Match of the Day returned in the most gentle of ways

Telegraph

2 days ago

Mark Chapman got in there right from the kick-off with, dare one say it, a Lineker-esque, self-deprecating, gentle quip.
'Evening. The Premier League is back, and Match of the Day is back. Now you may have seen and heard that there is a big change to the show this season and that is… Wayne Rooney has joined us as a regular pundit. Some things don't change though: Alan [Shearer] is still here.'
And with this sensible five-iron off the tee, the new triumvirate Match of the Day era began.
Rooney was given centre stage straight away to deliver a segment of analysis about Sunderland ripping apart West Ham's defence; it was alright if a little halting. Early days. He and Shearer didn't particularly interact with each other throughout the show, it felt like Chapman had to guide and encourage one of them at a time. Something more cohesive and free-flowing might develop.
Rooney seems like a good bloke, a shy person with a sense of humour. Nothing in his managerial CV speaks to any sort of tactical or analytical genius so maybe his BBC handlers can find a way to utilise him in a way other than 'errrrm, the full-back's gone wide here' etc?
His unusual playing status of being a legitimate Premier League great who nevertheless did not quite squeeze everything he could have from his talent makes him a more human and relatable figure than many others of his elite level. I'd like to hear from him about the mental and emotional side of playing in the Premier League: the most natural and interesting section on Saturday night's programme was when Rooney and Shearer gave their opinion on the Alexander Isak situation.
There was an interview with Rooney after Match of the Day, and they've also got him doing a podcast series with Kelly Somers. 'Blimey, you're taking over,' joked Chapman. Wazza is reportedly getting £800,000 a year from the BBC so you'd hope they can get value one way or the other.
As for the new Match of the Day, at the end of the day, Gary, it was what it always should have been: a football highlights show with a skilled, unobtrusive host getting some chit-chat about the key moments from a couple of ex-players who hopefully occasionally say something mildly interesting.
The issues with Lineker had never been about his warm, gracious TV presenting, which was never controversial or provocative. It wasn't like he was introducing the football dressed as Che Guevara or saying 'Micah, never mind about that offside: do you think Zelensky should cede territory in the Donbas?' It was on social media, not the box, that all the problems lay, and given that Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan are all far too prudent to get involved in that nonsense, you'd imagine this should be smooth sailing with no further posturing nor self-inflicted wounds.
Cates, for instance, had told Telegraph Sport: 'There's a tendency to believe that if somebody isn't talking about something, they don't care about it. I think it's perfectly possible to care about something and keep quiet and let experts talk about it.' How refreshing.
So we can predict with confidence that Cates and Logan will follow suit with Chapman and slot in with unshowy excellence. Which isn't to say that there have been no changes: the Match of the Day 2 Sunday show has now been rebranded to simply Match of the Day. Gabby has first use of the facilities for that one this Sunday. Caring about that minuscule piece of reframing really does seem a bridge too far for even the most committed telly addict.
Perhaps slightly more surprisingly, the BBC is now putting short Premier League highlights up on its website at 8pm on Saturdays: a whistle-stop seven minutes with all the day's goals and key moments. You might reasonably wonder if the BBC is cannibalising its own product by scooping MOTD by two and a half hours, but then again, BBC Sport could rightly argue that anyone who wants to have seen the goals will have watched them clipped up on social media nearly live anyway. There's not many Likely Lads around these days.
In terms of any new editorial direction for Chapman and company, BBC Chairman Samit Shah has said that MOTD 'should not be built around highlights. It should be built around analysis'. Apparently Shah is a Manchester United fan, so you can understand why he might not want to see too much on-field action at the moment. And only a top media executive could argue for less televised football on a football TV show but that's why they – or rather, you – pay him the big bucks I guess.
Chapman, pointing to wins for Manchester City and Liverpool, signed off by saying: 'I suppose you could say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.' Indeed so. It'll probably all be fine and with the new presenters, both the BBC and the viewers are in safe hands.