Merson shows true colours toward presenter who replaced Stelling | Football | Sport

Paul Merson has heaped praise on Sky Sports host Simon Thomas for taking over from Jeff Stelling on Soccer Saturday. Stelling left his position as main presenter of the popular show in 2023, with Thomas stepping into his shoes.

Merson has been a mainstay on the panel programme throughout his punditry career, though he was missing for several months last season whilst competing on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which aired every Saturday night.

Following his exit from Sky after more than two decades in broadcasting, Stelling has moved on to present for talkSPORT and was recently named as a brand ambassador for OLBG.

Thomas has taken over Stelling’s duties for the past two-and-a-half seasons and has earned Merson’s admiration for handling the enormity of the role left vacant by Stelling, reports The Mirror.

Thomas originally joined Sky over 20 years ago after presenting Blue Peter, but left the broadcasting company following the death of his wife, Gemma, in 2017.

Merson worked with Stelling for numerous years during the former Soccer Saturday host’s tenure at Sky, but believes Thomas has done an “unbelievable” job since assuming the role nearly three years ago.

“It’s like going into Man City and taking [Erling] Haaland’s place and saying, ‘Right you’ve got to score 40 goals a season’,” Merson said during an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast.

“Jeff [Stelling] was the ultimate at it but people forget, God bless before his wife passed away, Simon [Thomas] was the top presenter.

“He was on Blue Peter when he was younger and he has come in and just been himself and I like that.

“He gets nervous sometimes and rightly so, it’s a hard job to do what he does and then now…

“People forget as well now he does 3pm until 5pm, bang, reeling out scores, and then he has got to do the full-time scores and then the tables and then in-between that we are lucky enough to get an interview now from one of the players, so he doesn’t get a rest for six hours, which is some doing.

“What Simon does is unbelievable, to follow someone like Jeff Stelling…”