Emboldened by his podcast where 'we do what we want' and he can call England 's***', how Gary Lineker and his BBC pundits' blurring of the lines is making them bolder than ever on TV

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Gary Lineker sat across from BBC colleague and podcast partner Micah Richards in the aftermath of England’s draw with Denmark with a glass of red wine, one of water, and two pieces of paper full of notes laid out carefully in front of him.

The duo sat down to record the latest instalment of their hugely successful ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast, no doubt well aware that they were trending across Google and social media for their damning verdicts on the below-par 1-1 draw in Frankfurt.

But instead of rowing back on his comments - Lineker specifically called out Harry Kane for ‘barely moving’ and not working hard enough - the Match of the Day host, and the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, doubled down on a ‘s**t’ display that was ‘tactically inept’.

‘We have to reflect the mood of the nation,’ Lineker said in his defence.

‘I can’t imagine anybody that is English that would have enjoyed England’s performance. It was lethargic, it was dour… you could think of all sorts of expletives. It was s**t.’

Micah Richards (left) and Gary Lineker (right) sat down to reflect on England's draw vs Denmark on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast

Questions have been asked over the tactics Gareth Southgate chose to deploy vs Denmark

Richards (left) and Lineker (right) also urged Harry Kane to stop dropping deeper into a defensive position

Editor of the BBC’s Euros coverage, Richard Hughes, was in earshot a few feet away as Lineker and Richards recorded a podcast that was not too dissimilar to what more than 13 million people heard live on the BBC.

In an era where voices of reason quickly get lost in the vacuum of hot takes and bold opinions, the blurring of the lines between podcasts and mainstream TV is becoming increasingly apparent.

Rio Ferdinand, who worked the Denmark game with Lineker, has his Vibe with Five show, while Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher regularly dictate the news agenda through their Stick to Football podcast.

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Commentators, too, are becoming emboldened to truly express themselves to the extent that they are routinely filmed for social media with ‘Commentary Cam’ a favourite of the BBC.

And so when Lineker, the BBC’s A-list anchor, launched into his undressing of Kane in one of his most animated takedowns ever for the BBC, there was likely to be no alarms ringing back in the gallery. In fact, the virality of it all may well have appealed.

‘Harry does not press and he has not pressed in that first half,’ Lineker moaned. ‘He’s barely moved. Then the team goes deeper and Harry Kane goes even deeper and even when you get the ball you have nothing to hit. I just don’t understand.’

Within minutes the BBC’s social media accounts had clipped the segment up into a tightly packaged two-minute thirty clip which exploded.

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Despite scoring during the game, questions have been raised over Harry Kane's positioning

Trent Alexander-Arnold's midfield experiment has also come under scrutiny after two abject displays

On X, formerly Twitter, where Lineker boasts 8.9million followers, it soon earned more than 350,000 views. Over on Instagram the clip generated a further 530,000. Lineker’s critique was headline news and hit the back pages, including Mail Sport’s.

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Gary Lineker labels England's showing against Denmark 'S***' - and slams Gareth Southgate's tactics

Lineker wasn’t alone. Alan Shearer, whose nine goals for England at a major tournament is only bettered by Lineker (10) and Kane (13), was apoplectic in his role as co-commentator in Frankfurt.

‘Gareth Southgate will get serious questions,’ Shearer said in an attack that, like Lineker, trended online within minutes.

‘The way England are pressing at the moment makes me think they haven’t worked on it at all. When the forwards press, the midfield are stood 20 yards behind them, which is not enough. You can’t just go in twos and threes, you need to do all of the team together or nothing.

‘It was not good enough. It is tournament football and it is our job to dissect what has gone wrong and there is plenty to look at that there. Where do you start? No energy, no guile. I would not say lack of effort, but there is so much more to come from those players.’

Lineker urged Kane to stop dropping deeper into a defensive position and remain in the final third

Richards (pictured) also called into question the large gaps England left between defense and attack

Several other pundits, including Roy Keane and Alan Shearer have also delivered scathing reviews of England's opening two Euro 2024 matches 

Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand both appear on podcasts outside of their TV work

Lineker is a fascinating character and one that has never shied away from expressing his true, authentic opinion on a myriad of topics.

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It is often forgotten that his media career started as a pundit on Match of the Day, the show he has presented so expertly for 25 years, and while he has long become a voice of reason as a television host, directing the conversation to headline-grabbing verdicts from pundits, he too has plenty to say.

His forthright views on social media around political issues - which at one time saw him taken off air before being reinstated - led to the BBC rewriting their employee guidelines, known to many as the ‘Lineker clause’, which now prevents flagship presenters engaging in political discourse.

He, too, has challenged the BBC’s clothing policy on air, most recently wearing his own range of Next menswear during coverage of England’s Euro 2024 opener against Serbia.

Lineker (pictured) is a fascinating character and one that has never shied away from expressing his true, authentic opinion

But it was Lineker's takedown of England and specifically of Kane which raised eyebrows

England are back in action on Tuesday and Southgate's side will be hoping to bounce back after an underwhelming display

But it was his takedown of England and specifically of Kane which raised eyebrows; the clearest sign yet that while different shows demand different approaches - and different language - there is an unshakeable feeling that the BBC’s stale of presenters and pundits are actively being encouraged to avoid sitting on the fence.

A BBC source told Mail Sport: ‘We encourage all our pundits to be honest with their opinions and to be themselves. We have a good balance of people on our coverage who are able to talk about the right topics in a way that informs and educates the audience.’ 

‘We do what we want on this podcast,’ Richards laughed.

He’s right they do, but that has spilled over to television and it’s unlikely to go back. In a world full of angry YouTubers, viral fan-cams outside stadiums and a fight for the biggest piece of the social media pie, the partisan pundit is louder than ever.