Colin Murray, BBC radio presenter and Five’s Europa League football anchor, will fill an Adrian Chiles shaped hole on the Match of the Day sofa from next season. An inspired choice or a further nail in the coffin of the Beeb’s football coverage?

Chiles, an avid West Brom fan, recently quit the BBC to sign a deal with ITV that will see him host their World Cup coverage while Murray will appear on BBC Two’s World Cup highlights show before taking over on the Sunday evening couch from August.

Chiles' relaxed, fan friendly style has generally been well received on Match of the Day Two where he has faced the not inconsiderable challenge of coaxing salient opinions out of, among others, Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Paul Gascoigne, Neil Warnock and the foot in mouth colloquial punditry of Alan Pardew.

Murray, too, wears his fandom on his sleeve, the Fighting Talk and BDO World Darts Championship host famously having tattoos of five stars on his arm to celebrate Liverpool’s European Cup wins.

It is a big step up from the backwater of Five’s Europa League coverage, the only on screen football presenting the Northern Irishman has on his CV to date.

Murray looked content during Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid on Thursday night, despite his partisan disappointment – perhaps he thinks taking over from Chiles also gives him the opportunity to cosy up to The One Show’s Christine Bleakley as well as the rouge’s gallery of supporting cast he will work with on a Sunday evening from the end of the summer.

A former Radio one presenter, Murray is a skilled host, but is his man of the people approach what MotD Two needs? Or is it another move to dumb down the national broadcaster’s sporting output?

Will you miss Chiles? Or is it good riddance? Is Murray an improvement, more of the same or a step backwards?