- Gary Lineker has divided opinion with a joke he made about Steve Clarke
- Some find his joke about the Scotland boss harsh, but others are behind him
- Listen to It all starts! Why does Germany feel like a country not yet ready to host Euro 2024?
Gary Lineker has been criticized for a ‘very disrespectful’ joke at the expense of Scotland manager Steve Clarke – but many agree with the presenter.
After Clarke had an interview with BBC Sport, Lineker said sarcastically: “Well, you’ve got plenty of Steve Clarke’s energy and enthusiasm there, haven’t you?” before you laugh.
Clarke is tasked with galvanizing his Scottish troops for a crucial match against Switzerland tonight before taking on Hungary.
Scotland’s target for the group stage is four points, but they got off to a humiliating start as they lost 5-1 to hosts Germany on the opening night of Euro 2024.
‘Gary Lineker is here***. Do you think he would say the same about the boring, I’d rather see Gareth Southgate painting? I doubt it,” said a user on X as they shared the clip of his comments.
Gary Lineker has been criticized for a joke he made about Scotland manager Steve Clarke
However, many agreed that the presenter was right when he suggested Clarke could have more ‘energy’
“I just saw that, very disrespectful to Sir Stevie,” wrote another.
‘That whole fragment had a mocking undertone,’ someone thought.
Despite the pile-up of critics, many chirped and said they thought Lineker was speaking sensibly.
‘What did Lineker say was wrong? He is absolutely perfect,” said one user.
‘To be honest, I would be completely demotivated if I listened to that man [Clarke]’ wrote another.
“Lineker is right, though: Clarke is as uninspiring and boring as they come,” one person said.
Another commented: ‘I can see both sides here. Lineker is right when he says Clarke is incredibly boring, but at the same time the questions were ridiculous and I really wonder what people expect from him.’
Scotland are widely seen as the weakest side in their group, consisting of Germany, Switzerland and Hungary.
Scotland will be looking to bounce back against Switzerland after being beaten 5-1 by Germany
Despite eight attempts at the World Cup and three at the European Championship, they have never made it out of the group stage at a major tournament.
However, with a favorable tournament format allowing 16 of the 24 teams to progress in the group stage, Euro 2024 represents a strong opportunity for Scotland to make history.
Switzerland, who defeated Hungary 3-1 in their opening match, are seasoned veterans of the knockout stages and pose a demanding challenge.
Before the match, Clarke told reporters: ‘For us it is [the task] is to regroup and go again. It’s that simple. It’s about doing better, exactly that.
“The players want to go back and play better and I think that’s pretty standard when you play so badly and let yourself down.
‘As I said on Sunday when I spoke to many of you, it is about performing better, working better in the game.
‘We thought we were well prepared for Germany, but that was clearly not the case. So this time I think it’s better not to say too much and hopefully we show with our actions on the pitch that we have prepared well and a positive result would be nice.”