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The Sun
4 minutes ago
- The Sun
Football fans split on new-look Match of the Day as Wayne Rooney makes full-time debut and Shearer goes on huge rant
WITH the return of the Premier League, it also meant the return of long-running football highlights juggernaut, Match of the Day. There were some major changes to boot, with Gary Lineker leaving his presenting role after failing to agree to new terms on a deal with the BBC, and some new faces on the punditry panel. 4 4 4 The first episode of the new-look series aired last night, following Friday and Saturday's Premier League action. Mark Chapman - one of three presenters who will be taking over from Lineker alongside Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates - was in the hot seat for the first episode of the post-Lineker era. He was joined in the studio by usual suspect, Alan Shearer, and Wayne Rooney, who has signed an £800,000 deal to appear on the show regularly for the upcoming season. With new teams and players in the top flight as well, there was naturally a new intro compilation backed by the iconic Match of the Day theme tune. Burnley and Sunderland were welcomed back to the Premier League, with the latter being top of the programme for their 3-0 hammering of West Ham, doubtless to the dismay of Newcastle icon Shearer. Chapman kicked off the proceedings with a joke about the changes, quipping that Rooney was the only real change before adding that Shearer was delighted to see Sunderland back. As it turned out, Shearer had a moment of choler on the show as he launched a huge rant about Toon rebel Alexander Isak as the Swede continues to try to force an exit. Shearer and Rooney discussed the 25-year-old's situation, drawing on Rooney's own experience when he tried to quit Manchester United. Fuming Shearer said: "Alex is not going about it the right way at all, and you have to feel sorry for the players and the manager. "The players today are busting a gut for the football club, for the thousands of fans that travelled all that way to Villa Park today. Wayne Rooney reveals gang of masked thugs turned up at his home after row with Sir Alex Ferguson over Man Utd exit "Yet they're looking at another player, wherever he is, refusing to play despite having a three-year contract and on over £100,000 a week... "You can imagine the anger that they're (the fans) feeling that someone is taking the liberty of saying I'm refusing to play. "You just can't do that on a three-year contract." Taking to social media, fans gave a mixed verdict on the show. One fan said: "Cringeing for Wayne Rooney on Match of the Day. Just not a natural presenter, unfortunately." A second said: "Mark Chapman is a fantastic host." A third added: "But my goodness what an upgrade in presenter, Mark Chapman the best in the business." Another said: "Mark Chapman, Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney boring boring boring the premiership the best league in the world and you can't think of having some young people on doing something different? No bring Wayne in who's not a very good chatter really is he? To be honest." A fifth said: "Feels like I'm watching MOTD2 with Mark Chapman hosting." A sixth said: "Alan Shearer not saying a SINGLE word about Sunderland. Embarrassing. Like a child." A seventh said: "Really excited to watch the new Match of the Day but Shearer and Rooney as co-pundits at the same time…. No." An eighth wrote: "No secret that Rooney supports Everton; but openly and professionally talks and analyses Liverpool 's play." A ninth said: "The worst match of the day without Gary Lineker." A tenth added: "Added bonus: Lineker isn't host!!" Lineker said goodbye to the show at the end of last season, having presented it since 1999. 4
The Guardian
4 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Match of the Day's new era: reassuring dad jokes and a lot of Wayne Rooney
The credits for the new Match of the Day are in a comic-book style. Your screen bursts with fruit machine cherries when Bournemouth pop up, and freezes when Cole Palmer appears. Erling Haaland sits in the lotus pose under a blue moon. The most unlikely moment is saved until the title card appears, however, with the camera disappearing inside the bottom of the Premier League trophy, down a silver tunnel and out, directly, into Mark Chapman's face. Chapman is a long-time BBC Sport anchor and the main man on Radio 5 Live. He is hardly an unknown quantity, but here he had been grabbed by a stylist and given a vaguely modish air with designer stubble and a cream overshirt hanging loosely off his shoulders. One of three presenters charged with taking the BBC's venerable football highlights show out of the Gary Lineker era, he has to strike a balance between being familiar and fresh. He did so by making a dad joke about it; that's MotD heritage. 'You may have seen and heard that there is a big change to the show this season', Chapman said as we emerged from the trophy tunnel. 'And that is … Wayne Rooney has joined us a regular pundit.' Pause for laughter. 'Some things don't change, Alan Shearer is still here', he went on as Rooney audibly chuckled in the background. With Match of the Day there's never any time to dwell and as soon as Chapman had introduced himself and his colleagues in their ribbed polo shirts we were into the action. We began at Sunderland and their impressive opening win against West Ham, with Rooney detailing the shift in offensive width that opened up the game. 'I actually got one of my only wins against them', said the former Plymouth boss of the Black Cats. 'Got that in early, well done', noted Chapman. From there it was City and some hyperbole over a new signing (an opening day tendency as old as time): 'Almost the perfect midfield performance', said Shearer of Tijjani Reijnders. At Spurs v Burnley we watched Martin Dubravka become the first goalkeeper to cough up a corner for holding the ball longer than eight seconds. The debate on Brighton v Fulham began with penalty decisions – perhaps the most consistent fascination of MotD producers over the past decade. There was also an advert for an interview elsewhere on the BBC with, well, Rooney. 