Gary Lineker responds to ‘stick to flogging crisps’ question of Harry Kane after blunt ‘sh*t’ assessment of England & 64-goal captain at Euro 2024

Captain Kane was asked about Lineker’s “sh*t” jibe ahead of a meeting with Slovenia on Tuesday and said, with several other former pros taking an opportunity to stick the boot in: “What maybe ex-players, ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise, it’s very hard not to listen to it now, especially for young players who are not used to it or some players are new to the environment.”

Kane also pointed out that England’s men’s team have not won anything since 1966, with Lineker giving The Rest Is Football podcast his take on a seeing the current Three Lions skipper put in a difficult position – with the question asked of him suggesting that BBC presenter Lineker should “stick to flogging crisps”: “You’re a player and you sit there and it’s your turn to face the press. And at some point, one of the press says, ‘so and so has been critical of you’. And you know they’ve not heard it, I’ve not heard it. I get it and it puts Harry on the spot, but I actually thought he answered it, answered it fine with one or two bits in there, but it’s not easy when you throw in that kind of thing. We’ve both been there as England captains, when you’ve sat in front of the media, when England have not played well at all, or you as an individual have not played well. And I would have answered the question in exactly the same way as England captain, as Harry did. He just said they’re entitled to their opinion.

“I understand they also have a job to do. And we do, we have to tell it. Could you imagine if we went on and said, well, actually, I thought they played really well. We’d be lying for a start, because they didn’t play well. And Harry knows they didn’t play well. And yeah, there’s one bit there, which I understand where he says, but they have a responsibility as ex-England players, and they should know, they know what it’s like. It’s not like they’ve ever won anything or worse to that effect. That’s fine. Fine, fine, he’s absolutely right. But I will say one thing, the last thing in the world we want to be is downbeat and critical. We want the England team to perform well on the pitch. Journalists will then use that quote and they will go did you know so and so said this and they have obviously done that to Harry Kane. Lineker said England were sh*t bla bla bla.”

England will want to start silencing a few of their critics on the field when they line up against Slovenia. With four points taken from two games so far, Gareth Southgate’s side already have one foot in the last-16 and will be eager to finish their Group C campaign with a flourish.