Phil Neville joins Match of the Day team to help replace Alan Hansen

Posted Thursday, August 07, 2014 by theguardian.com

Sky already has Gary Neville, while BT Sport’s team of pundits for the Premier League season will include a former Manchester United team-mate, Rio Ferdinand – when his duties at his new club Queens Park Rangers allow. But life without the familiar figure of Alan Hansen in the studio for the first time in more than 22 years will begin for Match of the Day on Saturday week with … Phil Neville.

Phil Neville will join a new-look Match of the Day line-up

Still employed as a United first-team coach, Neville Jr was on Wednesday named as Hansen’s replacement for the 50th season of the highlights show despite his less than impressive debut at the World Cup in Brazil.

The monotone punditry on England’s opening World Cup match against Italy – which prompted 445 complaints – led to widespread derision on social media and beyond, later described by Neville himself as "pretty brutal".

"Co-commentary is harder than I thought it would be," he acknowledged at the time. "I will get better. I’m glad I helped everybody sleep!" Yet that honest self-assessment has not prevented the BBC from placing its faith in a man who won 59 caps but will perhaps be best remembered for giving away the penalty against Romania at Euro 2000 which led to Kevin Keegan’s side being eliminated in the group stages.

Neville will also cover games with BBC 5 Live and work on Football Focus, while Ruud Gullit and Ferdinand will occasionally join the Match of the Day team alongside the regulars Alan Shearer, Robbie Savage and Danny Murphy.

Neville – who retired from playing at the end of 2012-13 having joined Everton in 2005 after 10 seasons at Old Trafford – said on Twitter he was "delight [sic] to join BBC MOTD for the new season, can’t wait to get started with the team".

His brother Gary joined Sky Sports at the start of the 2011–12 season, taking over as match analyst on Monday Night Football from Andy Gray, and was named best sports pundit at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in March.

Gary Lineker starts his 16th year as the Match of the Day presenter having taken over from Des Lynam in 1999. He will be without Hansen for the first time after the former Liverpool captain decided to bow out after the World Cup.

Phil Neville joins Match of the Day team to help replace Alan Hansen

The BBC football executive Mark Cole said the show would "continue to mix our team of regular analysts with current players and managers". He added: "We are confident we have put together a varied team full of insight and opinion."