'Blimey, you're taking over', said Chapman. Rooney had been the main attraction at a football-themed bar in Westfield, Shepherd's Bush, on Thursday night as the BBC launched their new season's coverage in front of an audience of distracted influencers. This year he will not only be on MotD and interviewed elsewhere, he will also have his own twice-weekly podcast which, in the words of the BBC, will see him 'diving into the football debates that are dominating your algorithm'. When Rooney came up on stage to talk about it, he was obscured by a projection of his own face and the show was described as 'not intentionally funny, just funny'. So stay tuned on that one. The England and Manchester United icon shows signs of promise as a pundit. He's articulate, and on Saturday night was able to conjure up the right word when you could see he was looking for it. He's tactically insightful and has a wealth of experience to draw from too, obviously, able here to compare the current situation of Alexander Isak to the time he handed in a transfer request at Old Trafford. Most intriguingly he clearly preserves that bite that marked him out as a player, and strong opinions are likely to be forthcoming. Those hoping to dominate any algorithms will be excited at this prospect, but it also speaks to a tension that exists between the BBC's new strategy and a 62-year-old show that's an icon of TV. The BBC's sports coverage has always been predictable, consistent and middle of the road. It's part of what made the nation able to sit and watch it together (something that's still true, with BBC coverage of the Lionesses' Euros win last month the most watched broadcast in the UK this year). It is not, traditionally at least, a home for the deliberately provocative form of digital punditry known as 'hot takes'. On the other hand, it's hard to hide from the fact that the average viewer of BBC One is in their 60s, while less than half of 16 to 24 year olds watch broadcast TV. The BBC has a need to serve those audiences and clearly their strategy for the new season is designed with them in mind. 'We're not just covering the games, we're following the fans', is the line. The many people who build their lives around their coverage will hope it doesn't shift too much. Certainly listening to Don Hutchison on 5 Live on Friday night was as informed an introduction to the season as you are likely to hear, even if it did go on a bit. 'You could say the more things change, the more they stay the same', was Chapman's take as he signed off the first show of the season, but there is one change that could prove unexpectedly disruptive. With presenters and suits alike trying to tread an impossibly fine line between reliability and novelty, the BBC has managed this season to bring forward the time it can show Premier League highlights online. You can now watch the goals from 8pm on a Saturday night, bringing an end to years of frustration around antiquated embargoes. At the same time, it also means you can have worked through all the action hours before the BBC's flagship show has even gone on air. Funny old game, as they used to say.
Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
I'm a former footballer who was on £30,000-per-week but ended up bankrupt - these are the most common ways stars lose all of their money
Former Premier League star Dean Windass earned £30,000-a-week at the peak of his football career, but was among those to have been declared bankrupt following retirement from the game. Windass, now 56, had enjoyed an 18-year playing career and featured in each of English football's top four divisions. The forward represented three different clubs in the Premier League, featuring for Bradford City, Middlesbrough and his hometown club Hull City. His is best remembered for his stunning goal in Hull City's Championship play-off final triumph in 2008 which sent the Tigers into the Premier League for the first time. Windass announced his retirement from the game in 2009, before a brief spell pursuing a managerial career. He was dropped by Sky Sports as a pundit in 2012 after he crashed his car while drink-driving, which he told Daily Mail Sport earlier this year was his 'biggest regret'. Just four years later Windass, who has spoken about his battles with alcohol and depression, was declared bankrupt over a £150,000 tax debt. In a recent interview with The Athletic, Windass opened up on his bankruptcy and identified how footballer's earning significant weekly wages can find themselves in financial distress. Windass, who still pays HMRC £500-a-month, pinpointed an investment made during his playing career. Rather than proving an earner that could help his post-playing career, the investment would ultimately become a financial weight for Windass. 'I was playing for Middlesbrough in 2001 and we had someone come to the training ground offering the chance to invest in the film industry,' Windass told The Athletic. 'I didn't know much about it but I looked on this form and there was every celebrity you could think of that was part of it. I'm thinking, "If they've gone into it, I'll get involved". 'I invested thinking that, after 15 years, I'd get this nice lump sum. The years went on and I kept getting these brown envelopes through the door. I was thinking, "What the bloody hell is this?" To cut a long story short, I got a tax bill for £164,000. 