SIMON JORDAN: BBC should BOOT OUT lemmings who went on strike

SIMON JORDAN: The Lineker lemmings that refused to appear on the BBC should all be BOOTED OUT to give the next generation a chance. They’re not big beasts. They’re dull, boring and predictable

• BBC at WAR: Huge rift over Linekergate as management are attacked by staff 
• The public broadcaster missed a trick by not turning to the next generation 
• Herd mentality kicked in when virtue signallers like Ian Wright chose to strike 

The BBC – in all its glorious ineptitude – missed a trick last weekend.

Rather than scrambling around trying to defuse a situation primarily of their own making, they should have booted out all those lemmings who went on mock strike at the treatment of the saintly Gary Lineker and given the next generation a chance.

Once the virtue-signalling Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Mark Chapman refused to appear on the BBC last weekend, a herd mentality ensued and they all had to follow. If anyone had dared to stand up they would have been blackballed by the football gang.

It was like some deluded Wizard of Oz scenario, with Lineker in the Dorothy role accompanied by stooges fulfilling the parts of tin man, lion and scarecrow trying to get a heart, courage and brain.

All they really did was read the room and think: ‘I’m getting out in front of this.’ It was dressed up as solidarity, but it was really about self-preservation. Most likely, none of them understand Lineker’s motivations, understand the observations he was making, or even considered the inappropriate language he used. They were simply doing what they thought was best for them.

Alan Shearer (second from right) and Ian Wright (right) refused to appear on Match of the Day last weekend in solidarity with host Gary Lineker (left) after he was stood down over a tweet

Mark Chapman (left) did not appear over the weekend while Alex Scott, who hosts Saturday lunchtime show Football Focus, also chose not to work as presenters rallied around Lineker

There is a generation of potential broadcasters coming up behind these guys who can do just as good a job and are just as insightful. Not that that would be difficult mind you. 

These supposed big beasts of Match of the Day are hardly world class. To be blunt, at times they are dull, boring, repetitive, predictable and often less than impartial.

The next generation of football fans and the much-worried-about future viewers don’t even know anything about Wright or Shearer anyway – they played 20 years ago for goodness sake.

So if they want to be clever and down tools then out you go. You can reap your own individual whirlwinds. This is how big business works. You might not think it’s particularly kind, you might not think it’s particularly generous, but in a real world devoid of indulged sentimentality and idealism, these guys have overstepped the mark.

They had no real reason to come out in support of Lineker. The BBC and the seemingly incompetent director general Tim Davie’s problem was with Lineker, not them. 

READ MORE: Ian Wright and Alan Shearer WON’T face punishment for boycotting Match of the Day in support of Gary Lineker 

Many of them who downed tools owe their careers to the BBC so where’s the gratitude and respect? The BBC have looked after them and provided them with opportunities but as soon as the BBC does something they don’t like, they turned on them.

They courageously stood with a multi-millionaire in a dispute with a broadcaster but let’s not forget they kept quiet when it came to human rights in Qatar. They were happy to nuzzle on that particular teat.

These people are highly paid, highly privileged, highly indulged sports broadcasters, they’re not NHS doctors trying to improve hospital facilities and their pay.

Certain people are going on strike because of an inability to feed themselves and this lot downed tools because they didn’t like what was said to Lineker. Are you kidding me? So get off your disingenuous, self-righteous high horses and let Lineker fight his own battles. He wanted this, so leave him to deal with it.

Ultimately, there are no winners here and the BBC – including their pundits and presenters – all look pretty ridiculous. 

The corporation is in decline and suffering from an identity crisis – it doesn’t know what it is or where it’s going. They need to be the best in class at what they’re doing and we now know, categorically, they are not.

My failings at Palace are often used as a stick to beat me with, but here’s the thing, I own my mistakes. 

I dealt with the biggest banking crisis in the history of business and had large parts of my fortune wiped out, as well as my ownership of my football club. In a perverse way it has benefited me as by having successes and failures it gives me unique insight to comment and critique.

Those supposed leaders at the BBC handled this situation disastrously and allowed the corporation to become a political football. They didn’t communicate properly, they didn’t have their ducks in a row and their stance looked like it had been handed down from the Government – and it may well have been.

If it was, the Government should mind their own business, lest we forget the clueless Nadine Dorries and her Channel 4 faux pas. They can’t come along and start telling broadcasters, even publicly funded ones, how to uphold their values. 

Lineker is entitled to his freedom of speech but not freedom of consequence and the fact is, he tweeted something inflammatory that brought the BBC into disrepute because it divided the country.

