Alan Shearer sympathises with Harry Kane after recent spat with Gary Lineker over England’s Euro 2024 campaign – as ex-Three Lions captain admits he would ‘protect my team as much as I could’ if roles were reversed

Alan Shearer has admitted he has sympathy for Harry Kane following his recent spat with Gary Lineker.

England captain Kane found himself at the centre of controversy last week when Lineker branded the Three Lions’ 1-1 draw with Denmark ‘s***’.

Kane came out fighting as he stressed that ex-players like Lineker had a ‘responsibility’, pointing out that they too had not won an international trophy with England.

And Shearer, co-host of Linekers Match of The Day, says that while he disagrees with Kane, he would have reacted in a similar way having been under a similar magnifying glass during his time as an England player.

Shearer wrote in The Athletic: ‘On the podcast we do together, Gary described England as “s***” against Denmark, which prompted a few headlines, although it was nothing that wouldn’t have been said – in much fruitier language – in pubs across the country.

Gary Lineker launched a brutal attack on England after their display against Denmark

‘When Harry was subsequently asked about it in a press conference, he suggested that former players have a “responsibility” to “remember what it’s like to wear the shirt”, but I don’t buy that. But then again, I wasn’t his audience.

“You know what? Reverse our positions and I would probably have said the same thing as Harry. As captain of England I certainly felt a responsibility and that was to protect my team as much as possible.

‘I came out with some bulls*** in my time, not that it wasn’t true, but it was the party line, meant to promote cohesion, to set the tone. I was talking to my team.

‘So it was, “We’ll get better, we’ll stick together, blah, blah.” It’s part of who you are and what you represent.’

England followed up the draw with Denmark with a 0–0 draw against Slovenia, but managed to beat the group and progress to the last 16.

In a completely different vein to his initial comments, Lineker turned on the praise tap.

He believes England are ‘progressing slightly’ and showed ‘energy’ in the second half against Slovenia, he said in the latest episode of his podcast The Rest Is Football.

‘I think there were signals in that performance that I could appreciate. In the second half I thought you could see that if this team continues to play high-pressing games, chances will come,” Lineker said.

Maybe we played like that because Slovenia knew they would get through with a draw, so they were cautious and sat back a bit, I understand that.

‘But I saw enough to suggest that England are improving somewhat. I think there were downsides, but I think there were real positives as well.

“When Cole Palmer came in, I thought – and we’ve said this before, we know we’ve got a lot of talented young players – but this kid could be the best of the bunch.

‘On the left side we were still not balanced and it was a bit bewildering that he [Southgate] waited so long for Anthony Gordon to come. Foden played there and alternated with Bellingham and I don’t think they helped either of them as they were neither here nor there.

‘What I did see in the second half, to put a positive spin on it, was energy. I didn’t see energy in the other performances, apart from the first half hour of the first game.’

Over a glass of wine, Gary Lineker praised England’s performance against Slovenia – and was called out for it

He added: ‘There’s enough in the second half to make me think for the first time that this England team has some energy.’

England will be looking to get their Euro 2024 campaign off to a flying start when they take on Slovakia in the last 16 on Sunday.