Gary Lineker aims another dig at BBC over ‘Work from Home’ World Cup as he talks up his own £14m Netflix show – and opens up on his frosty relationship with Jose Mourinho

Gary Lineker has taken a look at the BBC’s coverage of this summer’s World Cup and expressed relief that he won’t be ‘working from a green box in Salford’.

The broadcaster will not be in the US for the tournament and has faced criticism after deciding to run operations from its headquarters in Greater Manchester.

To cut costs, they do not plan to send television commentators to North America for the World Cup until the quarter-final stage.

Lineker has led the BBC’s coverage of major football tournaments for years, but this time he will host The Rest is Football podcast, which has been bought by Netflix for £14 million.

Last May, he was sacked by the BBC for an Instagram post about Zionism that featured a mouse, sparking a debate about antisemitism.

The 64-year-old apologized, admitted his exit was a ‘responsible course of action’ and left without being paid back his £1.4million annual salary.

He will be in New York with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards for the duration of the tournament this summer, and at the launch of Netflix Sports Club he said: ‘I was actually going to do it for the BBC this summer but that didn’t happen and I was going to be in a green box in Salford and now I’m going to be in New York City with a lot of great guests overlooking Times Square.’

He added: ‘We (Alan, Micah and I) are also fans and we’ll all support England, but sometimes when you care that much you’re probably more critical of your own team than anyone else.

‘There was some anger when I said ‘England played terribly’ in the European Championship. And they did. If I had said England were playing really badly it wouldn’t have made the headlines. I only said it because I cared because it was so excruciating and England were lucky to score.

‘You’ve got to tell it like it is, and that’s what we continue to do, and I hope I never have to say anything like that.

Lineker’s World Cup show will air on Netflix every day of the World Cup and will also feature Alex Aljoe and Rob Jones, as well as a host of guests.

At the Netflix launch, Lineker was also asked about his relationship with Jose Mourinho and admitted he still doesn’t know why the legendary manager hasn’t spoken to him in over a decade.

‘He’s up and down. I know this from experience. Jose is fascinating. He would text me all the time… “I love what you said on Match of the Day”… I had that relationship with him. Then he stopped. He stopped. That’s it. To this day I don’t know what I said to upset him.

‘GQ asked me to present him with the athlete of the year award when he was at Chelsea. I said, ‘Of course I will.’ This was after nearly six months of silence.

Jose Mourinho was photographed with Lineker at a charity event at Stamford Bridge in 2005 – broadcaster says he still doesn’t know why the manager stopped talking to him

‘I got a call the day before saying, ‘Jose would prefer it to be presented by someone who has nothing to do with football.’ “I’m still coming,” I said.

‘So I went to him and asked. “Do we have a problem?” I said. “No,” he said. “Are you sure?” I said. “No,” he said. To this day I still don’t know. Maybe it was a bad joke or something.’

Mourinho, currently at Benfica, has been linked with a sensational return to Real Madrid and coach Alvaro Arbeloa is under huge pressure at the Bernabeu.

The club have failed to win a trophy this season and it is increasingly likely that Mourinho will return, something Lineker thinks could well happen.

“I think he has a chance to be the next Real Madrid manager,” Lineker added

‘I think there’s a really good chance. ‘I know the president really loves her.’