Southampton icon Matt Le Tissier reveals what he told agent immediately after Sky Sports exit

Matt Le Tissier has opened up on his exit from Sky Sports in 2020

Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has opened up on his reaction to his dismissal from Sky Sports in 2020.

He was a part of the Soccer Saturday panel, hosted by Jeff Stelling, working alongside Paul Merson, Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson.

But the 57-year-old was relieved of his duties six years ago, with Thompson and Nicholas also departing from the programme.

The former playmaker has courted controversy in recent years due to his sharing of conspiracy theories, and his crusade regarding freedom of speech.

Le Tissier also stepped down from his role as an ambassador for Southampton in 2022 due to comments related to the war in Ukraine.

The ex-England international has not been seen on mainstream TV in the UK in the years since his exit from Sky, but he maintains an active presence on social media.

Matt Le Tissier opens up on Sky exit

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Le Tissier has claimed that he knew straightaway after his exit from Sky that he would not work in mainstream TV in the UK again.

While his agent tried to calm him down after his dismissal, the 57-year-old was positive that he would no longer be able to get roles that might’ve been open to him in the past.

“No, I don’t really want to, to be honest,” said Le Tissier, via OLBG on YouTube.

“It was interesting, I had a conversation with my agent the day that I got sacked from Sky.

“I rang my agent and said this has just happened, and he was like ‘don’t worry,’ he said ‘you’ll be fine, I’ve got good contacts, we’ll get you another job somewhere else in television’.

“And I said to him on that day, I said ‘Richard, I will never work on mainstream television in this country again’.

“And he was like ‘no, don’t be daft,’ and I said ‘I know, I feel it, I know what’s happened, and I’m fine with that, it’s okay’.”

Le Tissier revealed that he enjoyed the work he did abroad covering the Bundesliga and Eredivisie, as it allowed him to learn about leagues and players he didn’t have a great deal of knowledge about before with his work on Sky.

“So I did do a bit of work on the TV, but not in this country,” he added.

“So I was working for a company called Moller, who were covering the Bundesliga and the Dutch league, and I actually really enjoyed it because I got to learn about different leagues I never would’ve done.”

Matt Le Tissier’s impact at Southampton

Le Tissier first began broadcasting with Sky in 2004, just a couple of years after his departure from Southampton.

The former playmaker is fondly remembered as one of the club’s best ever players, and was a key part of the team for 16 years before exiting in 2002.

He was known for his impressive goal scoring ability, with his impressive technical quality helping him to find the back of the net in quite memorable fashion on a regular basis.

Not only was he a great goal scorer for the club, but he was a scorer of great goals, helping the Saints achieve high points of seventh and 10th in both the First Division and the Premier League during his time at the Dell.

Le Tissier will now be hoping that Southampton can earn promotion from the Championship under Tonda Eckert this season.

Matt Le Tissier’s time as a pundit is over

Le Tissier had a 16-year run at Sky, which is more than a lot of people get to be a football pundit on TV.

Sky’s decision to cut him, Thompson and Nicholas at the same time was a recognition that their Soccer Saturday programme had got stale, and it has since gone through a major shake up in the subsequent years.

His departure from the show was less about his controversial opinions online, and more about the need for change as a whole at Sky, who have also overhauled their pundit offerings on other football shows, as well as in other sports, in the years since the pandemic began.

However, it’s unsurprising that he has remained off TV elsewhere, as he has become quite a divisive figure in the game, and broadcasters are playing it safe by avoiding him.