Gary Lineker got “absolutely smashed” with new Everton manager after tribunal

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Gary Lineker has opened up about how one of his angriest moments quickly turned into a boozy night out with his new manager at Everton.

The former England striker was renowned for keeping his cool on the pitch, having famously never received a yellow card during his 16-year career.

But, in an appearance on the BBC’s Tony Bellew is Angry podcast, the Match of the Day presenter lifted the lid on some of his more difficult moments, admitting that he does get “a bit irate” about politics, and also reflecting on his son George’s battle with Leukemia.

And, towards the end of the episode, Gary was asked to share one of his “angriest” moments, when he remembered the time he had left Leicester to join Everton in 1985, before scoring 40 goals with the side the next season.

The poacher described how he had waited until the end of his contract at his boyhood club before leaving. And, in the days before the Bosman ruling – which enabled players to join another club without a fee being paid at the end of their contract – this meant that Everton and Leicester had to go to a tribunal to settle an amount to be paid.

“The two clubs couldn’t agree, I think Leicester wanted £1.1 million and Everton only wanted to pay £500,000,” he recalled.

So, Gary explained how the two sides had made their case for the striker, remembering: “The Leicester manager gets up and goes, ‘we’re losing a player that's going to score loads of goals for England, he’s going to be a world-class international footballer, it’s a massive load.”

Having heard this praise, Gary said he started to become angry when Howard Kendall, his soon-to-be manager at Everton appeared downbeat about the forward’s potential.

“He goes, ‘we’re taking a massive chance on this kid. I can’t see him really playing in the team in the first year’,” he said.

Gary was left raging, wondering just how bad a mistake he had made leaving for Everton, but this soon dissipated when he realised that the manager had been playing an act in an attempt to negotiate a lower fee for the striker.

“So we walk out the door, Howard comes and puts an arm around my shoulder and he goes, ‘don’t believe any of that b****cks, I’m just saying that, you’ll be playing every game son, don’t worry’,” he laughed.

“Then he walked into a Sainsburys, he got a whole bag, like four bottles of champagne, and I went back on the train with him, and we drank the whole lot on the train.

“Then we went to his favourite Chinese in Southport, and I can’t remember what happened, I was absolutely smashed with my new manager. I loved Howard.”

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• Gary Lineker
• England Football Team
• Everton FC
• Leicester City FC
• Premier League

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