other female figures in the industry.
The 65-year-old moved to Qatar, taking a presenting job with beIN Sports, but remains haunted by the way his time at Sky came to an end. Last year he told The Athletic he thought the incident was a "set up" and he has frequently sniped at his former employers, as well as other UK broadcasters, for the way they cover football.
Carragher and Richards are the latest figures in the game to be on the receiving end of a barb from Keys, who shared a clip of the duo working for CBS Sports on their Champions League show. He tweeted: "Having found myself in a lot of bother - largely of my own making - I was really surprised to find that this sort of behaviour is apparently OK in a TV studio these days."
The video shows Carragher asking host Kate Abdo who the most impressive footballer she has interviewed is. "Impressive in what sense?" Abdo replies to which Carragher says: "You tell me" with a twinkle in his eye before bursting out laughing.
Abdo goes on to list Lionel Messi, Pele and Diego Maradona, before Richards inquires about fellow pundit Thierry Henry. "Thierry is like a friend though!" Abdo says to lots of laughter. "What sort of friend?" Richards asks as he and Carragher crack up laughing. Carragher then jokes, "I've seen you in the canteen at lunchtime!"
The light-hearted exchange, which is typical of CBS Sports' more relaxed style of programme, was first shared on Instagram on September 21. Keys appears to be suggesting that Carragher and Richards had made Abdo uncomfortable with their comments about her colleague, Henry.
While he has previously "wholeheartedly" apologised for what he called his "prehistoric banter" and accepted that he and Gray had "failed to change when the world has changed", Keys remains a vocal critic of others in the industry.
In a recent interview with the Telegraph, he and Gray took aim at Roy Keane for what they feel is his overly critical tone of punditry. "Not everything in football is s***. But it is if you watch British television," Keys said. "If Andy or I had offered a scintilla of the same criticism to the modern player, we would have been out on our ear."
Keys has also become embroiled in a spat with Gabby Logan, following allegations in the broadcaster's book that he had made sexist and demeaning comments about her. Keys recently said he was considering taking legal action against Logan, who he claimed had "made a number of wildly inaccurate allegations in the process of defaming my reputation".
