David Mellor getting his knickers in a twist on LBC was hilarious.
Jermaine Jenas | Sacked by BBC
- Thread starter Hoof the ball
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Breaking news. They've found their new MOTD team!
Factual. And why would anyone watch that hate filled tripe?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/gary-lineker-bbc-motd-reaction-29429643
A new report from The Sun has now detailed how Lineker was left overwhelmed by the actions of his BBC colleagues after the decision was made to take him off the air.
A source said: “This has been a tumultuous 24 hours. Gary is in shock and had no idea this was coming. He wanted to go on air, make no bones about it, this was not his decision. Privately, everyone at the Beeb is in meltdown too. They genuinely don’t know how they will get a show out because no one wants to touch it.
“Everyone in the industry is appalled at how Gary has been hung out to dry, and the general BBC inconsistency. The support has been overwhelming which, essentially, is a massive pie in the face for the BBC.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/gary-linekar-motd-bbc-what-happened-b2298682.html
The Independent has been told that the BBC hierarchy, above BBC Sport, wanted Lineker to agree to a public statement that would have essentially amounted to an apology and an expression that he would be more careful on social media, which sources close to the situation said would have been rightly seen as the presenter “humiliating himself”.
There were will be six Premier League matches shown on Match of the Day on Saturday night but in another dramatic move, all six commentators scheduled to be working on games announced they would be joining the boycott. A statement from the group, including leading BBC commentator Steve Wilson, who tweeted his support for Lineker earlier in the afternoon, said “it would not be appropriate to take part in the programme”.
Games may still be shown with commentary if Match of the Day producers elect to use the Premier League’s ‘World Feed’ - but the situation then switched to whether players and managers join the boycott and refuse to speak to the BBC out of solidarity with Lineker. The Independent understands a number of Premier League clubs have major concerns over allowing their employers to appear on Match of the Day, and if doing so would constitute a “political act”.
The widespread feeling amid Friday’s chaos was that the BBC had “unnecessarily backed themselves into a corner”, potentially at the threat of a decades-old football brand.
Whoever one person in the hierarchy at the BBC that decided this is what he or she wanted from Gary, is entirely responsible for this mess. Wonder who that person is.
A new report from The Sun has now detailed how Lineker was left overwhelmed by the actions of his BBC colleagues after the decision was made to take him off the air.
A source said: “This has been a tumultuous 24 hours. Gary is in shock and had no idea this was coming. He wanted to go on air, make no bones about it, this was not his decision. Privately, everyone at the Beeb is in meltdown too. They genuinely don’t know how they will get a show out because no one wants to touch it.
“Everyone in the industry is appalled at how Gary has been hung out to dry, and the general BBC inconsistency. The support has been overwhelming which, essentially, is a massive pie in the face for the BBC.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/gary-linekar-motd-bbc-what-happened-b2298682.html
The Independent has been told that the BBC hierarchy, above BBC Sport, wanted Lineker to agree to a public statement that would have essentially amounted to an apology and an expression that he would be more careful on social media, which sources close to the situation said would have been rightly seen as the presenter “humiliating himself”.
There were will be six Premier League matches shown on Match of the Day on Saturday night but in another dramatic move, all six commentators scheduled to be working on games announced they would be joining the boycott. A statement from the group, including leading BBC commentator Steve Wilson, who tweeted his support for Lineker earlier in the afternoon, said “it would not be appropriate to take part in the programme”.
Games may still be shown with commentary if Match of the Day producers elect to use the Premier League’s ‘World Feed’ - but the situation then switched to whether players and managers join the boycott and refuse to speak to the BBC out of solidarity with Lineker. The Independent understands a number of Premier League clubs have major concerns over allowing their employers to appear on Match of the Day, and if doing so would constitute a “political act”.
The widespread feeling amid Friday’s chaos was that the BBC had “unnecessarily backed themselves into a corner”, potentially at the threat of a decades-old football brand.
