Save Manish and lower league football coverage!

Top of the league for most of the season so far - even despite a slight wobble - and a superlative home record all point towards a mouthwatering 2012.

For all the comments over the last six years or so about the Football League being more competitive, more exciting and more honest than the Premier League (and it is all those things in my opinion), the top flight is where all supporters of the 72 want to be.

Now, it looks like it could well be the only place to be if you want to see your team on terrestrial TV.

As part of the BBC's cutbacks, spending on sport programming is under massive threat and rumours this week suggest the Football League show is in the firing line.

Presenter Manish Bhasin, one of the best sport presenters on TV if you ask me, went on Twitter after a number of complaints about the show not being shown on Boxing Day, despite a full quota of games.

He said he was as frustrated as anyone but the deal between the Beeb and the Football League means the show will be on until at least May. Beyond that, however, is anyone's guess, as neither the BBC or ITV have taken up the option of terrestrial TV rights for highlights and a smattering of Championship matches.

Match of the Day has long been the flagship of the BBC's footballing coverage, but it seems ridiculous that the entire coverage of the Football League could be in jeopardy, when you consider wages paid to some of the pundits on MotD - Alan Hansen gets paid £40,000 per show according to BBC figures and Lineker and Shearer are both believed to earn in excess of £1m a year.

I appreciate that even if you were to get them to work for free, the savings would not be anywhere enough to raise the money expected by the Football League to purchase rights to show highlights of the three divisions and the League Cup, but can it really be considered that Alan Shearer's insights into a football match are that worthwhile? If cuts need to be made - what would be missed more by the average fan - the match highlights or Shearer telling us that Luis Suarez is quite good?

I've got nothing against the MotD presenters - I actually quite like them - but if the BBC thinks talent is more important than content then there is a problem.

Now, hopefully, Saints fans won't be needing Football League highlight packages next season. We'll be busy watching our team in the Premier League with any luck, but that doesn't mean it is not an important issue all the same.

In an ideal world, the money expected for TV rights would not be so ridiculously high but at the same time, it would help if the BBC (and ITV, although as a commercial broadcaster this applies less to them) spent their money a little more wisely in the first place.

The Sports Pink Online