It isn't news. There are people at Sky who have jobs for life. It's jobs for the boys. There's no reason whatsoever for the likes of Carragher or Souness to be a pundit for an Everton game, but they are, because they don't give a toss.
There's no need for full time contracts to be given - there's thousands of ex-footballers who could be hired on an ad-hoc basis to cover games that feature teams they played for, but Sky choose not to do it for one simple reason - money.
It is in Skys' interests to have 'brands'. They need marketable clubs to expand the league globally. If United lose, they've "faltered", "capitulated", "unexpected loss", because they have to present them as a dominant force and anything that goes against that as a blip; an anomaly that won't last long.
Manchester United and Liverpool have by far and away the biggest media presence and bias. Arsenal nudged themselves in through sheer brilliance under Wenger and they could market 'The Invincibles' and, along with Spurs, they're the big 'London' clubs. City and Chelsea bought their way in. The Top Four became the Top Six overnight, because marketing dictated these 'powerhouses' couldn't be seen to be failing in any way.
It's cynical. Football is dead and has been dead for a long time. You continue watching in the vague hope you'll see a Leicester-type miracle, but the chances of even winning a poxy League Cup is going by the wayside now due to inherent bias and massive money at one end of the table, and the portrayal of 'also rans' for everyone else.
