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Why We Watch...Match of the Day |
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Football is an ever-changing world.
In the 1960s it was rattles, England, Bobby Moore, crap wages. In the 1970s we had bubble perms, slow-motion replays, communal baths. The 1980s was all tight shorts, hooliganism and unforgettable mullets. And the 1990s saw Richard "Hairy Hands" Keys on Sky, Ron Manager's Jumpers for Goalposts, and Baddiel and Skinner's Three Lions.
Now, in 2007, we have WAGs (heaven help us), diving and Roman Abramovich's yachtfuls of cash. But one thing has remained constant: Match of the Day.
Saturday night, 10:30pm-ish, there's Gary Lineker with his trademark cheeky schoolboy grin and FA Cup ears. A permanent fixture in the schedules, it's as familiar as an old shoe. It's one of the BBC's longest-running shows, having aired since 1964. Indeed, the theme tune is so rooted in British culture that it's become synonymous with football full stop.
Another near-permanent fixture for more than a decade has been the programme's primary pundit and summariser, Alan Hansen - in his time one of the most elegant and skilful centre-halves in the modern British game. He is a calm, authoritative and rational analyst, particularly keen on highlighting the "diabolical" mistakes of defenders, as well as their triumphs.
What I like about him is his no-nonsense style when it comes to the post-match debrief. His considered observations are always candidly explained. When a team is poor, he'll tell you so. When a team is good, he'll tell you why. And when dodgy decisions are made, he doesn't mince his words.
For example, commenting on England's performances in the European Championships in 2000, he declared: "Systems can help you, but if you took the England players that took part in those three games and got the best coach in the world to work with them for a year, it wouldn't have made any difference."
He was similarly scathing about the national team's 4-1 loss to Denmark in 2005: "The second half was easy to sum up - an absolute shambles. Communication, organisation and man-marking was nil." These vintage quips are always delivered in a cursory manner, with a classic Scottish lilt Fulton Mackay would be proud of.
Hansen's also on the ball when it comes to the Premiership, and he's not frightened of doleing out spadefuls of criticism there either (when it's justified, of course). After Liverpool, his former team, played poorly recently, he concluded: "It's 14 years since I left the club and that first-half performance was the worst I've seen since. It was devoid of quality, devoid of ideas, and, worst of all, devoid of fight."
And what's more, unlike all the other ex-professionals, Hansen refuses to sit with the commentator at matches, preferring instead to be in the studio at the stadium for live matches and at TVC for highlights programmes.
A man who knows what he's good at and sticks to it. For Match of the Day, Hansen's been a fantastic signing.
Chris Skeat
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