BLANKENHAIN — Harry Kane has hit back at Gary Lineker for his four-letter description of England’s performance against Denmark – saying former internationals who won nothing during their Three Lions careers should “take a step back” and remember the power their words carry.
Kane and his teammates were heavily criticised by BBC pundits Rio Ferdinand, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards after Thursday’s 1-1 draw against the Danes, with Lineker then following up on his own podcast with even harsher words for the display and manager Gareth Southgate.
The choice of the England captain to fulfil media duties here in Blankenhain felt significant. 48 hours before a game against Slovenia in which the team need to, in Kane’s words, “lay down a marker”, the England No 9 spoke at length about the criticism laid at his own door and that of a squad who remain top of Group C despite unconvincing displays so far.
It’s understood some of the England players have been taken aback by the acerbic nature of Lineker and Shearer’s criticism in particular given that they were subject to similar negativity during campaigns in which the team were ultimately unsuccessful.
Without naming him specifically, Kane also suggested that Lineker – whose The Rest is Football podcast is a commercial venture run by his own company that is separate from the BBC – maybe went stronger than most out of the need to “promote” his brand.
“With podcasts and things like that people are trying to promote their own channels and sometimes the headline, because you want the most views, isn’t always what people want to see,” Kane said.
“People will do things for their own gain, that’s just life but first and foremost we try to ignore. But we should try to back the English players as much as possible because we are doing all we can to make everyone proud [we’re trying to make] the fans and pundits proud.
“I know they would love nothing more if we are all celebrating after the Euros.
“What ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise it is very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.
“I always feel like they have a responsibility – I know they have got to be honest and give their opinion but also they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player that a lot of players look up to that. People do listen to them and people do care what they say.
“The bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that as well and they know how tough it is. So it is not digging anyone out. It is just the reality that they do know it is tough to play in these major tournaments and tough to play for England [but] I would never disrespect any ex-player.
“All I would say is: remember what it is like to wear the shirt and that their words are listened to. Some of the lads [will have listened], I don’t know how many, but we do hear it.
“We all want to win a major tournament and I am sure they want us to win a major tournament, and being as helpful as they can and building the lads up with confidence would be a much better way of going about it.”
Kane was asked whether he would reach out directly to Lineker, who described England’s display on Thursday as “shit”, and Shearer to ask them to bear in mind the power of their words.
He suggested not “at the moment” and also said he “hoped” he wouldn’t level harsh criticism at his successors in the national team.
“I’m not telling people not to do their job, it’s their job to analyse the game and players,” he said.
“There will be games where I get stick or other players will get stick. Maybe when I’m 40 or 50 I’ll be on one of those shows trying to dig players out – I hope I’m not. It might change.
“But it is what it is, but from my point of view with the experience of players who have been there and maybe not played well in certain games and know how tough it is to play for England to maybe take a step back and see where you were and what it was like.”
Kane also reiterated his faith in England manager Southgate and said that their struggles in the first two games had not dented belief that they could win the tournament.
“We absolutely believe we can win it,” he said.
“I don’t think it is a bad thing to go through a bit of a tough time to begin with, it widens the focus and makes you realise you can be a bad game away from being out of the tournament.”