Anyone who has been watching their Premier League highlights on Match of the Day over the years will be aware of the unwritten rules of the show.
One of them is that if you see a player being booked, he will definitely be sent off later in the highlights. This rule was broken on Saturday, November 17th when during the highlights of the North London derby Aaron Lennon was shown being booked just before half time. He was not sent off in the game though. Any Arsenal or Spurs fan who was watching the game without knowing the result was completely being led down the garden path as I'm sure they were certain of a second card for Lennon.
During last night's highlights of the Wigan vs Man City game another one of Match of the Day's signature editing moves was broken. James Milner scored a top corner scorcher in the 72nd minute. He had come on as a substitute for Javi Garcia just 13 minutes earlier. In the past any substitute who scored would be shown entering the field of play. However, that was not so last night.
Check out the Match of the Day highlights for yourself. There is a caption for the Milner substitution but nothing else.
H/T To Ciaran Murphy for spotting Milner lapse.
First rule of MOTD editing broken there - milner's gonna score, we HAVE to see him come on! Des Lynam's turning in his grave...
— Ciaran Murphy (@saveciaranmurph) November 28, 2012
Hopefully all of this is a sign that Match of the Day is breaking with tradition and Mark Lawrenson isn't long for our televisions. That could only be a good thing.
But how the hell are we supposed to know what is going on unless it is spoon fed to us like it was in the past?
