When Sky Soccer Saturday returns at Noon today, three familiar faces will be missing.
Matt Le Tissier, Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson have been axed from the long-running show as Sky reshuffle their pundit pack. Joining host Jeff Stelling and surviving panelist Paul Merson today will be Sue Smith, Clinton Morrison, Alan McInally and Glen Johnson.
But the ousted trio aren’t entirely gone from our screens: Paddy Power has swooped to reunite them in a slightly different format — a sitcom.
The three-part series, entitled Pundits, features the Thommo, Tiss and Charlie as housemates bemoaning their sackings.
Until they are rescued by an old colleague who has made plenty of appearances on Soccer Saturday himself, Alan ‘Curbs’ Curbishley.
With the help of an old camcorder, some makeshift set design, and dodgy streams of the Premier League action, the lads are soon back in business and Score Saturday is born.
Paddy Power said: “The Premier League is back in our lives once again, but there are some familiar faces that won’t be on our screens for the first time in years.
“Or so you thought. We’ve managed to get the gang back together, and we see what their lives are like now as they live together and try to navigate the new world of football.
“We cannot confirm or deny how accurate it is to the truth.”