Kelly Cates reveals how dad Kenny Dalglish texts her when she's live on Sky Sports

Sir Kenny Dalglish gets so riled by the opinions of pundits, he'll text his presenter daughter while she's on air.

Kelly Cates has been a fixture on Sky Sports since her return to the channel in 2016 and has opened up on what it's really like having a European Cup-winning manager for a father while she jostles with punditry's big personalities.

Cates, who is being tipped by bookmakers as one of the favourites for the newly-vacant Match of the Day hosting role, works alongside the country's heavyweight pundits - including , and - but it's her icon dad who often keeps her on her toes.

"He texts (me when I'm on air)," Cates said. "Especially if my mum's not there. It's if he doesn't have anybody to sound off on. He'll hear a bit of our conversation, and then he will text me to chip in.

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"But then it's like 20 minutes until I can check my text messages, and I'm like, 'We've done that (part of the show). We've moved on!' If it really bothers him, he'll phone me on the way home.

"It's an outlet for his opinion, so he'll be watching the show, and he'll get annoyed that somebody hasn't said what he thinks, and then he'll be like, 'Yeah, well, somebody's not said this!' or, 'Have they not thought about…?' or 'I don't like a handball decision!'

"Imagine sitting and watching the football and then somebody says something, and you're like, 'that's rubbish' - he texts me. When he feels like that, the way everybody does when they are watching, I get a text."

Cates' natural rapport with Carragher and Neville creates fun and engaging television, which helps keep Sky as football's No.1 broadcaster.

She said: "The most knowledgeable, as in widest, deepest knowledge, is Carragher by far, but they're all knowledgeable. I don't know anybody who watches as much football as him and has that kind of level of retention. It's unbelievable, his obsession with it.

"Gary's got really strong opinions on everything but also really genuinely understands the business of the game, so there's a real depth of knowledge at that level with him. Roy is really just intuitive and really gets the emotional side of the game and all those different things."

One infamous incident went unintentionally viral in 2019 when the punditry pair swiftly turned their backs and walked away from a stranded Cates before a Friday Night match at .

Cates said: "We did the show as normal and didn't think anything of it until the evening went on. It was just really funny because I was sort of standing in the back of the shot as they turned and walked off.

"The directors are now laughing down my ear going, 'Kelly, you're still in vision, still in vision!' And that's why I look that because I'm not sure whether I can move.

"I didn't really think anything of it, and it was the next morning when I opened , I was like, 'What the hell's going on?' Somebody had tweeted saying, 'This is so disrespectful' and so on, and I'm like, 'S*** - it wasn't like that at all!' They were just being a bit rubbish at walking and talking."

Such is Cates' reputation in broadcasting, she has been made as short as second favourite with some bookmakers to replace as the next permanent host of Match of the Day following the announcement he would leave at the end of the season. But Cates believes two of the BBC's mainstays - Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan - should be the top contenders.

“There are people like Chappers who's been doing Match of the Day 2 who is brilliant, and then Gabby does a lot of the live football for them and does a lot of Match of The Days as well.

"I think there's really, really good people who are friends of mine who are in line for it. Two mates of mine are probably the best position people to do it."

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