Gary Lineker once called for the BBC to delete a social media post as he stuck up for Wayne Rooney. The plea came after Rooney, who turns 40 on Friday, was sacked as Birmingham City manager after just 15 games at the helm, winning only two of them.

The Blues had been sitting in the play-off places when he replaced John Eustace, but failed to win over either his players or the fans. After his reign was brutally cut short by the club’s American ownership group, which includes NFL icon Tom Brady, the BBC posted a mock-up of Rooney dressed in a three-piece suit, a reference to the hit Birmingham-based show Peaky Blinders. The image was accompanied by the caption: “By order of the Peaky Blinders, Wayne Rooney has been sacked by Birmingham City.”

The post sparked a backlash on X, with some fans calling it “cringe” and a “bad idea” before Lineker, then the host of Match of the Day and the corporation’s highest-paid star, weighed in with a two-word demand.

Clearly seeing the post as disrespectful, Lineker wrote: “Delete this.” The response was promptly granted...