ITV and Gary Lineker are locked in a Euro 2024 “good cop v bad cop” podcast war – with Roy Keane cast as one of the nice guys.
Ex-soccer bad boy Keane, 52, and fellow pundit Gary Neville, 49, will unleash a Stick To Football podcast ahead of England’s last-16 knockout clash with Slovakia on Sunday. It is ITV’s response to the smash hit The Rest is Football chats starring the BBC’s Gary Lineker, 63, and Alan Shearer, 53.
The two ex-England captains’ bawdy banter has drawn in 39m fans thanks to a winning combination of X-rated language and controversial opinions… fuelled by a few glasses of wine.
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Lineker was taken to task by current Three Lions’ skipper Harry Kane after describing England’s performance in the 1-1 group game against Denmark as “s***”.
Kane, 30, told Lineker he should “remember what it was like to wear the shirt”, not be “disrespectful” to fellow internationals and said he feared the impact the comment could have on young players who looked up to the Match Of The Day host as a Lions’ legend.
The podcast has been downloaded 5million times in the 28 days and has had 6m YouTube and 28m TikTok views.
Now ITV is striking back by unleashing ex-Manchester United team-mates Neville and Keane upon the nation. So far they have been routine pundits in the ITV studio giving their expert analysis on matches.
But broadcasting chiefs want them to go head-to-head with BBC pundits Lineker and Shearer in a no-holds-barred unfiltered podcast battle.
Neville and Keane’s will be screened on ITV1 and YouTube. “Have a watch if you like,” Neville nonchalantly wrote on social media.
But he stuck the boot in on Lineker by insisting their chat would be “respectful”. He also confessed his personal humiliation playing for England in a loss to minnows Iceland after Kane criticised Lineker and Shearer for failing to win anything as Lions.
Neville said: “We’ve got to be respectful. I would never be disrespectful of any country. I think Slovakia will be really stern opponents for England and obviously I was part of a team that got knocked out by Iceland which was a terrible night for us.”
(Image: ITV)
Neville said it was a “hell of a result” for England to miss playing the Netherlands in the last-16. “That would have been a more difficult game,’’ he said. “That’s not to say there isn’t a big job to do on Sunday.
“But you’ve got to be grateful for a little bit of good fortune and we’ve had that over the last few tournaments where we just seem to be on the right side of the draw on a regular basis.”
Keane added softly: “The form England are in they cannot get carried away. They can not underestimate anybody. They have done it before and it has backfired.”
An ITV source said: “It could be a right old slug fest this. The execs have watched Lineker’s podcast set the news agenda for the tournament.
“They’re not just going to sit back and let that happen. Equally they don’t want their guys to simply hammer England even more.
“The feeling is Lineker may have gone in so hard he could have blown a few bridges with the England team. The ITV guys will focus on praise where it’s due and constructive criticism.
“That way everyone knows where members of the England squad are more likely to go for a chat after the tournament. Gary and Roy are younger, funny and have more than enough personality to compete.”