'I paid 40 per cent tax throughout my career when earning your big money. I wasn't a tax dodger, I just went into the wrong scheme. I look back now and obviously it was a bad decision.' Windass was among a number of former players stung by investing into the film investment scheme, while he admitted he had lost 'a lot of money' in his divorce from his former wife Helen. He claimed there are a 'high number' of players who have ended up bankrupt after going through divorces. Windass is far from being alone, with a number of former Premier League players having been declared bankrupt following their retirement from the game. Former England internationals Trevor Sinclair and Shaun Wright-Phillips were among the latest to find themselves facing bankruptcy proceedings. Sinclair, who won 12 England caps during his career, was declared bankrupt after 'burying his head in the sand' over a £36,000 tax debt. HMRC stated that Sinclair had failed to pay taxes and penalties totalling £36,424 in relation to his pundit work. The 52-year-old had previously been given extra time to come up with the money or alternative proposals to pay. Wright-Phillips was hit with a bankruptcy petition in June. A representative told Daily Mail Sport at the time: 'Shaun is not aware of this and matters are already with his accountant who is fully versed in Shaun's affairs. He is currently out of the country and the matter will be strenuously contested on his return.' His record on Companies House, under the name of Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips, shows ventures with six companies, five of which have been dissolved. The most recent of those, VisionPro Sports Europe, was dissolved in 2018. Elsewhere, last year, former England striker Emile Heskey paid was ordered to pay £200,000 in unpaid tax, after being involved in a celebrity investment scheme that was at the centre of a £700million tax dispute. Specialist costs judge Mark Whelan said the figure was 'reasonable and proportionate'. Shaun Wright-Phillips was reportedly hit with a HMRC bankruptcy petition in June, with his representatives stating he will 'strenuously contest' the matter It followed Heskey being hit be 15 penalty notices issued in 2005. He had been due to face a trial in the High Court in 2019 after he had been hit by a bankruptcy petition that was filed by HMRC, but it did not take place after he admitted liability for the debt. In 2023, it had been previously reported that Heskey - who was worth £12m at he peak of his career - was found to have defaulted on £92,000 of tax while working as football development officer between 2017 and 2020. He was fined £42,000. A celebrity bar he ran with his wife Chantelle in Alderley Edge was shut down by the High Court with debts of £163,000 in May 2023. The bar, called Parea, was opened in 2018 to serve the numerous footballers and WAGs who lived in the Cheshire enclave. Meanwhile, in 2014, former England goalkeeper David James was declared bankrupt despite earning an estimated £20m during his long career which included 805 club appearances and a further 53 for England. He faced an expensive divorce in 2005 which cost him an estimated £3m. At one stage, he was earning £50,000 a week. Yet, he was later forced to auction his entire record collection and sporting memorabilia in an effort to discharge his bankruptcy. Windass' assessment of issues facing footballers were shared by former Manchester United and England defender Wes Brown, who was declared bankrupt by HMRC back in 2023. Brown was a five-time Premier League winner, also won the Champions League twice and earned 23 England caps during his career. Despite his success on the pitch and earning around £50,000-a-week at one stage, Brown's financial struggles were put down to his company collapsing, bad property deals and overpaying on a farm. Brown has since admitted he did not have the 'right people' to guide him during his younger years. 'I think the main thing is when you are making a lot of money, you need the right people, don't you? And I would say that's one of the things I didn't have,' he said on the Ben Heath Podcast last year. 'It was a little bit different. It wasn't lots of people you go and speak to and you maybe meet people and do this do that. I wasn't interested in any of that. You said yes and got on with it. 'It's a long story and I won't go into the detail, but it's stuff that happened a long time ago with certain investments and getting into stuff that as a young kid, a lot of people go into, [but] don't really understand it. 'It's what a lot of people are doing and then it came to a head last year, and that's how it went. It's happened and I'm just getting on with it but it's one of those things where you hope people, especially this generation, don't get involved in. 'I've had a lot of players that have said "I'm in the same thing". I won't say names and it doesn't necessarily mean that the same outcome will happen to them. 'But it's stuff like when you're kids you don't really understand it anyway, you just assume a lot of people are doing it and it's fine. That's not your life, you're just playing football. 'A lot of people have been able to get themselves out of it or they're still involved in sorting it out or whatever, but I just couldn't. There's not much I could do.' Brown, who works for Man United as an ambassador and was present on the club's post and pre-season tours this summer, has looked to help others following his own financial troubles. The 45-year-old became an ambassador for High Performance Individuals in 2022, a company founded by ex-Man United and England captain Bryan Robson. The company offers financial management and guidance, with Robson declaring that he had grown 'sick of seeing mates in the media all the time, bankrupt and making bad decisions'. Speaking to Daily Mail Sport last year, Robson admitted he had been stung a couple of times during his own career, including being encouraged to invest in a hotel in Canada that he later discovered did not exist. Robson's company was founded to support players, with an estimated 40 per cent of professional footballers go bankrupt within five years of finishing playing. Among the challenges identified were the fluctuating incomes of players during their careers, the short career spans, fraudsters targeting high-profile individuals and post-career planning requiring careful guidance. Former Liverpool winger Ryan Babel has identified similar issues after serving an an ambassador for the Dubai-based company Sport Legacy, which offers financial advice. He pinpointed the lifestyle led by players as a factor, along with the risks of being 'used as an ATM' by various hangers on, who have attached themselves to stars during their career.
