How US sport shows are inspiring BBC pundits to make ‘outrageous and controversial’ statements to raise their profiles – after Harry Kane led criticism of Gary Lineker’s ‘frank and sweary’ podcast

BBC experts are making ‘controversial and scandalous’ statements to raise their profile, publicity experts have told MailOnline. Harry Kane’s calls on former footballers to think twice before attacking current players.

American sports programs have long relied on “shock-jock” moments that are then amplified via social media. Former players such as Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards have reached a large audience through American networks such as CBS.

In Britain, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have been among the most vocal critics of Gareth Southgate’s team in recent days, with both ex-pros sharply criticizing the BBC after Thursday’s draw between England and Denmark.

Lineker doubled down on his own podcast, The Rest Is Football, where he labeled the side’s performance against Denmark as ‘***’. This earned Kane a tap, who tackled attacks from pundits who knew what it was like to ‘wear the shirt’.

Listeners have noticed that Lineker and the others are taking a more outspoken tone this summer. One sports producer attributed this to the launch of his podcast in August.

“It is much more frank and sweary – and in that format Lineker can express his views better,” they said The times. “Besides, I think he knows this is his last tournament and he doesn’t care.”

Publicity expert Rochelle White said experts were increasingly drawn to shocking comments that they knew would generate more engagement than sober analysis.

“They’re seeing how far they can go so they can go viral and be talked about,” she told MailOnline. “The more outrageous and controversial the comment is, the more viral it will go, which means more attention.

‘Commentators know that if they say something on a major platform like the BBC or Sky, they will gain more followers to target for their podcast.’

Viewers have complained that Euro 2024 experts are competing to generate clicks with over-the-top commentary and analysis.

These segments are routinely filmed for social media, with ‘Commentary Cam’ being a BBC favourite.

For example, Linker’s BBC comment about Kane for ‘barely moving’ during the match against Denmark was quickly edited out and shared on social media, where it quickly generated over a million views.

Some fans believe pundits and channels are keen to use the Euros as an opportunity to boost their social profiles, reflecting the so-called ‘Roy Keane’ effect in which Sky Sports has used its sound bites to produce viral online content.

PR guru Mark Borkowski said there is now ‘a lot of money in football’ compared to previous generations, which has led pundits to focus on creating commentary that would benefit their other media businesses such as podcasts come.

“We now have people with lots of different business interests, so people will say one thing on the BBC and something else on their own podcast,” he told MailOnline.

“So people are trying to create clever clickbait to generate revenue for their media followers.”

Despite this, he insisted that the current crop of experts was “really quite boring” compared to what was seen in the past.

‘People like Brian Clough were much more vocal, but the difference is that now we have social media spreading their comments and causing outrage.

“If anyone from that generation had access to social media, we would be in for a revolution.

‘People want experts to have an opinion, but nowadays many of them say nothing because they have access to agents and players and want to keep them.’

Shearer referred to the criticism he and Lineker had received when they appeared on the Rest Is Football podcast yesterday following England’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia.

In a complete change from his assessment that England were ‘s***’ against Denmark – a comment that provoked a lot of reaction from the current stars – Lineker turned on the praise tap.

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

The BBC presenter and former England star admitted he drank three glasses of red wine before the recording.

“I think there were signs in that performance that I quite liked. In the second half I thought you could see that if this team keeps playing with high pressure, 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. I think there were downsides, but I think there were real positives too.

“When Cole Palmer came, I thought – and we’ve said this many times, we know we have 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 switched with Bellingham and I don’t think that helped either of them as they were neither here nor there.

“What I did see in the second half, when I tried to put a positive spin on it, was energy. Apart from the first half hour of the first game, I didn’t see any energy in the other games.

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

At that point, Shearer intervened to suggest that Lineker was cringing after being criticized for his comments about England after the draw with Denmark in their second group match.

He said: ‘If I were a cynic you would say you were afraid of being criticized again.’

Lineker denied this, saying: ‘Me? Afraid of being criticized? Never in my life. I’m telling it as I see it and I saw it during the second half.

‘I thought the first half was really terrible and again no high pressure, occasionally a few small pieces that were really mediocre. I didn’t like the team selection, I thought it was very conservative.’

The BBC declined to comment.