“We’re on Netflix baby!” Yes, football is back, and with it the delicious tensions in our broadcast echo chambers. If you thought Hull City beating Manchester United was the story of the weekend, you haven’t been paying attention.
The BBC’s “flagship” Match of the Day continues to suffer the consequences of adapting to change, and is an easy target for start-ups. Thus did ex Gary Lineker, hounded out of the chair prematurely over a social media post, begin the first The Rest is Football podcast of the season by celebrating the show’s glamour move to Netflix.
Lineker’s screeched exultation at the start of the broadcast brought hysterical cheers from co-hosts Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, both of whom frothed like schoolboys over miniature clapperboard mementos bearing the Netflix moniker.
If it looks and sounds like a dig at the BBC etcetera, though Lineker might deny this, the whiff of betrayal grew in the presence of Shearer, who was the subject of a classic pre-season row suggesting his reduced schedule this term was the result of his deteriorating relationship with BBC head of sport and Lineker “nemesis” Alex Kay-Jelski.
Fake news said Shearer, claiming he was simply reclaiming his weekends. Righto Al, we believe you. Not sure anchor Mark “Chappers” Chapman concurred. “We are all smiles here,” Chapman said ironically at the head of Saturday’s show.
Having consumed the Netflix panto, Kay-Jelski might wonder at the benefits of continuing at all with a contributor who, as well as delivering his thoughts with the authority of the reluctant child speaking in front of the class, revels in thinly-veiled piss-taking with enemy No 1.
Ultimately the BBC, like all legacy media institutions, is struggling to make sense of analog successes in the digital age. The sets are tired, the format stuck, and no matter how breezy the chat, it all feels so yesterday.

The goals have already been consumed by football nerds. Watching again just feels like time wasted. Nostalgics might love the intros, players emerging from the tunnel into sunshine and a febrile atmosphere, but the whole thing falls apart with the opening lines of commentary.
The pre-match hopes and dreams of each team are irredeemably out of context. The Rest is Football by contrast does not suffer this paradox. It is punchy, fresh and driven along by Lineker’s enduring likeability and broadcast intelligence. This more than compensates for the plodding contributions of Shearer and Richard’s reliance on stand-up.
Over in Salford, the only really positive element of the opening show was Chapman, who presents with flair, deep subject knowledge and humour. The bad news is also Chapman, whose role as Sky Sports’ anchor 24 hours later further chips away at the brand, with highlights being necessarily secondary to the live action.
A further problem for is the performance anxiety that appears to afflict Wayne Rooney, which contrasted sharply with his performances at the World Cup, where he rescued the BBC’s Salford-based coverage almost single-handedly.
There is something about the highlights format that stifles his creativity. Just as too much time in the box can work against a striker, so too much time thinking what he might say five hours after the match concludes seems to kill the Rooney vibe.
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His reflections on Manchester United’s defeat at Hull City felt overly scripted, the concentration visible as if he were trying to remember his lines. At least they started with the right match.
More than 48 hours later, there wasn’t an angle left in the United story. By choosing that first, Lineker and co got off to a tepid start, especially after prolonged reflections on the wedding of Shearer’s daughter Hollie to England rugby star Joe Marchant.
I’m tempted to say stick to football, but that idea is taken.