Okay, let's get this right. I don't hate Gary Lineker the footballer. He was
a great player who scored some equally great goals. Who can forget the
equaliser against Germany in 1990 or the three goals against Poland in 1986?
The Gary Lineker I hate is the TV and radio presenter. From his bland
style on Radio 5 (how can a station that employs someone as good as
John Inverdale employ Gary?) to his silly grinning face on Football
Focus. Above all, he seems to be building his media career on
one incident: being substituted on his last England appearance.
Whenever Graham Taylor appears on TV, there's our Gary saying 'He
took me off during my last game!'. He seems to think that this incident
has given him a right to come onto our screens and bore us silly.
He did it on Saturday. GT had been interviewed about the win at Barnet.
After the feature Gary turns to the camera and says (in a very sarcastic
way), 'Top man!'. What's the point? The papers have forgotten
about this. Most football fans have forgotten about this.
A few points for you to consider, Gary:
1. If you were that worried about the scoring record, why did you
miss the penalty at Wembley against Brazil?
2. Have you ever thought that GT took you off against Sweden because
you were playing crap?