Gary Lineker has insisted journalists are to blame for his row with Harry Kane over England’s performance at the 2024 European Championship.
Despite maintaining their unbeaten start to the tournament, England came under fire for lacking an attacking impetus in the 1–1 draw with Denmark.
Lineker was among several prominent media figures to criticize the display, calling Thursday’s performance “s***” on “The Rest is Football,” a podcast he hosts and owns through his production company Goalhanger.
Ahead of England’s final group match against Slovenia, Kane hit back and insisted former England players should think twice before commenting on the team.
The England captain also suggested there was an ulterior motive behind some of the negative comments, with members of the media using it to ‘promote their own channels’ because they ‘want the most views’.
Gary Lineker insisted that ‘journalists trying to rip off our footballers’ caused his row with the England team
Footballer turned pundit branded England’s performance ‘s***’ after 1-1 draw with Denmark
Harry Kane responded to Lineker’s comments ahead of England’s final group stage match
Speaking alongside Alan Shearer on his podcast, Lineker stood by his criticism of England and insisted that the journalist who presented his comments to the team would have had the same assessment of their performance.
“I’ve made headlines again, haven’t I!” said Lineker. ‘Journalists are what journalists are.
“They can be a bit tricky when they try to deceive our footballers. We have clearly been critical of England’s performance, as has almost every journalist.
“But you know what happens, Alan, it’s happened to you and it’s happened to me over the years. You sit there as a player and it’s your turn to face the press and at some point a journalist says ‘so and so has criticized you’ and you know they didn’t hear it.’
“We’ve talked about this before on this podcast, about journalists not being brave enough to ask their own questions.
‘I guarantee that whoever asked that would probably have been critical themselves. I think they do it A) to stir things up and B) because they are too afraid to ask the questions themselves.
“I understand and it puts Harry on edge, but I thought he answered it fine with one or two bits thrown in, but it’s not easy to answer a question like that.”
Lineker added that he wants nothing more than to see England perform at the highest possible level in Germany.
‘Imagine if we had gone ahead and said they had played well – we would be lying! They didn’t play well and Harry knows it.
Lineker added that he understands where Kane is coming from based on his own experiences representing England
Alan Shearer agreed with his co-host’s analysis but insisted he has no problem with Kane’s comments
“There’s one part I understand, he says: ‘They have a responsibility as ex-England players, they need to know what it’s like and it’s not like they’ve ever won anything’ or words to that effect – fine.
‘He’s absolutely right. I want to say one thing: the last thing we want to be in the world is gloomy and critical. We want the England team to play well on the pitch and best of all when England play well we are excited and excited about them.
“We say this performance was great and this performance was great. We don’t want to be critical of it, but sometimes we have to be. We have also done it in a balanced way.’
Shearer added that both England and Kane have the ‘right to respond on the pitch’ as they prepare to take on Slovenia in Cologne.
‘I think the simplest and easiest thing is: did England play well in that match against Denmark? No. They were terrible,” Shearer said.
‘So we have to say that. If they are brilliant, we say they are brilliant. But you know, as a player you always have the right of reply on the field.
‘The England team did not play well except for the first 35 minutes of the first match against Serbia.
“I don’t have a problem with anything [Kane] said and I wouldn’t take back anything we said – England was really poor.
‘I think the vast majority of journalists – well, all of them – and the vast majority of the country, and the guys in the squad, will know that they were terrible against Denmark.
Gareth Southgate’s side can progress as winners of Group C with victory over Slovenia on Tuesday
A win against Slovenia on Tuesday would see England face one of the third-placed teams from their respective groups in the round of 16.
However, a draw against Matjaz Kek’s side could see the Three Lions finish second in Group C, setting up a clash with Germany in the first knockout stages.