Appointed based on ‘experience, broadcasting ability and knowledge of the game’ BBC defend Thompson, Miller and Foster over Livingston v Celtic coverage

The BBC has defended and justified using three former Ibrox employees to present Sportscene’s coverage of last week’s Livingston v Celtic match. 

The Scottish branch of the state broadcaster has become something of a retirement home for anyone to have played for either Ibrox club with Kenny Miller picking up bonus points having played for both clubs. 

Steven Thompson picked up disguised remuneration of £485,000 during three seasons at Ibrox and now picks up a regular salary for his ‘widden’ presentation skills which have never been in demand from any commercial broadcaster. 

Miller and big Thommo were joined by Richard Foster to look over selected highlights from Livingston which seemed to focus on a disputed corner and throw-in that was missed by the match officials. Bigger incidents in the match seemed to be ignored. Foster, like Miller and Kris Boyd also played for both Ibrox clubs. 

According to the BBC reply that set of presenters and pundits ‘are appointed on the basis of their experience, broadcasting ability and knowledge of the game, not which club/s they may have played for during their careers’. 

Where do you start with that claim? Miller may have some broadcasting ability- other broadcasters such as Sky/ BT Sport and Radio Clyde also call on his opinions but it is impossible to squeeze Thommo or Foster into the criteria. 

Would a current affairs programme at the BBC consist of three former SNP elected members to discuss and debate the merits of an independent Scotland? 

Sky Sports wouldn’t dream of putting together three former Manchester United players to share their views on a Liverpool match.

At every opportunity BBC Sport Scotland serve up a panel of experts that have been openly hostile during their playing career, often the most significant period of their career. 

After raising a number of issues about the Sportscene show on the day Celtic won away to Livingston one supporter got a reply from the state broadcaster. Feedback and complaints are dealt with in England rather than by the same people that employ Thompson, Kenny Macintyre, Tom English etc etc. 

Thank you for your comments following Sportscene on 6 March. We’ve raised your complaint with BBC Sport Scotland editors.

Firstly, we would stress that bias plays no part in our coverage of Scottish football and Sportscene is not biased for or against any football club. Our reporting is undertaken fully in line with the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and with the Broadcasting Code which is laid down by the independent industry regulator, Ofcom.

In choosing which match action and incidents to discuss in the limited time available, the team base their decisions on editorial merit and on their experience of determining the most significant highlights and talking points in each game. These are judgement calls rather than an exact science, and we appreciate that not everyone will see an incident the same way or agree with every decision that’s made.

Our contributors are appointed on the basis of their experience, broadcasting ability and knowledge of the game, not which club/s they may have played for during their careers, and we don’t engage anyone unless we believe they can meet the specific demands required of them.

That a given broadcast may feature contributors who’ve played for the same club during their careers is not indicative of bias, and we continue to hear from a wide range of contributors in our output, whose collective careers span a wide range of clubs from within and outwith Scotland.

That said, we recognise too, given the diverse audience that we serve, that it’s inevitable some viewers may dislike or disapprove of certain contributors for a variety of different reasons.

Thank you again for sending us your views. We’ve also included your comments in our overnight reports, among the most widely read sources of feedback in the BBC.