‘No offence lads' – Gary Lineker gives no-nonsense Match of the Day verdict in savage goodnight message
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
GARY LINEKER issued a non-nonsense sign off on Match of the Day after a hapless round of Saturday Premier League fixtures.
Southampton and Manchester City played out a drab goalless draw at St Mary's, Everton won 3-1 at Fulham, Brighton prevailed 2-0 at Wolves, Brentford beat Ipswich 1-0 at Portman Road and 10-man Aston Villa picked up a 1-0 victory at Bournemouth.
2
Gary Lineker issued a non-nonsense sign off on Match of the Day
2
Lineker blasted a hapless round of Saturday Premier League fixtures
The aforementioned games left much to be desired and Lineker, 64, suggested the BBC found it hard to put together an exciting highlight reel.
So much so that the famous presenter described Saturday's action as "probably one of the worst".
Lineker issued the following savage verdict: "After 26 years of Saturday nights, I think that was probably one of the worst - no offence, lads.
"Time to move on, I reckon. Goodbye!"
Match of the Day shared a clip of that remark with the following caption: "No sugar-coating from @GaryLineker there."
Several football fans were left in stitches with that unique sign-off and took to social media.
One fan tweeted: "The man Gary."
Another laughed: "Bahahahaha!"
A third commented: "Keepin' it real, yess!"
This fan wrote: "MOTD 2 has to be better!"
Wayne Rooney cracks up live on BBC Sport after Gary Lineker's brutal Micah Richards gag
And that one posted: "Straight shooter Gaz."
Lineker dropped that tongue-in-cheek statement in one of his last ever appearances on Match of the Day as he will step down as presenter in May after 26 years in the esteemed show.
The former England international will also leave the BBC altogether in 2026 after next season's FA Cup and World Cup.
The Leicester legend will be replaced by a three-person presenting team consisted of Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan from next season.
Lineker insists he will not be seen on any TV rival after leaving the Beeb and will instead be doing podcasts while also focusing on his personal life.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Man City make Rico Lewis transfer decision after fresh Pep Guardiola talks
Rico Lewis had been offered a transfer to Nottingham Forest in the summer window and has now made up his mind after speaking to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola Rico Lewis is set to snub Nottingham Forest and sign a new contract with Manchester City. Forest had made an official approach to City for the versatile defender last week, but he has now decided to stay put. The 20-year-old defender came through the City academy and has made 95 appearances for the club. He has been nurtured by Pep Guardiola, who has fielded him in a variety of positions, and played 44 times last season. Forest tried to tempt the full-back by offering to double his wages at the City Ground after signing his team-mate James McAtee for £25million. But Lewis said he was happy at City after playing in the 4-0 win over Wolves on the weekend and The Daily Mail reports that he will pen fresh terms with the club. Lewis will sign a new five-year deal to increase his wages and commit to a further two years. His decision was foreshadowed by Guardiola, who spoke to his defender after Forest's approach and said he was confident of keeping him after opening the campaign with a thumping win at Molineux. 'I think he is going to stay. I think,' he said. 'He told me that. But maybe tomorrow it changes. 'For example, for the case with Phil [Foden], for Rico, for Nico O'Reilly, I have special sympathy because they were 16 or 17 years old when they arrived here and we were winning Premier Leagues. In his role he is an extraordinary player. 'But he is so small. If he was taller we'd say, 'oh what a player'. Today, I think he is going to stay but I don't know what is going to happen.' Forest's interest came after talks with City over a new deal stalled and he was left out of the squad for the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace at the end of last season, but he made it clear after the Wolves game that he never really considered leaving. 'For me, I've never, ever seen myself at a different club,' Lewis said. 'I've always wanted to play for City. It's my dream club, and like you see today, when I'm playing with the kind of players that I'm playing with, it brings out the best in me, so I'm so happy. 'Everyone wants assurance and security, but at the end of the day, it's on me. It's on me to perform. It's on me to take the chances. If I take my own chances, I do it. If I don't, then I have to work and get better. 'Last season I played more than the season before, this season I want to play more than last season, so it's always the same goal, becoming an established player.' City have not signed a right-back in the summer transfer window and Lewis started there against Wolves before being replaced by Matheus Nunes. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky News
