Gary Lineker reveals he snubbed Premier League manager job offer – and gives three brutally honest reasons why
GARY LINEKER revealed he turned down the opportunity to work as a manager in the Premier League.
Lineker is arguably the most famous UK media personality thanks mostly to his work as presenter of Match of the Day ever since he took over from Des Lynam in 1999.
However, the popular football show could have looked very different if the ex-England star decided to follow in the footsteps of fellow legends and try his luck in management.
The 62-year-old was offered the top job at Aston Villa and his beloved Leicester in the 1990s.
In fact, the late Doug Ellis – who was Villa chairman from 1982 until 2006 – called the Tottenham legend personally and offered him the position.
But the Barcelona hero turned down the opportunity, just like he did with the Foxes, because that career path never “appealed” to him.
The ex-Everton star was certain that wouldn’t work and is adamant he wouldn’t “have been very good at it”
The popular presenter also remembered how much he disliked training as a player.
Finally, the former striker wouldn’t be able to handle a dressing room as he couldn’t even be able to leave someone out of the team.
Lineker told The Rest Is Football: “It never appealed, for a variety of reasons.
“I don’t think I’d have been very good at it. I don’t think I could have coped with leaving someone out of the team.
“I never really loved training, I found it quite boring most of the time. So if I didn’t like training, I’m not going to really like watching training. It just never, ever, ever crossed my mind.
“I got a couple of job offers, I think Villa, Doug Ellis asked me to be Villa manager, and Leicester did at one point.
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“I got a phone call from Doug Ellis, it was shortly after, I can’t remember the era apart from the fact that it was relatively soon after I’d finished playing.
“And he said, ‘Would you be interested in the Aston Villa job?’ And I just said, ‘Management is not for me, sorry Doug’.”