#Alan Shearer

[tweetingukpolitics]

[spunkeater]

[ohhtobeagooner]

they are crazy for this

https://theathletic.com/4476673/2023/05/02/alan-shearer-ian-wright-arsenal-walk/?source=user_shared_article

[sucka99]

[7yearsofdele]

Thanks Alan for talking about how well we’re doing rather than talking about Liverpool the whole time. Appreciate you.

[justinssportscorner]

Jim Waterson at The Guardian: 

Match of the Day will be broadcast without presenters, pundits or its usual commentators this weekend, after the main host, Gary Lineker, was suspended from the BBC for breaching impartiality guidelines after criticising the government’s asylum policies.

In a dramatic and unexpected escalation of a crisis that has been brewing all week, the corporation took the decision to remove its highest-paid presenter from its flagship football show after he was criticised by Tory MPs and the rightwing media.

His suspension immediately led to displays of solidarity from Lineker’s co-hosts Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, who publicly announced that they would not be turning up to present Saturday’s show.

Faced with an effective strike by its on-screen staff and unable to find willing replacements, the BBC took the unprecedented decision to announce that the Premier League highlights programme would go ahead without any hosts or studio presentation. It will feature only match footage.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Some of our pundits have said that they don’t wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary.

“We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry.”

Late on Friday, commentator Steve Wilson tweeted that the show’s commentary team had decided to pull out of the programme. “As commentators on MOTD, we have decided to step down from tomorrow night’s broadcast,” he said. “We are comforted that football fans who want to watch their teams should still be able to do so, as management can use World Feed commentary if they wish.”

The BBC has the option to use the Premier League’s world feed service.

Ministers put the BBC under pressure after Lineker posted tweets this week criticising Rishi Sunak’s new asylum policy. He likened the language used by ministers about asylum seekers to “that used by Germany in the 30s”, a comparison labelled “offensive” by the home secretary, Suella Braverman.

A BBC spokesperson said Lineker would be off air until an agreement was reached on his future use of social media. If Lineker, who has two years left on his contract to present Match of the Day, refuses to back down, then it opens up the possibility of him leaving the corporation.

Lineker was taken off air on Friday afternoon despite making it clear that he wanted to host this weekend’s edition of the programme.

A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines. The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.

“When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none. We have never said that Gary should be an opinion-free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.”

[...]

While suspending Lineker for breaching impartiality guidelines, the BBC chair, Richard Sharp, has faced calls to quit in recent weeks. It was recently revealed that Sharp, a previous Tory donor, had made the introductions between Boris Johnson and one of the former prime minister’s distant cousins, who became a guarantor for a substantial loan. Sharp later claimed that he had acted “in good faith” as a “go-between”. Labour said his position was “increasingly untenable”.

The journalist Jon Sopel, who has held several senior positions at the BBC, said: “Lucky there are no producer guidelines on whether you need to declare facilitating an £800k loan to a prime minister while applying for a job as chairman of a broadcasting organisation.”

The former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville, a commentator for Sky Sports, said the decision was what happened when “you take on the Tories and the system”.

Philippa Childs, head of the entertainment trade union Bectu which represents thousands of BBC workers, said the broadcaster’s decision was “deeply concerning”. “It will give the appearance that they have bowed to political pressure from ministers to take someone off air for disagreeing with the policies of the current government,” she said.

BBC's Match Of The Day programme will be presenterless and punditless today in solidarity of presenter Gary Lineker's unfair dismissal from the program over his comments on Twitter that rightly criticized the Sunak Government's cruel asylum policy. 

[28whitepeonies]

10/10 effort here from Reuben Dangoor

[ferrarer17]

Very interesting to watch and a lot of very important issues raised.

[lisbs]

[millythegoat]

OMAIGWAAAAADDD

[calciopics]

Born on this day: Alan Shearer (13.08.1970)

[whatacompletebastard]

[analogmonologue]

Matthew Shipley illustration with Alan Shearer, wearing the Adidas x Newcastle United FC kit with Newcastle Brown Ale sponsorship.

[alex3376]

"Shearer hilariously left Micah Richards stunned as he named his top 10 best football pundits #shorts

[bluepecanpie]

I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that it would be the football industry that finally provides the blockade to the reactionary advance cultivated by the BBC. The brief hounding of Gary Lineker over a tweet criticising the UK government’s anti-immigration, and anti-migrant policies, is relatively mild compared compared to anything Jeremy Corbyn received - which Lineker notably was not favourable of and expressed in two words in a tweet: “Bin Corbyn”.

It’s nice that all these football pundits/ex-players showed solidarity with Lineker as it was announced that Lineker won’t be hosting Match of the Day indefintely, and this might be what forces the BBC to renege on their initial decision to pull Lineker (lol, we’ll see how long this “no commentators” thing will last on MOTD), but what is likely to happen is that Lineker will be reinstated, under the caveat that he won’t ‘overtly’ criticise the Conservative Party again while on contract - while the whole incident will be framed as a victory of free speech because media pundits were just “expressing their opinion” on current events - all the while, border securitisation and anti-immigration policies will go unchallenged (well, without significant challenge) because both major parties pursue these policies. Not to mention that the BBC will continue to pull its programming based on what the current domestic and foreign agenda is at the time. But one man will (possibly) get his job back. So that’s okay.

[harrison-abbott]

If you think about it, despite ‘only’ being TV presenters and ex-footballers, figures like Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright are far more popular - in a public sense - across the nation than various prominent politicians.

They just are ... The UK is a huge footballing country, and Lineker is a well-respected, liked man - a good man. 

Nor is this the first time that he has offered his opinion politically. It is much similar to Marcus Rashford with his free school meals campaigning. The difference with this ^ incident is that the BBC are now being pressurised by the right wing press and government. And, ashamedly, they are buckling from it.

I hope that it backfires mightily on Braverman and co. Really do. And, well done to Lineker for not being afraid to speak his views. (And, just for the record: I totally agree with him.)