Colin Sheridan: Gary Lineker may have won the battle but faces a war
POLITICAL FOOTBALL: Gary Lineker arrives at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester to present live coverage of the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Burnley. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire
On a week when the tube did not run in London for three straight days due to industrial action, when former Prime Minister Boris Johnson once again nominated Daily Mail chief Paul Dacre for a Lordship, and when the number of migrants recorded dead or missing since 2014 in the Mediterranean reached 26,148, all eyes turned to Manchester on Saturday evening, where Gary Lineker made his return to the BBC’s football coverage for the FA Cup quarter final between Man City and Burnley. How apt it was that it took place at the Etihad Stadium, a colosseum that, by its very existence, stands as absurd evidence that sports and politics are not just inseparable, but forever entangled like Japanese knotweed.
Lineker, whose eternal glow was betrayed only by an obvious head-cold, typically chose not to gloat in his intro, instead offering a simple “It’s great to be here” before doing the one thing he rarely did as a player, passing to a fellow striker in Alan Shearer. The Geordie, a little clumsily, offered a statement of clarification, support and solidarity with viewers and co-workers all of whom, he acknowledged, had been put in “an impossible situation” by events of the previous weekend. With that, like one uncomfortable handshake at an Irish funeral, the elephant in the room disappeared quicker than Burnley's chances of causing a cup upset. Gary Lineker was back at the BBC.
That he chose to return in such magnanimous fashion was hardly a surprise given how he handled his utterly convincing victory over the broadcaster, and, by extension, the political powers who pressured the BBC into silencing Lineker in the first place. Following his reinstatement, he even went so far as thanking Director General Tim Davie - the man many blamed for grossly mishandling the episode - for his “understanding during this difficult period”, acknowledging rather generously that Davie had “an almost impossible job of keeping everybody happy”. If Lineker had the high ground before and during his erroneous suspension, by the time he appeared on air on Saturday he was standing on a virtuous Kilimanjaro. It was one of the most memorable non-celebrations of a goal scored ever seen.
Rubbing peoples noses in it, it seems, has never been Lineker’s motivation, and while that is a little of what makes him so admirable, it may also prove to be what makes this victory so fatally Pyrrhic for him. Just as the BBC’s quest for impartiality is as idealistic as it is doomed to repeatedly fail, Lineker’s willingness to publicly express sentiments of human decency (based in fact) will inevitably have the consequence of continued targeting by right and left-wing firebases via the media, both traditional and social.
Already, the presenter has been used as cannon fodder by such artistically sensitive dilettantes as Andrew Neil, former BBC political virtuoso, editor of The Spectator and former chairman of Sky TV, who lamented the BBC’s planned axing of its singers chamber choir, whose annual costs, Neil ventured, amounted to Lineker's annual BBC salary, as if it were so simple to have one replace the other.
So too Lineker's endorsement - via Twitter - of a podcast - The Rest is Politics - produced by a company he happens to have a sizeable stake in. The podcast episode in question is a 20-year retrospective look at the Iraqi invasion, hosted by one of the men deemed responsible for its design - Blair advisor Allastair Campbell. In today's media maelstrom, it’s a short line from expressing disgust at a conservative government's inhumane immigrant policy to tweeting fascination for a political podcast covering a polarising chapter in contemporary British history. Every Lineker utterance will be audited now, closer than if he were an elected member of parliament, which, many in England should be reminded, he is not.
Nor is he perfect. The man who was never booked in 654 competitive top-level games has earned a reputation as a fundamentally decent human being throughout a 16-year career as footballer and over 20 years as a broadcaster. All that time, he enjoyed near unanimous love as a sort of national treasure while managing to display an intellect that defied the lazy stereotype of the dim footballer. He has been as likeable as he was unthreatening. Up until now, that is. You fear that, though he won this little battle, the bastards will keep coming from him, especially as they have no standards to uphold or keep.
In a sane world, crippling tube strikes, incessant peerage scandals, mothers and babies fleeing hell only to drown in the sea - all of this should be enough to keep the opinions of a Match of the Day presenter off the front pages, but we have long traded sanity for constant outrage. Lineker has gone from popular to polarising in a single tweet. Let's hope for Lineker’s sake he’s finally learned to leave the boot in.
There’s quiet-quitting, and there’s Antonio Conte quitting. The Italian manager's debrief to print journalists after his Tottenham Hotspur side squandered a two goal lead away to bottom club Southampton was the equivalent of telling your girlfriend's family all the reasons you’ll never marry her, while expecting them to believe you're still committed to the relationship. “Another alibi”, he scoffed, as he unloaded all his frustrations regarding the shortcomings of a team Roy Keane could never take seriously. Conte, on Saturdays evidence, completely agrees with Keane, whose indifference to Spurs is best summed up by the story he tells of manager Alex Ferguson, who chose to motivate his Manchester United team by assuring them “Lads, it’s only Tottenham”. Mercifully for the North London club, the international break gives them a little space to diffuse the ticking bomb that is Conte if they choose to do so, but the damage may be as irreversible as it was possibly deliberate. Conte, like Mourinho before him, is unrelenting in his standards, but he also has the reputation as a short-term fixer. Firing a volley of shots like this reinforces his stature as a perfectionist. He knows, too, that that reputation will be damaged little should he and Spurs part company this week. That, surely, was one of the unspoken incentives to take the job. The ignominy of Spurs fans will likely only triple should their rivals Arsenal win the league, especially when it was the Gunners who were seen as an even softer touch halfway through manager Mikel Arteta’s first season at the Emirates. Conte will care very little for that. The Amalfi coast and limoncello beckons.
From pitch black darkness to the bright lights of New York City, it’s been a hell of a month for Aaron Rogers, and he ain’t done yet. Last month, Rodgers underwent a five day darkness retreat in order to meditate on his footballing future. When he emerged, he admitted to being none too certain about what was next. The Green Bay Packers helped him some, by letting him know his race was run there, and so he turned his eyes to the Big Apple and the New York Jets. The deal ain’t done yet, but rest assured if it does, there’ll be more drama in East Rutherford than at a Gatsby party in West Egg.
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At the start of the Premiership season, the fate of Irish football seemed intrinsically linked to the fortunes of 21-year-olds Nathan Collins and Gavin Bazunu, as they were both signed by top-flight clubs you’d fancy finishing around mid-table, enabling both players to mature without the constant anxiety of relegation. Sadly, both Southampton and Wolves are embroiled in a survival race that may yet see both players thrust back to the Championship. A lesson in many things, not least expectation management of everyone other than the players. Hopefully they’ll be better for the adversity.
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