My pal Gary Lineker has been brilliant on MOTD – but he wasn’t happy when I told him he’s even more divisive than ME

THREE weeks ago, I dined with Gary Lineker at an Italian restaurant in West London, along with England cricket legend Stuart Broad and Sky TV newsman Mark Austin.

It went the way all our regular dinners go; a friendly welcome hug to start (Gary’s always bang on time, a legacy from when he’d be fined for every minute he was late for football training), a couple of Negronis to loosen the tonsils, and then, as the fine wine flowed, a series of intense, passionate arguments about everything from the Israel/Hamas and Russia/Ukraine wars to Trump, illegal immigration, and Thomas Tuchel becoming England manager. 

Gary’s a smart, funny, loyal guy and always excellent company.

We probably agree on more things than we disagree, but both enjoy fiery conversational combat, and however contentious things may get, our evenings together always end as this one did, with another hug, and a resolve to do it again soon.

One thing’s for sure; although Gary’s not always right and can be amusingly stubborn when he is clearly wrong, he always means what he says, thinks about things surprisingly deeply, and he practices what he preaches, even taking a war-torn refugee into his home.

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He’s also been a brilliant Match of the Day host, and live sport presenter.

And of course, he was one of England’s best-ever footballers.

So, amusing though it is to see how angry some people get about him, and his right to express his opinions – he got particularly incensed over dinner when I said he was now a more divisive public figure than me! – the bottom line is this: he’s a good bloke, with a good heart, and extremely successful at everything he puts his mind to.

Which is more, I suspect, than can be said for a lot of his most vociferous critics.