JOE HART made a subtle error while appearing on Match of the Day as a pundit at the weekend, leaving Gary Lineker and Micah Richards in stitches.
The 37-year-old was a guest pundit on Saturday’s edition of the Premier League highlights show.
But when discussing Brighton’s clash with Fulham he stunned his colleagues with a small mistake.
During his analysis of Jan Paul van Hecke’s equaliser, he said: “What a great header that is.
“He’s got a clean run. Yeah, you’re right. It’s a heck of a header, that.”
Both Lineker and Richards burst into laughter before the former revealed that Hart was just agreeing with the director giving him instructions behind-the-scenes.
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The ex-goalkeeper responded: “I’m having conversations in my head!”
Lineker discussed the incident further in Monday’s episode of The Rest is Football podcast.
He explained: “There was a wonderful moment, I don’t know whether you saw it Alan but it was brilliant.
“Micah and myself were almost corpsing with laughter because he’s doing his analysis and Joe was going through his bits.
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“Van Hecke scored and Jamie (the editor) said, ‘oh that was a heck of a header,’ and Joe answered him, he was in his ear and he went, ‘yes it was.’
“Micah and myself, because we hear the same feed in our ears, you know the gallery talking, and it was so funny.”
Richards went on to say: “It was a brilliant moment.”
The duo then referenced the slip-up again later in the episode, with Lineker saying: “There was a really good header, wasn’t there, Micah? from Van Hecke.”
Ex-Manchester City star Richards responded: “It was a heck of a header!”
And Lineker joked: “It was a heck of a header. ‘Yes it was, yes it was.'”
It comes after BBC chairman Samir Shah revealed that he believes Match of the Day should not be about football highlights.
He told The Times: “[Match of the Day] should not be built around highlights.
“It should be built around analysis and examination of the match to give viewers a deeper insight.”
Furious supporters have urged him not to mess with the 61-year-old format and ex-boss Harry Redknapp, 78, said: “It’s not a talk show. People tune in because they want to watch the football.
“I know it’s different to the old days, when it was the only way to see football on TV, but you still want to see what’s happened, not listen to someone telling you why.”
Meanwhile, the Sun’s head of sport Shaun Custis hit back: “There is a misconception that everyone has seen the goals before Match of the Day. People do have lives, they aren’t watching football all day on Saturday.
“We’re already drowning in analysis. Nobody down the pub talks about expected goals, transitions and goal involvements.
“And many people I know record MoTD and fast- forward through the analysis just to watch the matches.”
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MotD is already in line for a summer make-over when long-time host Gary Lineker steps aside after 26 years.
Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates will take over.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
