Gary Lineker has made a huge mistake with The Rest is Football

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)