Green turns off TV job in bizarre U-turn
THE BBC’s controversial Alan Green has called time on his Match of the Day commentaries to concentrate on radio and other projects.
The decision, which the Beeb say was entirely down to Green, is astonishing considering how long he has coveted working in television and how annoyed he’s been in the past at radio colleagues being given TV opportunities before him. He was finally given regular games to call on
MotD three seasons ago but told Corporation bosses before Christmas that he didn’t want to continue on the roster of commentators.
Green was obsessed enough by his TV snubs to devote a chapter to it in his autobiography,
The Green Line. He wrote: ‘ There’s no point in false modesty. i know that i am a good commentator. i don’t believe there is any good reason why i couldn’t make the move to television. Nor do i believe there’s any good reason why i shouldn’t have made that move, particularly since i’ve seen some rather ordinary broadcasters move across.
‘ironically there appears to be far less chance of moving into TV within my own organisation than there is with any other outlet and i can’t give you a reason why. Television is clearly happy to do without me. The feeling is mutual.’
TALKSPORT, who have UK radio rights to the Lions tour, have left out loveable Brian Moore from their pundit team for New Zealand. Moore, who went with talkSPORT to Australia in 2013, has been replaced by the excellent Ben Kay, with Shane Williams and Sir Ian McGeechan completing a muchimproved analysts line-up. Moore subsequently infuriated talkSPORT by naming his newspaper podcast Full Contact, the title of the talkSPORT rugby show he used to present.
WAYNE ROONEY isn’t the only member of the family facing an uncertain future. Younger brother John (right), a 26-year-old midfielder, joined Wrexham last summer from National League rivals Chester on a one-year deal with the promise of a second term if he made 30 starts. But after reaching 29 starting appearances, he has been kept on the bench because of Wrexham’s money worries. Rooney junior has gone on loan to struggling Guiseley to get more playing time.
FORMER Chelsea star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has had his application for a new building near the club’s Cobham training centre turned down. Hasselbaink wanted to demolish his existing house and construct a two-winged six-bedroom pile complete with a trophy room — which would have been pretty empty as Hasselbaink only ever won the Portuguese Cup. Elmbridge Council called it a ‘poor and discordant design’.