19 minutes ago
- Sky News
Observer editor-in-chief James Harding says BBC should be 'put beyond reach of politicians'
The Observer's editor-in-chief has called for the BBC to be "put beyond the reach of politicians" - and has compared the fight for survival within television to the zombie fungus in The Last Of Us. Speaking to Sky News about his James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday, James Harding said it "is not the golden age of TV, it's more like The Last Of Us… just trying to stay alive as the fungus of new things eats through all of us". The co-founder of Tortoise Media - which bought The Observer from the Scott Trust and Guardian Media Group in December - said he believes establishing the independence of the BBC is critical "if we want to build confidence in shared facts and respect for the truth". "At the moment politicians choose the chairman, they choose the licence fee, they have enormous influence over it," he said. "Let's face it, there's a suspicion that there's a certain worldview attached to the BBC. Let's make sure that it's obvious to people that actually different points of view are really welcome." 2:36 Mr Harding, who ran the BBC's news and current affairs programming from 2013 up until the beginning of 2018, said the government must consider separating itself from the institution. He explained: "When the government established the independence of the Bank of England in 1997, it put confidence in the central institution of the economy ahead of politics; the government today can and should do the same for the shared institution in our society by giving real independence to the BBC." The BBC has been criticised for a number of incidents in recent months, including breaching its own accuracy editorial guidelines and livestreaming the controversial Bob Vylan Glastonbury set, where there were chants of: "Death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]". Following the incident, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said ministers expected "accountability at the highest levels" for the BBC's decision to screen the performance. In his lecture, Mr Harding said the BBC is "not institutionally antisemitic" and that: "Whatever your view of the hate speech versus freedom of speech issues, an overbearing government minister doesn't help anyone. "The hiring and firing of the editor-in-chief of the country's leading newsroom and cultural organisation should not be the job of a politician. It's chilling." Ahead of the BBC charter renewal in 2027, he said the corporation's "survival is at stake". He argued that the BBC chair and board of directors should be "chosen, not by the prime minister, but by the board itself and then, like other such organisations, with the approval of Ofcom. "The charter should be open-ended. And the licence fee - or any future funding arrangement - should not be decided behind closed doors by the culture secretary and the chancellor, but, as in Germany, set transparently and rationally by an independent commission that impartially advises government and is scrutinised by parliament." He also said the BBC should lead the way in striking deals with generative AI companies by taking advantage of the "meaningful pricing of its reliable, ceaselessly renewed library of content. 1:50 "That would help set the terms for other UK news and media companies that don't get a hearing from the new generation of tech giants," he said. Mr Harding suggested that the BBC should look to work with AI developers to provide a "BBC GPT" that could enable the public to utilise AI "without handing over every last detail of what's on their minds to US tech corporations that have proved obstinately unaccountable in the UK." He said it's "about more than the BBC, it's a national investment in our future that will come back to reap multi-platform rewards that an investment in no other UK organisation can."
