Alan Shearer announces he is scaling back Match of the Day appearances as BBC fear ‘mass exodus’ of star pundits

ALAN SHEARER has confirmed his Match of the Day appearances will be getting scaled back. The Newcastle icon has been a stalwart on the flagship BBC programme for 20 years, providing the show with his punditry since retiring from football. Alan Shearer has confirmed he will be scaling back his Match of the Day duties Credit: BBC Shearer said he would be watching more Newcastle games Credit: betfair However, before the start of the season, Shearer confirmed his appearances on the show would be limited to once a month going forward. The Betfair Ambassador told the Daily Mail: “I said to them a while back that I would like some of my weekends back on a Saturday. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! “It’ll be about one a month.” The 56-year-old caveated this by saying he would still be doing co-comms on FA Cup games, and also revealed what he would be doing with all that spare time he now has. He added: “I’ll be going to more Newcastle games. “I love doing the co-comms. “When the FA Cup starts in January, there’s loads of co-comms.” Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer with 260 goals, appeared on the first edition of this season’s show last Saturday alongside Wayne Rooney, Manchester United‘s leading goalscorer. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Usual suspects Joe Hart and Danny Murphy also returned for Sunday’s show, but the Beeb have expanded their list of pundits for this season. The likes of Toby Alderweireld, Robbie Keane, Ashley Young and Thomas Frank have all joined the ranks. However, that may come before a rocking of the boat, as The Sun revealed tension between some of BBC Sport’s top stars and BBC Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski. Insiders tell of rows among top brass and some of the show’s biggest names. The news comes just a year after Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan over the reins of MOTD from Gary Lineker. A source said: “There are very few happy campers on MOTD any more. It all comes down to Kay-Jelski, who is bringing in a number of changes. “To some he’s a tough grafter, an old school journalist, and is respected. But others just can’t work like that.” A second source added: “BBC bosses thought steadying the ship after Lineker left would be their toughest task and, for a while, there was lots of back-slapping about pulling off a seamless revival. Top football travel deals “For the most part, the audience and the show’s guests are more than happy with the trio at the top. “The problem is with Kay-Jelski and the panellists and there have been a number of clashes. “Workplace disagreements are par for the course — especially when there are few other places ex-players can find punditry work. “But this year that’s all changed and now the grass is looking a hell of a lot greener elsewhere. ” Comment now