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THE news that the nation’s favourite unhealthy food promoter is stepping down from presenting Match of the Day has been treated like the passing of a pope.

Don’t worry everyone, it’s all going to be ok.

If you really like Gary Lineker that much then you should be happy for him; he will no longer have to spend every Saturday listening to the world’s dullest former footballer, Alan Shearer, telling him that the great goal we all just saw was in fact a great goal.

There’s no doubt that Lineker developed into a fine broadcaster over all these years of knowing sign-offs and he has proved a savvy operator in the podcast field, but the reaction to his announced departure and who might step into his shoes has been treated like one of the pillars that holds the nation together is under threat.

The sad truth is – and maybe Lineker has seen the metrics of his social media output as proof – that MotD is simply not the institution it was.

Once the only place to see highlights, it is now a dull summary, lacking the zip and verve of its satellite rivals. Most people will have seen the goals they care about before it trundles onto our screens late on Saturday.

Sky for example already have the action up on YouTube before Shearer arrives to performatively laugh at some ex-pro joke with the lads.

The BBC was also way behind ITV in the quality of its coverage of this summer’s European Championships.

You can understand why Lineker – not needing the money however big the salary is – might want to move in a different direction. As we watch football and search for reaction to every goal and refereeing decision, we no longer have to wait to hear these end-of-the-night bores or believe that the MotD view is the definitive opinion.

There will be a search for a replacement – Romesh Ranganathan apparently gets first dibs on all presenting gigs across British television – but who really cares?

The winning candidate will be too excited to notice that the Corporation is good at covering every sport apart from football.

• THE leaked video apparently showing Premier League ref David Coote mouthing off about Jurgen Klopp has also been met with theatrical shock. Of course it is unusual to see, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that refs don’t have private views about players and clubs. Every kid who grows up loving football – as presumably refs do – ends up hating one team or having a negative impression about another. Our parents told us Leeds were “dirty Leeds” for example. We just have to hope the refs can forget the brain noise for 90 minutes.