Whoever one person in the hierarchy at the BBC that decided this is what he or she wanted from Gary, is entirely responsible for this mess. Wonder who that person is.
Is pretty common to be held accountable for what you post on social media. Even more so in a tax payer funded organisation. I'd say it was a very modern thing, it'll be in his contract somewhere I'd imagine.
All roads lead to Boris.
Wish Jenas would've boycotted BT Sport too.
I do wonder how people get so far into such a debate and still not know the basic facts.
Pretty sure the name of the reporter is normally included on the BBC's live feed page. Sadly absent today.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/64405193
https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/64405193
Meanwhile they release this for Fiona Bruce with not even a hint of an apology for her actions.
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You really don’t see why football fans want to watch football highlights of every Premier League game on a Saturday night in one convenient place and in one nice little package?
Haven't watched it for alteast 15 years now. Don't see the point or attraction.
Surprised its still going tbh.
Have his terms of employment been posted somewhere I've missed? It's common to have clauses with regard to what you post on social media.
Plus I'm not one of the ones 'far into this', I'd enjoy MoTD more without Gary in it, he's very bland as is Shearer.
Sky Sports (and other platforms) has highlights of every Premier League match aired minutes after the game has ended in one convenient place called YouTube.
People keep saying this but from what I've seen these things are often just 3 minutes long and you get far better than that on the top of the bill MOTD games.
Oh no. You got me!
1.Some like the format and presentational style of MOTD
2. Some people (like me) watch MOTD without knowing the scores. YouTube videos have the score in the title
3. Some people just like tradition. MOTD has been a part of our lives for as long as we can remember
Edit: also, there are still some out there who don’t use YouTube or the internet and prefer analogue TV
To be honest, I'd prefer positive progress as a society and tighter controls over the divisive UK media over your definition of "interesting discourse". But each to their own.
I saw this and thought it was stupid for her to comment. Both for political strategy (she should leave the Tories to crash and burn) and also morally.
Erm. It's not in his contract because he's not a current affairs or news employee.
That one is particularly nasty. Because Charlotte, his wife, went on record as saying he hit her repeatedly over a period of years, and she eventually ended up being committed for close to a year because of what life was like with him.
Also, she is quoting a 'friend' who says it was a one-off. Private Eye did a piece on this a few years ago, the friend the daily mail quoted was, in fact, Johnson's own legal representative, Carter-Ruck.
Tories 1 - UK public 0
They have no shame.
I think this is being made out to be bigger than it is; the internet is good at doing that.
I don't think MOTD will see a massive boycott, or loss of viewers, over this. It isn't like Top Gear that was predominantly about the presenters. The highlights are the main part of MOTD.
I don't think MOTD will see a massive boycott, or loss of viewers, over this. It isn't like Top Gear that was predominantly about the presenters. The highlights are the main part of MOTD.
Disgusting.
This is what happens when a country votes for the nasty party and Boris fecking Johnson.
The country will vote Tory again, sure of it.
For anyone criticising or shrugging shoulders about Lineker and other presenters showing support, have YOU ever put your career and livelihood on the line over a moral stance?
No? Then bore off
No? Then bore off
I find that Ian Wright comes over as a decent guy, very passionate with his support for Arsenal, England and especially the women's game.
I don't know if you know Mr Wright, so have a better understanding of the man, in which case you're entitled to your opinion, but if you don't know him, then I fail to see how you can come to that conclusion.
When Shearer and Wright are on MOTD, I find their comments interesting, although I don't always agree with what they say, but both are vehement in their condemnation of the way VAR is being run.
I look forward to their views every time I watch the show.
Disliking Ian Wright will always be a bizarre stance. One of the nicest guys in the industry.
He hardly needs the money, though. He gets paid an absurd amount to do a 1-hr programme once a week (£1.36m per year the last time I checked). There is no pressure for him to keep that job.
Not at all comparable to a person actually threatening to lose their livelihood.
