MOTD

[Dogtanian]

Gary Lineker is okay. I don’t condone his feelings on obese children dying, but nobody is perfect.

 

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Always liked Lineker. If he is now more free to express his opinions and values, I'm guessing I will find him even more likeable.
If social media had been around when racist Chinny Hill was on MOTD he wouldn't have lasted five minutes. But you would have had the same ones moaning about Lineker defending Hill.

[Meanwood Villa]

I like Lineker, he's a decent host, his shit jokes are great and he comes across as a good human being.

Agreed

[Exeter 77]

On a slight tangent this popped up on my YouTube feed last week and I thought it was interesting.

[cdbearsfan]

I like Lineker, he's a decent host, his shit jokes are great and he comes across as a good human being.

Yep.

[VillaTim]

Lineker has had a good innings , probably too long . It's time for change . Kelly Dalglish has become very good at what she does , Mark Chapman is also very good . I think this is a great and long overdue move for MOTD .

[RamboandBruno]

I have a lot of time for Linekar, I like him as a presenter and I do agree with the stance he’s taken on most things. He’ll be a loss to motd.
There was a former BBC head of something or other on R4 this morning and what he said re the BBC’s requirement for impartiality did give me pause for a moment though. So am I comfortable with Linekar using his high profile to make political comments on social media, because I largely agree with those comments?

As daft as it sounds but if Linekar was making overtly pro Isreal comments, or agreeing with Trumpian policies, would I form a different view on him having to remain impartial as a BBC employee.

[ChicagoLion]

Everyone that I know that has ever met him has described him as an arrogant prick or similar.

[VillaTim]

Yep, Remember when he did the BBC golf for a short while, they very quickly booted him ino touch. I've heard very similar things about his personality and arrogance .

[lovejoy]

I don’t know why an adult can’t make personal opinions on social media, even if they work for the BBC. But we are focussing on the presenter of a football highlights programme and not the horrors going on in Gaza.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't really see any reason why a football presenter has to be impartial about Israel and Palestine, unless they play each other in the World Cup. I disagree with Rachel Riley's views on the subject, but I wouldn't try to get her banned from television because it doesn't affect her ability to choose vowels and consonants and be very good at sums.

I don't think it's unreasonable to apply entirely different criteria to people who work on the news output. I wouldn't expect the BBC to hire Owen Jones or Jan Moir to read the news.

[edgysatsuma89]

I'm not surprised you lot like his shit puns.

[TopDeck113]

Looking forward to reading the op-eds in the Daily Mail et al. railing against Lineker being cancelled...

As others have said, MOTD is probably overdue a reboot, but Lineker still has much to offer as a presenter and what is left of BBC's sport output will be diminished without his easy charm and authority that comes from competing at the highest level.

[PeterWithesShin]

He thinks Piers Morgan is a ******, so that's a big plus.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

On a slight tangent this popped up on my YouTube feed last week and I thought it was interesting.

Thanks for that Exeter; really enjoyed it.
He's alright isn't he?