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
MacTaggart Lecture: James Harding calls for BBC to be protected in changing media landscape
The BBC should be protected from "political interference", the corporation's former director of news has said, after the culture secretary appeared to call for the resignation of director-general Tim Davie earlier this year. Lisa Nandy said ministers expected "accountability at the highest levels" following the iPlayer broadcast of Bob Vylan's highly controversial Glastonbury set in Harding, who previously edited the Times and now runs Tortoise Media, told the Edinburgh TV Festival the BBC should remain independent of government, and said Nandy's close involvement in the Bob Vylan scandal was "chilling".In response, a DCMS spokesperson said: "The culture secretary has been repeatedly clear that the role of the director general is a matter for the BBC board. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue." In his keynote MacTaggart Lecture, Harding said the perception of a "political presence looming over the BBC" is a problem and that the broadcaster needs to be "beyond the reach of politicians".Several staff were asked to step back from their duties after the live streaming of Bob Vylan's Glastonbury set, where the punk duo led chants of "death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]" and made other derogatory subsequent call for accountability at the top of the corporation for the decision not to pull the live stream of the performance was subsequently interpreted as calling for Davie's his speech, Harding criticised "political interference", or the perception of it, in relation to the BBC, saying it was something "we've got too accustomed to"."The culture secretary's office insists she did not explicitly ask Samir Shah, the BBC chair, to deliver up the director general's resignation... but people inside the BBC were left in no doubt that was the message," Harding said."Whatever your view of the hate speech vs freedom of speech issues, an overbearing government minister doesn't help anyone," he said. "The hiring and firing of [the director general] should not be the job of a politician."A DCMS spokesperson said: "The BBC has itself acknowledged a number of serious failings in recent months, including the broadcasting of the Bob Vylan set at Glastonbury. It is entirely right that the culture secretary raised these issues with the BBC leadership on behalf of licence fee payers."The government remains committed to the very important principle that the BBC is operationally and editorially independent. We are focused on securing a sustainable future for the BBC and helping strengthen public trust in the Corporation as part of the upcoming Charter Review." Read about previous MacTaggart Lectures:2018: Michaela Coel reveals she was sexually assaulted2019: Dorothy Byrne says media have right to call politicians 'liars'2020: David Olusoga: 'TV industry left me crushed'2021: TV has 'utterly failed' disabled people, writer Jack Thorne says2022: Maitlis says BBC rebuke over Cummings remarks made no sense2023: Louis Theroux: Anxious TV bosses should stop playing it safe2024: James Graham calls for more working-class people in TV The BBC has been criticised for a number of high-profile scandals in recent months, such as breaching its own editorial guidelines on accuracy in relation to a documentary about Match of the Day host Gary Lineker left the BBC after sharing an Instagram reel about Zionism that featured an illustration of a rat, considered an antisemitic said the BBC was "not institutionally antisemitic", and that it was "untrue and unhelpful to say it is", adding that it was "much better to correct the mistakes and address the judgement calls that have been wrong".He acknowledged the BBC had "made mistakes... and it can be much too slow to correct them".Referring to a debate early in the conflict about the BBC's use of language, Harding said he thought it the BBC was "wrong not to use the word 'terrorist' for the attacks of October 7th; journalists shouldn't censor words, but use them accurately". Harding did not comment on the events surrounding Lineker's resignation, but did say he felt football pundits generally "should be able to have views as a citizen, as well as a job as a BBC broadcaster". Harding also used his speech to argue the BBC has a crucial role to play in defending truth in an age of artificial intelligence (AI) and declining trust in traditional media."A shared understanding of what's true is disappearing before our eyes," he said."More people are paranoid, prone to conspiracy theories. Large numbers of people are giving up on the idea of facts."He continued: "Politics and technology are doing untold damage to trust in the world. "On the one hand, politicians are trying to control or cancel the media, particularly news. On the other, AI is beginning to lay waste to the economics of information, while also remaking the job of storytellers."In an age where "we're more divided, more certain we're right", Harding argued, the BBC should be protected and championed as the "most important source of information in this country".He said the corporation was "the best defence of truth and trust against the lies of dictators and demagogues". The BBC's royal charter will be up for renewal in 2027, and it has not yet been decided whether the licence fee will be replaced by a new funding reflected: "We're at the beginning of a new information age, if we want it to be truly creative, innovative and competitive globally, we can't short-change the BBC again."We need, surely, to be thinking about a mix of funding that gets closer to doubling its resources," Harding said. "Because obviously, given the cost of living, that's not going to happen just through the licence fee."Over five years, nearly two-and-half million households have dropped out of paying the licence fee, so this needs fixing. It's expensive and unfair on those who pay. If we believe in the universality of the BBC, we need to return to the principle in some form or other that every household pays."Harding also suggested news and current affairs programmes could be opened up to independent producers in an effort to make the BBC more of a "people's platform" and allow more varied thinking while maintaining standards of truth and accuracy.
