General Football 23/24

[little dave hedgehog]

Alex Scott said she wouldn't do it either.

It seems the bookies favourite is Jenas, which is somewhat unsurprising

he's already said he won't!

[Kenneth]

At the moment, all the talk is about presenters and pundits, but I wonder whether editors and other off camera staff may join in at this rate.

[Exiled_red]

They are going with no presenter or pundits apparently

[ChesterDave]

Only one man for the job

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj9y9ApEkG0"]Ortis Deley - The Legend (Jessica Ennis Goodnight Soccer AM) - YouTube[/ame]

[Fivex]

This is wild

[BootRoom]

They are going with no presenter or pundits apparently

Should be like that permanently.

[baitman]

BBC tory thought police have come to town. Welcome, Citizen...

[spud_gun]

Should be like that permanently.

Like Trans World Sport

[Kenneth]

They are going with no presenter or pundits apparently

[ame]https://twitter.com/wilsonfooty/status/1634333481302982656[/ame]

[RedReet]

[ame]https://twitter.com/TheAnfieldTalk/status/1634339537248825347[/ame]

[Exiled_red]

Good on us and Bournemouth

Although by the sounds of it there might not be anyone there for us to talk to anyway

[ChesterDave]

Tories have done a masterful job here. Get a Tory into several senior positions. Attack the left for criticising abhorrent Tory policy. Turn the public against the BBC, sell it off to their mates for a fraction of its value

[ChesterDave]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/entertainment-arts-64895316

Radio 5 Live Fighting Talk show pulled off air

I'll quit if the BBC gets rid of Lineker - Ian Wright

First: Jason Mohammad will not present Final Score
Then: Final Score replaced with The Repair Shop

Football Focus replaced with Bargain Hunt

[ChesterDave]

Bristol Rovers support Gary Lineker

Bristol Rovers have become one of the first to address the controversy directly

.

Writing on Twitter, the League One team says it "won’t be talking to the BBC before or after today’s game", including the hashtag '#WeStandWithGary' in its post.

[Paul12]

Should be like that permanently.

I think it will be a big improvement of what we had. The programme needs a complete rethink. It is daft having MoTD, MoTD2, and MoTDX or whatever when they all seem to be based on a single view of what a football fan wants: highlights that are barely more than the goals, ex-footballers with no insights saying obvious things over slow-mo versions of the highlights we have just seen and and a general air of chumminess.

The Athletic often gets it wrong, but when it gets it right it is superbly insightful. When you see an interview with a top manager or coach who is able to talk about the detail without fear of giving away secrets, it is fantastically interesting. Why can't at least one of this stable of MoTDs try to be that insightful. Then yes by all means have another one of the stable aimed at people who know nothing about football - that can even be presented by people like Lineker, Shearer and so on if that is what those sorts of fans want.

And more broadly the BBC needs to get away from the nonsense that people like Lineker are 'the talent' and are worth paying huge sums to. They are not magnets that attract viewers and they are not doing something that is hard to do.

On the specifics of this case:

1 I agree with what Lineker said (apart from the offensive analogy to 1930s Germany).

2 I believe very strongly that the content of the BBC's output should be neutral. It is consistent with that though to question and challenge and not to be taken in by false facts and arguments.

3 People who have become famous at one thing and use their fame as a platform to publicly express views on subjects they know no more about than you or me are best ignored. However, in a world of 'influencers' they are not ignored, which makes it reasonable for the BBC to police those publiclky expressed views as if they are the BBC's own content. What the Chair of the BBC did to get the chairmanship is not part of the BBC's content. Those who point at Sugar's statements have a better point but I think persona counts: Lineker positions himself as a reasonable, thoughful person; Sugar is positioned in the Apprentice as a tyrant. I don't think the views of a tyrant are as influential on the masses as those of a reasonable, thoughful person - although the Andrew Tate is obviously an idiot but is still influential amongst a certain group of people.