 Lineker is entitled to freedom of speech – but that does not equate to freedom of consequence

People who first joined BBC boycott in ‘solidarity’ with Gary Lineker 

The BBC’s football coverage last Saturday was ripped up as several more presenters and reporters withdrew in solidarity with Gary Lineker after the Match of the Day presenter was stood down last Friday.

Neither Football Focus or Final Score went ahead on BBC One, while 5 Live’s radio coverage was also radically altered throughout the day.

Former England internationals Alan Shearer and Ian Wright announced on Friday their boycott of the weekend’s Match of the Day programme.

Here are the high-profile presenters and journalists who were first to join them on Saturday.

Alex Scott

The 38-year-old former Arsenal and England player was due to present Football Focus but said on Saturday morning that it ‘just doesn’t feel right going ahead with the show today’.

Scott has presented The One Show and has worked alongside Lineker in the past as a presenter of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year programme.

She was also a contestant on one of the corporation’s flagship entertainment shows, Strictly Come Dancing, in 2019.

Kelly Somers

In the wake of Scott’s announcement, Somers was seen as a potential contender to step in and present Football Focus but posted her own message on social media to say she would not be working for the BBC on Saturday.

Somers began her career in Bournemouth’s media team before joining the Premier League.

Since going freelance she has worked for numerous broadcasters, and was the host for the BBC’s coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and covered England at Euro 2020.

Jason Mohammad

Mohammad, 49, has presented Final Score since 2013.

The Welshman joined BBC Cymru Wales in 1997 and has also worked in rugby and snooker coverage, as well as deputising for Lineker and Mark Chapman on Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2.

Dion Dublin

Former Manchester United, Coventry and Aston Villa player Dublin is a regular on Football Focus, Match of the Day and Final Score.

He was due to be part of 5 Live’s Premier League coverage on Saturday but said he would not appear in ‘solidarity’ with his colleagues.

Dublin, 53, has built a growing media career in recent years, which extends to a presenting role on the BBC’s property show Homes Under The Hammer.

Leon Osman

Like Dublin, former Everton midfielder Osman announced he would not appear on 5 Live’s coverage as planned.

The 41-year-old is a regular pundit on the BBC, BT Sport and Sky Sports.

Colin Murray

It was not only the BBC’s Premier League coverage that was impacted on Saturday as morning talk show Fighting Talk was replaced by two football podcasts.

Murray, a former host of Match of the Day 2 who also works on the broadcaster’s music output, wrote on Twitter the decision was made ‘for obvious reasons’ and that it was taken by ‘the entire FT team and myself’.

Jermain Defoe

The first sign that the boycott will extend beyond Saturday’s coverage came when former England and Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe said he would not appear on Sunday evening’s Match of the Day 2.

Lineker was only too happy to tell us what the problem with immigration is, and the language that’s being used, but doesn’t tell us the solution. It’s like when those such as him complain endlessly about refereering errors, and now do the same with VAR, offering nothing more than complaints and bias.

We can all point out what’s wrong with the world and who’s to blame but what is the solution? Have you got one in your pious, pontificating, little platitudes? Or do you just want to point your finger at people who are grappling to find a solution?

So please, let’s not pretend Lineker is the emotional heartbeat of this country. If he is, then we need a bypass.

And to all those who so bravely stood with the country’s most famous champagne socialist, perhaps it’s time for the next generation to step in and replace them, permanently. It might save the taxpayer a few quid too.

STOP WHINING, ANTONIO! 

Another week, another Antonio Conte whinge. 

Moaning about Tottenham fans lacking patience when everyone knows he’s leaving at the end of the season is utterly ridiculous. 

How can you turn your fire on fans for lacking patience when you don’t have any yourself? 

You binned off the FA Cup and crashed out of the Champions League with a whimper, so how about you stop whining and start doing everything possible to secure a top-four place? 

Antonio Conte was criticised after he turned on Tottenham’s supporters for a lack of patience

WHY WASN’T IT ALL WHITE ON THE NIGHT?

I wish Mark Chapman had gone on strike at last week’s Sports Journalists’ Association awards night. 

He won a gong – as a result of his work for BBC radio – but maybe there can be a recount in light of Chapman’s subsequent refusal to do his job.

My talkSPORT colleague Jim White would have been a far more deserving winner. He certainly wouldn’t dream of downing tools in support of a crisps salesman. 

Then again, if Piers Winfrey is winning Scoop of the Year for his cosy chat with Cristiano Ronaldo, then who would want to win one anyway?

Listen to White and Jordan every weekday on talkSPORT from 10am-1pm 

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