Amid the fallout that ensued after Jamie Carragher's saliva-based indiscretion over the weekend, fellow footballer-turned-media-figure Gary Lineker managed to get himself embroiled in a Twitter spat (pun intended) on Monday.
The Match of the Day and BT Sport host attempted to make light of the Carragher scandal by referencing the shamed pundit being dropped for Sky Sports' coverage of Manchester City's game against Stoke City.
Seems @Carra23 can't do it on a cold, damp Monday night at Stoke.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 12, 2018
Lineker's quip was quickly pounced upon by a colleague of Carragher's, Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves, who very definitely failed to see the funny side.
Good luck with your halo. Threw your toys out the pram when @mrjakehumphrey commented on a graphics mistake.
— Geoff Shreeves (@GeoffShreeves) March 12, 2018
Lineker then implored Shreeves to read his follow-up Tweet, in which he offered a more sober assessment of the situation, only to be shouted down again for the joke being "never right and never funny" by the Sky man.
On a serious note, we all make mistakes, @Carra23 made a big one. He's apologised and is clearly contrite. Sure he'll be back soon and rightly so.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 12, 2018
Clearly taken back by Shreeves' emotional investment in the situation, Lineker was left to utter a bemused one-word reply: "Blimey".
Mercifully, the pair then fell silent and let us all get on with our lives once again.