Gary Lineker makes Celtic star the butt of his one-liner as he's asked 'how long did it take to think of that'
The Celtic man had an unfortunate moment on a big international stage.
A Celtic star has been made the subject of a Gary Lineker joke after an unfortunate moment on international duty.
Liam Scales was part of the Republic of Ireland side that was thrashed 5-0 by England on Sunday. The defender and his teammates held the Three Lions to 0-0 by half-time, but having already been booked for a challenge on Harry Kane, the Celtic centre-back was booked again for bringing down Jude Bellingham in the box.
This prompted a flurry of England goals as Ireland collapsed without him following his red card. Match of the Day host Lineker, fellow England icon Alan Shearer and Man City hero Micah Richards were discussing the game afterwards.
In a not so subtle reference to the Celtic man, Lineker said on the Rest is Football podcast: “The Scales of the game tipped in England’s favour when they got the red card.”
Richards pounced instantly, asking “how long did it take you to think of that.?” Lineker responded jokingly: “You know how long it took me because I put it in on the group chat in about 12 seconds after it happened!”
Republic of Ireland boss, Heimir Hallgrimsson, was left bemused by what happened in the early stages of the second half. Hallgrimsson said to RTE when asked if the red card changed the match: “We will never know that. We would just never know that.
“It was six minutes, eight minutes of madness. We, of course, end up conceding a penalty. Losing the ball is one thing, not reacting to it is another. Then conceding a penalty, losing a player. So it was a lot of shock. One zero down, and then in your face, you get the second one.
“And I just felt that we just lost our heads at that moment. After that there was no way back. I felt that was no way back. Yeah, we kind of just gave up, easy to stand outside and criticize the players but it was king of a crazy moment that killed everything.”