Gary Lineker’s departure over the summer was supposed to herald a new era for the BBC’s flagship football show but what we really learned from its first renewal on Saturday night was that no one is bigger than MOTD.
His replacements therefore would have to be squeaky clean and Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan in rotation represent exactly that.
Cates, Logan and Chapman will share MOTD presenting duties (Photo: Charlie Clift/BBC)Chapman was keen to signal over the summer that this would not be some great Match of the Day revolution, at least not in the late-night televisual version of it.
The highlights it includes are available on the BBC Sport app from 8pm, more than two hours before it airs, but Match of the Day on BBC One is not for people who spend Saturday nights on the BBC Sport app. It’s for the dwindling numbers of linear TV viewers.
Is £800k on Wayne Rooney money well spent?
Rooney will be a regular pundit on Match of the Day this year (Photo: BBC)But Rooney is not a skilled pundit. He is an interesting character certainly, but struggles to communicate in a way that overlays his storied career on the modern game. It might explain why his managerial career from Derby to Plymouth via DC United and Birmingham City has gone so badly.
Fortunately, Chapman’s decades of journalistic experience enable him to get Rooney out of empty platitudes and into real insight, ably assisted by Shearer, who was keen to draw parallels between the Alexander Isak rigmarole and Rooney’s own dalliances with leaving Manchester United. It wasn’t quite pulling teeth, but it was certainly hard work for the pair of veterans to elicit some perceptive comment from him.
"You just can't do that when you've got a three-year contract." Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney aren't impressed with Alexander Isak's handling of his situation. pic.twitter.com/iWEb8aOE3Y
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 16, 2025It’s nuanced, but that is where the quiet revolution on MOTD has taken place: Chapman’s forensic style is a notable departure from Lineker’s presenting, which was increasingly self-referential. You only have to look at his recent interview with Marcus Rashford to see his inability to cut to the chase with a fellow pro.
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The football of course is the same, the cast of commentators still strong and the analysis still slowly moving towards the 21st century style, with mentions of xG and duels won, a language that Rooney and Shearer still don’t quite speak fluently.
Chappers signed off by saying that “the more things change, the more things stay the same”, a typical understatement of his own ability. Not loads has changed, but enough that not many will come away thinking “gosh, I miss Gary Lineker”.
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