Marsh pays price for a gag too far

Rodney Marsh's sacking for an "offensive and inexcusable" joke about David Beckham and the tsunami disaster has cost him a sixfigure job and ignited a debate about what is acceptable to say under the guise of humour.

His gag on a phone-in show about the Toon Army causing devastation throughout Asia was not funny - but 60 per cent of readers so far in our poll thought it was wrong for Sky to sack him.

His half-baked play on words linking the nickname for Newcastle's supporters and the tsunami disaster which has killed nearly 300,000 people was crass at best.

Sky called the remark from a pundit they had a 12-year association with: "Offensive and inexcusable."

The exact phrase Marsh used on Monday night's You're on Sky Sports live programme came in reference to Real Madrid's Beckham.

The former Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City and Fulham striker is understood to have said: " Beckham would never move to Newcastle because of all the trouble caused by the Toon Army in Asia."

Marsh has been quick to apologise, but the only explanation he gave was that he was trying to "make a lighthearted football joke".

Barry Davies, the former BBC commentator, found it hard to believe any broadcaster could make such an error of judgement.

He said: "It is mind blowing. I cannot imagine what he was thinking about.

"You know on television that there are certain areas you don't go in but it would never have come into my mind to make a comment like that.

"What Ron Atkinson said about Marcel Desailly was equally mind-blowing. Engaging brain before opening mouth is one of the rules.

"In live commentaries or on phoneins you have to be aware of what you are saying and you can make mistakes because things are happening so quickly, but I cannot understand Marsh's thought process.

"He was a great player who gave me a lot of entertainment - maybe even he did not know what he was saying."

Last April, former Manchester United manager Atkinson was sacked by rival broadcaster ITV for making calling ex-Chelsea captain Marcel Desailly a "stupid nigger". Whether making a joke about Beckham and using the deaths of 300,000 people to get a laugh is equally worthy of the sack is indeed a matter of debate.

What is certain is that Marsh was always a verbal accident waiting to happen. He has long been known within football circles as the pundit clown, the talking head many professionals cannot take seriously. But he has made a career on TV out of controversial comments.

He was the first pundit on Sky's Soccer Saturday to get a long-term contract because he knew how to get the show noticed and was not afraid to upset people.

Marsh once claimed: "I don't go in for analysis much, I just talk like I would if I was in the pub."

The way the 60-year-old is described on Sky's website reveals his bosses knew they were living dangerously.

It said: "Love him or loathe him, you just can't ignore Rodney Marsh. The pundit is never afraid to stick his neck out or put his reputation on the line."

The problem was he went too far, too often. He had been in trouble with the Broadcasting Standards Commission before Monday's mistake. A complaint against him was upheld in 1999 after he appeared to endorse violence against women with a joke about Stan Collymore after he had beat up former girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson.

More recently, Marsh had to apologise to Gerard Houllier, who underwent life- saving heart surgery in 2001, after joking the Frenchman had heart attacks instead of handling pressure as Liverpool manager.

He giggled along during another incident last year when fellow pundit Frank McLintock labelled the Spurs team "Ten Little N***ers", a reference to an Agatha Christie mystery which was re-titled.

Marsh said last year that Wigan would be a "waste of space" if they were promoted to the Premiership.

The team's manager, Paul Jewell, was not alone in thinking out loud: "Rodney doesn't belong on television or in football. He belongs in a circus as he is a clown," in response.

But Marsh's tears today are real. He may return to America and his property business there rather than seek a way back into UK television, but he will have regrets.

He said when launching his 2002 autobiography, Priceless, that he loved what he did on television and felt lucky to be earning a living around English football again.

Perhaps he should re-release the book this year with a new chapter at the end entitled 'Costly'.