I was under the impression it was, and that’s the whole reason he’d been removed by the bbc
Massive red flag
I also know people who work at the BBC (including my wife) and when people talk about “left wing bias” they are almost always wilfully confusing the News and Current Affairs output with the Entertainment departments who “keep putting gay people on Eastenders, or something” (and also still produce a huge amount of really good stuff that people like to pretend they don’t watch)
The difference is that Gary Lineker won’t end up homeless if he loses his job.
I don't know about his contract, but the BBC guidelines say that political presenters have to be absolutely impartial (ha), but presenters outside of the political side of things should be careful what they say - they're under less-stringent guidelines apparently.
But making a stance that could cost them millions? Seriously? People adjust to what they earn and like him or not, this is a big moral stance.
Either way he’s been political on Twitter before so it’s not like it’s a new thing. I think the BBC has just decided to take a stance this one time without realising how massively it would backfire.
Over at the BBC it's thumbs up to wife beating, racist Tories playing Nazi dress up but a freelance football presenter can't disapprove of the hateful actions of the aforementioned Tory scum.
The benefits of having a Tory donor chairman.
The benefits of having a Tory donor chairman.
I’ve always thought we were more Huxley, but now there’s a bit more Orwell sprinkling on the top creeping in
It shouldn’t be a ‘nothing’ story though is the point. This is a very ominous incident that stinks of a political party veering into very authoritarian territory. Even worse, we are getting closer to a GE. Their power at the BBC has been made transparent now. It’s similar to what happened with TVP in Poland. Not a good sign at all.
Would I rule out these clowns going full dictator mode and cheating elections for years to come? Not a chance. I expect them to win the next GE, either by pulling out the top hits to sway gullible morons to, as always, vote against their own interests, or by more nefarious measures.
Either way, this should worry you. Everyone wants to wear apathy as a badge of honour these days.
Oh absolutely, I'm not on their side at all. They're massively hypocritical.
I used to work at the BBC.
It's not tax funded it's licence payer funded. If you don't watch live TV or iPlayer you don't need a TV licence. It's a small but important difference. If you just watch Youtube and Netflix you don't need a TV Licence.
BBC contracts are usually very basic but they usually include references to the editorial guidelines or the general terms and conditions. This is what they say about tweeting...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidance/social-media/#expressionsofopiniononsocialmedia
BBC casual freelancers aren't technically bound by impartiality rules even in news except while on the job (the clue is in the name), as the BBC has the sanction of not employing them, and they have no right to control what they do when they walk off shift and stop being employees. Longer term contracters are slightly different and it becomes very case by case. If you get them cheap because they are allowed to work elsewhere, you can't reasonably impose all your rules on them while they are doing so. I assume Lineker is this rather than an actual freelancer. This got rather messy once news started using freelancers and short term contractors on a massive scale to save money - even senior presenters were forced to be freelance at one stage - which has never been properly addressed. Sports people are similarly not as bound even if they are BBC staff, but the rules were tightened up recently.
However there is a separate but linked test of bringing the BBC into disrepute which can stop people saying outrageous things. But that doesn't really apply here and is anyway more about commercial links like selling crisps. Ultimately all of it is couched in vague fudgy language that allows the BBC to interpret it as they find political expedient at the time. It's really about making it up as you go along. One black BBC presenter called Donald Trump a racist on air a while ago, got sanctioned by the editorial policy board and then the director general reversed the decision because she got overwhelming public support. But it was a blatant breach of impartiality.
The underlying problem therefore is that impartiality has no actual concrete meaning and so everyone is free to define its meaning and scope as they wish in order to win their argument. So instead of being a useful management tool to build trust it's become a source of endless argument and division and even virtue signalling. Latterly the right wing has taken to demanding impartial BBC reporting of outright lies, just as Alastair Campbell did with Labour after the Iraq War. Which makes his championing of Lineker all the more ironic.