Search icon

News

14th Nov 2016

Gary Lineker provides eloquent retort to Sun suggestion he doesn’t compose his own tweets

Because no footballer could be smart enough to know what ‘dystopia’ means...

Nooruddean Choudry

They’re getting more and more pathetic by the day.

It seems the right-wing press are growing increasingly desperate in their quest to rid Gary Lineker of his freedom of speech. The likes of the Daily Mail, Daily Express and the Sun are doing everything in their power to shut the ex-England captain up, but with precious little effect on his output.

Lineker continues to have the temerity to speak out on issues that matter to him on a personal level, as well as criticise those who fail to show a basic level of empathy, respect and humanity towards those suffering in the world. Certain tabloids don’t appreciate such a high-profile alternative point of view.

The problem is that Lineker is quite a popular figure, and that makes his words dangerously influential. He has a personal Twitter following of 5.4 million, and each tweet is shared by thousands of people, some of whom have a comparable reach to his. In the eyes of some Fleet Street editors, that’s a concern.

But how do you stop him? If the best you can do in terms of raking up scandal is this type of non-story, you’re slightly fucked. The alternative is to discredit what he says. You can’t use facts and figures if they tend to back him up, so your next best option is to question whether his opinions are actually…well, his.

Kelvin MacKenzie, an individual who is loathed around the land for numerous very valid reasons, had the bare-faced cheek to question whether Lineker actually composes his own tweets, because they make too much sense and use words with up to FOUR syllables! To use the proverbial, we shit you not.

The eight-letter word ‘dystopia’ was of particular interest to MacKenzie, as if an ex-footballer – and accomplished broadcaster – couldn’t possibly have the requisite brain cells to use such a term.

Gary – if that is his real name – tried to keep things simple with his response, presumably so MacKenzie would fully comprehend the sentiment. Although we suspect the word ‘aspersions’ will be looked on with deep suspicion by the former editor of the Sun

Here’s some more words that MacKenzie could perhaps add to his personal vocabulary:

‘Racism’

‘Homophobia’

‘Islamophobia’

‘Lies’

Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live here