Top News

Match of the Day's coverage of Sunderland vs Crystal Palace has sparked over 100 complaints. On January 17, Sunderland clinched a crucial 2-1 victory over Palace at the Stadium of Light. However, the main talking point was Oliver Glasner's post-match interview, where he expressed feeling "abandoned" by the Palace board following their decision to let club captain Marc Guehi leave for Manchester City.

The MOTD panel focused on Glasner's post-match comments, given his links to a potential move to Manchester United at the time. Yet, Alan Shearer, a legend of Sunderland's arch-rivals Newcastle, stated they would only discuss Palace's situation before humorously claiming he had spent considerable time analysing the newly-promoted side.

He said: "Just to be clear, I had good analysis on Sunderland. But by our editor's orders I've been overruled and we have to talk about Glasner."

To which Mark Chapman, turning to Wayne Rooney, cheekily responded: "Wayne just said you can do a 15 minute special on iPlayer."

For two minutes, the panel spoke almost exclusively about Palace, neglecting to mention Sunderland's performance, which saw them overturn Yeremy Pino's opening goal with strikes from Enzo Le Fee and Brian Brobbey.

Despite the BBC panel's tongue-in-cheek transition to discussing Palace, Sunderland fans and other viewers were not amused.

The BBC disclosed in their fortnightly report that they received 103 formal complaints specifically about one segment of the show. The broadcaster was heavily criticised for being "poor/biased against Sunderland" by those who lodged complaints.

While the Beeb has yet to publicly respond to these grievances, Shearer has provided a more detailed insight into the broadcast decisions made. During an episode of the Rest is Football Podcast, co-host Micah Richards broached the subject, saying: "So then, Al comes out and says, 'Oh, I had some fantastic analysis for Sunderland.

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

"'Oh, it was going to be absolutely amazing, but we've got to talk about the big news, and that was Glasner.' So now is a perfect opportunity for you to talk about Sunderland, Al, go on.."

In response, Shearer said: "As I got to Manchester yesterday at 10am, and just before midnight, we were still on air. they did offer me the opportunity to go with the BBC iPlayer and put some analysis on it.

"I politely declined that offer. That is true, though, Micah, honestly. I thought, 'I'm going to have to leave Newcastle really early, because Man United vs Man City, I'll get caught in the traffic, I'll be late.'

"I left Newcastle just after 7am, so I was in Salford at 10am. And then just before midnight, they said, 'Do you want to do some analysis on Sunderland?' You can imagine my reply."

Despite many believing Glasner would depart, he has in fact stayed in his role. However, the Austrian has made it clear that he will be leaving Selhurst Park at the conclusion of the season.