HUGE MAN UTD CONTROVERSY CAUSED REAL PROBLEM FOR GARY LINEKER ON MATCH OF THE DAY
Eric Cantona’s infamous Manchester United kung-fu kick caused Gary Lineker a huge problem on one of his first ever Match of the Day appearances.
Imagery of Cantona launching himself at a Crystal Palace fan in the Selhurst Park stands is ingrained in the minds of every English football fan. The maverick Frenchman had been sent off for a wild tackle during the fixture on January 25, 1995, but saw red again after being told to go “back to France”, along with some more colourful language, by a Palace supporter.
The rest is history, with Cantona’s assault resulting in him receiving a £20,000 fine, two weeks in jail and a nine-month ban from playing football. And it had repercussions for a nervous and fresh-faced Lineker, who was stumped when asked for his thoughts on the incident on the BBC’s flagship sports programme - which he has since presented for 25 years.
Lineker revealed his difficult position at the time while speaking to Cantona on The Rest Is Football podcast. “That was one of my first ever appearances on Match of the Day as a pundit,” the 63-year-old anchor said.
“He’s gone to me ‘so what did you make of that?’ and I thought ‘Oh my God, I never expected to have to deal with this, thank you very much, Eric’,” resulting in a chuckle from Cantona.
The former Red Devils man had been asked if he had any regrets regarding his career by Alan Shearer, whose Blackburn Rovers side beat United to the Premier League title that season. Cantona jokingly responded: “I have one regret, if it didn’t happen you wouldn't have won the Premier League – it was when I was banned in 1995.”
Explaining his moment of incredible head loss, he added: “Sometimes we are fragile. In football, it’s all about provocation from the fans. The fans can use any type of thing to help their team to win.
“But sometimes it’s difficult to say that because we cannot accept racist chants from the stands, because he said something about me being French. I heard that thousands of times before, that’s football.”
Shearer then chimed in by saying: “I can only say thank you because we might not have won the league if you haven’t done it so I was your biggest f***ing fan when you did that!”
Blackburn went on to win the league, a feat they have not managed since, by a single point. Cantona’s absence proved a huge blow for runners-up United, having scored 12 league goals and notched five assists until he was suspended for the remainder of the season.
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2024-07-05T04:49:48Z dg43tfdfdgfd