Captain, legend ... now a leader
SIMON MULLOCK
HARRY KANE was right to remind the ghosts of tournaments past that the Three Lions have not won anything since Chris Farlowe was top of the charts. We all remember Chris... don’t we?
It was a relief to hear Kane defend Gareth Southgate and his players with a bit of passion – but it was about time one of the so-called four-man “leadership group” put their heads above the parapet. That’s what leaders should do, lads.
Chris Farlowe’s No 1 hit in the summer of 1966 was called ‘Out of Time’, by the way. How apt!
ANDY DUNN
KANE’S appearance at a media conference two days before a group stage match was a bit of a change from the norm at tournaments.
But it was soon clear why he was there – he wanted to tell Gary Lineker (right), Alan Shearer and others a few home truths. Namely, that they won nothing in an England jersey. The England captain clearly thought Lineker’s ’s**t’ comment was gratuitous and, as the leader of the group, felt obliged to stand up for his men. And while I agree with Lineker, I would never blame Kane.
MIKE WALTERS
WELCOME to Shoot the Messenger, the game show where England footballers play poorly at a major tournament and blame the nasty ‘mee-jah’ for making their lives intolerable. Except this time, the players are not having a pop at Fleet Street’s beastie boys but the podcast generation’s pundits who wore the shirt before them.
So here’s the deal – if England play properly against Slovenia, the Pod Shop Boys will throw rose petals at them all day long. Play badly, and you can’t blame the pundits if they cut up rough.
JOHN CROSS
KANE was absolutely right to call out Lineker over “s**tgate”.
Let’s have it right… Kane wasn’t calling out all pundits or ex-players. He actually said they expect criticism, debate and conversation. He expected better from Lineker.
How refreshing to hear a player say exactly what he thinks. He’s a good leader who stands up for his team-mates.
NEIL MCLEMAN
KANE needs to focus on playing better rather than worrying about justified criticism of England’s performances.
If pundits are to do their job properly, they have to be honest about what they have witnessed. And especially against Denmark, England have been ranked rotten in a display reminiscent of the worst days under Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson.
KANE was wrong. By calling for the likes of Lineker and Shearer to go easy on England’s players, Kane was admitting the squad have been affected by criticism of them.
That shows a mental fragility on the part of Kane and his team-mates.
NEIL MOXLEY
LINEKER has a right to his opinion. So has Shearer. They were only voicing the views of a nation. But, Kane is right – they need to calm down.
Everyone’s moaning because England didn’t beat the team ranked 16th in the world. It wasn’t great, I’ll grant you. But there is always this streak of arrogance: “We’re England, we should be whipping this lot by five.”
It doesn’t work like that. Four points so far, and the potential to top the group with victory tonight.
Southgate sorts his midfield conundrum and England win by three... suddenly he’s a genius and we love our boys.