Lineker marshalled the studio well, Mowbray and Jenas made a solid double act, but the forgetful prime minister got a kicking
Football punditry can be a detestable sham. The BBC gave an ominous reminder of that during their Euro 2020 preview show on Thursday, when Gary Lineker said Micah Richards knew a lot about North Macedonia and everyone in the studio, including Richards, fell about laughing. Apparently the notion a highly paid analyst would swot up on one of the tournament’s lesser known teams was top banter.
But that was a lone outrage in a tolerable production and it is the privilege and the burden of the national broadcaster that it must try to cater to everyone’s taste. Including people who read the Sun, and there are still plenty of those three years after it masterfully encapsulated the decline of civilisation by beginning its newsflash on the shirt worn by Cesc Fàbregas in his first appearance on the panel of the Beeb, who had snapped him up after his surprise omission from Spain’s World Cup squad, with: “Cesc Fabregas’ World Cup nightmare continued as his punditry outfit was panned by fans [on social media].”
Related: Italy make flying start to Euro 2020 with dominant opening win over Turkey
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