Sir Les’s search for an apprentice goes on as Ruel Fox is axed

POPULAR CONTESTANT Ruel Fox was surprisingly given the boot in last night’s episode of BBC1’s The Appundit. The programme offers ex-footballers the chance to win a six-figure punditry contract with Football Focus under the tutelage of one of the most demanding men in football – Sir Les Ferdinand. But last night Fox was the latest contender to hear Sir Les’s famous kiss-off: “You’re Tired”.

In this week’s episode, the contestants were instructed to devise a 40-second montage to illustrate Sunderland’s topsy-turvy season for this Saturday’s Focus, but Fox’s team, led by project manager and bitchy control freak Stig Inge Bjørnebye, came undone.

Fox was put in charge of the ‘audio’ team with Warren Barton and George Ndah, but the pacey ex-Spurs winger failed to liaise properly with Jason Cundy’s ‘visuals’ team which led to a horribly miss-synced clip, featuring Roy Keane’s angry face visible on screen for a full two seconds after Vic Reeves’ Dizzy had finished playing.

In a tense green room confrontation, Fox attempted to defend himself by telling Sir Les “I will always give you 200% Sir Les, and like you, I came to the game through non-league.” But an angry Sir Les, flanked by his advisors Brian Kidd and Jacqui Oatley snapped: “I don’t want your excuses Ruel, it was your responsibility to make sure the soundtrack was in sync. Your heart’s not in it, son. With regret, I’ve got to say, Ruel: You’re Tired.”

Fox had been the bookies’ favourite early in the series after success as team leader in the light-hearted ‘day in the life of a lower-league centre-half’ task. In the second week he put in a particularly strong performance when his team, Stamina, were forced to grill Kelly Smith about the women’s FA Cup Final to meet BBC public service quotas.

After being shown a montage of his best moments by Adrian Chiles on discussion show You’re Tired an emotional Fox said it had been a great experience but he was looking forward to getting back to life running a loss-making Italian restaurant in his hometown of Ipswich.

Published June 17, 2008

Related Posts