When Gary Lineker left the BBC last year, there was a feeling that the Beeb needed him more than he needed it. Not true.
Need proof? Just watch The Rest is Football.
It should be an easy win for Lineker. It’s simply a TV version of the already popular podcast of the same name (estimated to have eight million monthly listeners), streaming on Netflix for the duration of the World Cup. Presenters Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards are all likeable blokes with decorated playing careers and real insight into the game.
But the first episode is awful. For reasons which never become clear, it begins with a tour of the studio as they play darts and make more jokes about drinking in the bar. Before you can hear any of that famous insight, you have to wade through relentless boyish cackling and anecdotes about Richards drunk-riding a tuk-tuk in Manhattan.
There’s a lot of boyish banter to endure on ‘The Rest is Football’ (Photo: Netflix)The rapport between them is at least genuine and genial. “You’re not f**king relevant anymore,” Shearer ribs Lineker. “You’re off the BBC, you’re with Netflix and us!”
This new format is missing so much of what made Match of the Day and his other presenting gigs so special. Pundits like Shearer and Richards excel when they are compiling hundreds of notes and providing serious, thoughtful analysis of dozens of clips from a game.
That might get better. The tournament hasn’t kicked off yet and in lieu of actual matches to talk about, there are only the same talking points you will hear from those people in your office who pop up every four years to talk football by the water cooler. Jude Bellingham=quite good. Cristiano Ronaldo=quite old.
Lineker is at his best early on when he quickly calls out Fifa President Gianni Infantino for insisting this would be a World Cup when everyone was “welcome” in the week a Somalian referee was banned from travelling to the US. Aside from the dad jokes – “they need to go to VAR and overturn that decision!” – Lineker is filled with righteous anger. Even so, with the New York skyline behind him, he shies away from naming Donald Trump or delving too deep into the toxic world of Make America Great Again (Maga) that has turned this into the most controversial World Cup in history.
Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer will have to be more forensic when the World Cup starts (Photo: Netflix)There is just not enough of the serious stuff and too much of the vacuous nonsense. The exclusive interview with Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers is a real coup, as he discusses his battle with Bellingham for the No 10 shirt. It is also revealed that the WAGs are in Miami – no longer a given for England players at major tournaments. There is a debate over England’s starting XI, though you could place a cigarette paper between their views and the only real bone of contention is whether to start Bellingham or Rogers.
When the football begins, Lineker and co will have to be more forensic. In 2024, he caused a storm by calling Gareth Southgate’s England “sh**” on a podcast and in the old BBC days, he would eviscerate poor performances. He told The i Paper earlier this month that he felt “liberated” after leaving the BBC but if anything, this felt safer and less likely to rock the boat.
There are glimpses of what the show is supposed to be in the analysis of how Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford will operate around Harry Kane. Then it’s back to Richards on the tuk-tuk. They really must mention it more.
Granted, those parts are not necessarily aimed at real football fans and, in fact, you could probably say the same about most of the show. Which, for a show called The Rest is Football, is going to be a problem.
‘The Rest is Football’ is on Netflix every day during the World Cup
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