Update: ‘The BBC thought it was perfect that I was sacked live on Match of the Day’ News

Gus Poyet became the first Premier League manager to lose his job live on air while working as a pundit for the BBC

Former Premier League manager Gus Poyet has opened up about the astonishing moment he found out he was sacked while on live TV.

Serving as a pundit during the BBC’s coverage of the Confederations Cup match between Spain and Nigeria, Poyet was unaware that his tenure as Brighton boss had come to an abrupt end just weeks after his last game in charge.

The Uruguayan, who graced the Premier League as a midfielder for Chelsea and Tottenham, embarked on his first senior managerial role with Brighton in 2009. His leadership saw the Seagulls soar to the Championship in the 2010-11 season, followed by successive top-half finishes.

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Brighton’s impressive fourth-place finish in the 2012-13 season fell just short of automatic promotion, with rivals Crystal Palace edging them out in the play-off semi-finals.

Despite this setback, Poyet was set to lead another charge for promotion, but Brighton had other plans, opting for a change in direction without his knowledge.

Poyet recounted to The Athletic the surreal experience of learning his fate from BBC presenter Mark Chapman, despite Brighton’s later dispute of his account.

“The commentary was starting at 7.30pm, so I switched my phone off at 7.20pm, when we did the last touches of our make-up,” he said. “There was nothing to indicate that I was going to be sacked. So I switched off my phone without any fears.

“We did the pre-match analysis, then when the match started at 8pm, they said, ‘Now you can relax.'”

But the atmosphere quickly shifted when he noticed Chapman touching his earpiece shortly after the game began. He said: “‘You know you’ve just been sacked?’ We weren’t live on air, it was two minutes after the game had started at 8pm.

“I said, ‘No’.” He said: “Yes, it’s on the Brighton website.”

Poyet then continued: “So then I asked (production) staff if I could get a copy. I then asked permission to get out of the studio to call my lawyer and he told me.”

Poyet also shared that the half-time discussion with fellow pundit Efan Ekoku and presenter Chapman was almost entirely unrelated to what was happening on the pitch. “The BBC thought it was perfect!” he remarked.

Despite this setback, Poyet wasn’t sidelined from management for long. In October 2013, Sunderland reached out to him following a disastrous period under Paolo Di Canio.

Under Poyet’s guidance, Sunderland climbed from the bottom of the table to 14th place and even made it to the League Cup final.

However, Poyet couldn’t complete his second season with Sunderland, as a heavy 4-0 loss at home to Aston Villa left the team teetering just above the relegation zone. Over the past decade, the 57-year-old has managed teams in six different countries, including a stint with the Greek national team, and is currently at the helm of K League club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.