Shocking

The usually well-informed Charlie Sale in The Mail reports that Alan Hansen will soon sign a new much-reduced contract to opine on Match Of The Day. It's currently thought to be worth around £1.5m p.a. Until the Great Move North, the BBC also had to pay to get Mr Hansen home from White City to Southport - a road journey of nearly four hours.

For a standard Saturday, Hansen would have to leave the seaside around 1100, watch a selection of games, potter round the edit suites until on air around 2230, thence home maybe 0300 - a 16 hour shift if you count the travel.  Now, with a 45 minute potter to Salford Quays, the day, including travel, comes down to 12 hours.

However, my guess is that the cut in pay will be closer to 50% than 25%.