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Simon Tyers watches entertainment presenters fawn over Mourinho, and the Masters at work

While I haven’t quite lost all faith in the ability of the wider broadcasting world to discuss modern football in a rational, unaffected way, the events of Wednesday September 20 on BBC1’s The One Show brought me close. It involved a discussion between football presenter and writer Adrian Chiles and football journalist Alyson Rudd about professional football manager José Mourinho interrupted by co‑presenter Christine Bleakley exclaiming “I know you two will talk about football, but…”

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Cameron Carter listens to a landmark TV moment

Those of us who believed we would see a female Doctor Who before we died have been so far disappointed but a big gender breakthrough did occur last month as Jacqui Oatley provided commentary for the Fulham v Blackburn game on Match of the Day. Barring the nagging sensation that we were listening to the earnest trilling of a schoolboy competition winner, her summary of the game was, as you might expect, entirely satisfactory. There were a couple of St Hilary’s moments, as Zat Knight “saved the day” for Fulham with a goal-line clearance and Blackburn apparently had “two exquisite chances”, but nothing that accounted for the mostly negative response of a subsequent Daily Telegraph internet survey.

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Simon Tyers discovers the new weapons that Sky's Andy Gray has added to his artillery

As seasons change and Alan Shearer’s hair recedes at a rate unseen since Ray Wilkins, we can at least rest safe in the knowledge that from year to year some things never change. David Beckham will make a fleeting visit to his coaching school and be interviewed on every single TV outlet, the Football Focus panel will attempt to grapple with a big concept underpinning a major news story and completely fail, and Sky will have a big conceptual technological idea that only they think works.

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Football has long had a drugs problem but is far from alone in this and should learn from other sports, believes Harry Pearson

As I write the raging debate is whether Rio Ferdinand had his mobile turned off or just on silent during his infamous afternoon shopping trip. It seems to me that if you replace the word “mobile” with “brain” then you are getting nearer the measure of the thing. In truth, given his absent-mind­ed performances of late the fact the Manchester United defender should forget a pressing appointment with a flask is not so surprising, nor in a sense was the reaction it provoked – though Gary Neville and co’s adolescent posturing response did achieve what had previously seemed impossible, unit­ing the nation be­hind the Football Association.

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In May, an arbitrarily appointed FA body sanctioned Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes. Ian Pollock reorts on the staggering logic of a hugely damaging ruling

Just before the World Cup started, a special three-man commission of the FA came to one of the most profound decisions any foot­ball authority in England has ever made by giving permission for Wim­bledon to move 60 miles north to Milton Keynes. With most fans’ at­tention firmly fixed on events in Japan and South Korea, it is not surprising that hardly any scru­tiny has been given to the ruling handed down by the commission on May 28. After all, it only concerned Wim­bledon, so who cares?

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