Richard Keys goes to town on two England stars for off-field endeavours

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Despite being dismissed from his role at Sky Sports several years ago, presenter Richard Keys, who now works for broadcasters further afield, continues to offer up opinions on some of football’s biggest talking points.

The ex-Sky Sports worker has a blog that he regularly updates with posts relating to topical issues and moments within English football.

However, not everything the pundit posts is to the liking of fans.

Keys is known for his outspoken nature and his ability to take issues with most things and the two latest stars to come under fire have been England duo Conor Coady and Marcus Rashford.

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Writing in his blog recently about human rights issues, particularly when it comes to next year’s World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Keys said: “Coady has announced that he and his colleagues will ‘use their platform’ to make a difference to the human rights issues in Qatar. Will you Conor? What exactly do you know about human rights in Qatar? Will you use your platform to highlight abuses in Saudi when Newcastle come calling in January – offering to fatten up your bank account? Have you been in touch with Jamal Khashoggi’s widow? No. I thought not.

“You see – this is where it gets complicated when pop stars/footballers and the like start to want to get taken seriously – and they forget about the day job.

“Marcus Rashford is also a good example of that. What he did to tackle child hunger was wonderful. But leave it there Marcus. Solskjaer was right – get back to you doing what you’re paid for. There’s a need for massive improvement there.

“Rashford has made 183 appearances for United and scored 57 goals – one every 3.21 games. Making 46 appearances for England he’s scored 12 goals – one every 3.83 games. For a striker – is that enough?

“His MBE was rewarded for his campaigning – but why was it hijacked by his management team to help ‘build brand’? There was a GQ article, paid for by Burberry, who designed and clothed him in an outfit so he could collect his gong. How does that sit with campaigning on child poverty?

“Just pulling on a big shirt isn’t enough. Yes – where you can do good. Influence for better if possible, but never lose sight of your real job lads and in the case of Coady and his England colleagues – be careful you don’t cross the line into territory that you’ve no idea about.

“One last thought on that subject – who does Coady think built the party playground of Dubai – and the 7star hotels he and his mates are on the first plane to enjoy whenever they can?”

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