You can tell when it’s a slow news day/ week/ month as Gary Lineker hogs the headlines. An able sniffer in his prime, a fox in the box if you will, he was famous for winning the World Cup golden boot, becoming, nearly, England’s record goal scorer, never being booked and defecating himself against the Irish in the World Cup 90 opening match.

It's safe to say that his playboy brother ‘Wayne’ (the only time I'll ever use the words playboy and Wayne in a sentence, I’m sure) is the most interesting of the siblings, what with his nightclubs and model hangers on as Gary, the blue eyed boy, generally always toed the line, bar the odd divorce and mundane political ramble on Twitter.

But hit the headlines he has lately after he, as the BBC’s highest paid ‘star’ decided to walk away from Match of the Day in the hope that his goal hanger podcast and millions in the bank will ensure he doesn’t require another booking any time soon.

The media were reporting the end of his MOTD tenure as if there’s a death in the family whereas I, as a football fan of half a century standing, believe I speak for most purveyors of the beautiful game when I say, no one really cares.

Lineker was, and always will be vanilla. He’s a take it or leave it character. The accent doesn’t set housewives hearts racing, and I have yet to meet any man who raves about him as a fan, as, like I say, the vast majority of us really couldn’t give a damn.

And so, as the clamour for the question on no one lips reached a crescendo: who would be the next presenter of Match of the Day? Personally, I tune it to watch the football first and the punditry second. Yes, I am more likely to listen to the views of the Shearers and Wrights of the game as they have been there and done it in the men’s game than I would watching, for example, Alex Scott, who is the female Lineker with few discernible traits which have the Wow! factor.

We all knew a woman was going to get the gig, despite women’s football, of which I am an advocate, being a totally different game to that of the men’s. Yes, I also get the argument that if that’s the case then maybe only women should commentate on the women’s game, but for the flagship show on TV, my belief is we need a talking head who is engaging, knowledgeable, enamouring and can attract both genders seamlessly to continue the legacy that has been part of the fabric of a British Saturday night since 1964 as we all continue to hum along to Barry Stoller's iconic tune all these years later.

So, who was in the running before this week's confirmation that Kelly Cates had got the gig alongside Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan? Alex Scott was the early bookies favourite after Jermaine Jenas, the previous front runner, blew his career out of the water after some ill-advised sex texting. Others in the frame included David Jones whereas my favourite, by a country mile was a 50-1 outsider, Laura Woods.

She is comfortable around all those she engages with, never flaps, knows her football and, without sounding Gregg Wallace, is pleasing on the eye, and the sort of girl you’d be more than happy to take home to meet mother. But it was Cates who got it as she is soon to be anointed as the next ‘safe pair of hands’ which pains me to say as she comes from the loins of my favourite ever footballer, King Kenny Dalglish.

Still, she can't be any more cumbersome than the irksome Lineker as he goes off to continue ramming Walkers crisps down our throats with wanton abandon, as he is freed up to share his middle class political views on social media without the constraints of being a paid up BBC fox in the box…

• Brett Ellis is a  teacher