Ahead of tonight’s Euro 2024 final clash between England and Spain, the BBC are set to show a pre-match interview with Gareth Southgate.
But Gary Lineker hasn’t been permitted to speak with the 53-year-old, with colleague Kelly Somers given the job instead.
Lineker has been hugely critical of England and their performances at Euro 2024 so far, despite the Three Lions now being on the verge of history.
He infamously called them ‘s**t’ after a 1-1 draw with Denmark and has since defended his comments, insisting he was ‘shafted’.
Euro 2024 final: Gary Lineker hasn’t been permitted to speak with Gareth Southgate ahead of England’s clash with Spain
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According to The Telegraph, there’s a chance the 63-year-old will interview Southgate after tonight’s huge final.
But it’s Sommers who has been given the chance to sit down with the England boss prior to kick off.
If Southgate and Lineker do talk after the match, it could be an awkward affair.
Should England win, Southgate could be tempted to remind Lineker of everything he’s said about himself and his players over the past month.
That doesn’t seem in the 53-year-old’s nature, however, with Southgate usually far less combative.
Lineker, writing in his column for the BBC, has defended his criticism of the side.
“Let’s be honest about it, England are in the final despite not playing very well when the tournament started,” he said.
“It feels like a lot has been made of the BBC’s analysis of the team, and particularly Harry Kane, when that was happening, but all we did was say what we thought.
“We were critical of the first few performances, but everyone was.
“And even the England players and manager have said since then that there was something wrong in the group games, but they are over it now and they have been improving.
“On the BBC, we were basically just saying that too.
“There were never any personal attacks at all, on Harry or anyone else, because that is not our style – but we do have to be honest about what we see.
“I think Harry would be the first to agree that he was not at his best but I feel like we have been fair on him and the team.
“The only time I have talked about him myself was from a tactical and technical point of view, speaking as a former striker, about how he does not really run in behind so you have got to get other players to do that.
“If those players are not doing it either, England have got a really good alternative in Ollie Watkins, who plays an entirely different game to Harry even though they are both number nines.”
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Euro 2024 final: Kelly Sommers will interview Gareth Southgate before England’s clash with Spain instead of Gary Lineker
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brilliance from Jude BellinghamAnd, in fairness to the BBC man, he does have a point.
England, at the start of the tournament, struggled to click and gel. They scraped a 1-0 win over Serbia before then proceeding to draw with Denmark and Slovenia.
England were dire against Slovakia in the round of 16, relying on a moment of brilliance from Jude Bellingham to stay in the tournament.
Harry Kane then popped up with a crucial winner in extra time to send fans wild.
Against Switzerland, England were better – but still not perfect. Penalties were required to go through, with Trent Alexander-Arnold netting the decisive spot-kick.
Euro 2024 final: Gareth Southgate will be hoping to steer England to victory against Spain
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Yet they produced their best performance of the competition on Wednesday night in a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands.
When Southgate speaks after the match, he could be in line for a knighthood.
Guiding England to a first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup would mean even more to him, however.