Historically, it has been the newspapers that the England team have directed their frustration at when not playing well in a major tournament.
But at this summer’s Euros it was the pundits in the firing line rather than the traditional press as Gareth Southgate’s side laboured out of a dream group.
The first half an hour of the opening 1-0 win over Serbia aside, Southgate’s struggled badly in their opening three fixtures which included poor draws against Denmark and Slovenia.
It prompted fierce criticism from England legends Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker in particular.
Shearer hammered the team for their 1-1 with the Danes on BBC commentary, claiming there was “no excuse” for the lacklustre display.
Lineker was also deeply unimpressed, commenting on his Rest is Football podcast: “I mean, you can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, but it was s***”.
Captain Harry Kane held a press conference a few days later ahead of the Slovenia game in which he was asked about Lineker’s X-rated verdict.
The Bayern star said: “What ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise is it’s very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or are new to the environment.
“I always feel like they have a responsibility as an ex-England player that a lot of players looked up to.”
Social media was also predictably awash with flak for the team and it spilled out into the stadium after the 0-0 draw with Slovenia, when boss Southgate had three empty beer cups chucked at him as he went to applaud the fans at full-time.
Southgate claimed he was “oblivious” to the pundit stick he was getting – including from ex-team-mates – but tellingly did brand the atmosphere he was working in as “an unusual environment”.
England were a last-gasp Jude Bellingham overhead kick away from a humiliating exit in the last-16 to Slovakia, continuing their underwhelming form before turning it round in extra-time.
An irked Bellingham hit out at some of “negativity” surrounding the team in his post-match press conference.
While Southgate also opened up on the personal nature of the attacks on him, saying: “I can’t deny that some of the personal nature, you know… This is a job where you get ridiculed, and your professional capability is questioned beyond belief, and I don’t think it’s normal to have beer thrown at you either.”
Southgate would go on to take England to the final, where the team lost 2-1 to Spain thanks to a heartbreakingly late strike from Mikel Oyarzabal, before stepping down the following week.
