Lineker feels the sting in the Wimbledon tail

WIMBLEDON united behind their captain Vinnie Jones yesterday to launch a stinging attack on soccer's "Mr Nice Guy" Gary Lineker, calling him "a loser" and "as wet as a jellyfish."

The players - dubbed the Crazy Gang - launched their verbal volley in a suitably bizarre press release, illustrated by jellyfish and signed by the entire team, in response to Lineker after the BBC TV sports presenter reopened conflict with Jones and his club.

In an interview in this week's Radio Times, the former England captain was in unusually robust form, labelling Jones a "self-hyped personality" who isn't a good player and no benefit to the game

The criticism of Wimbledon's strongman captain was coupled with digs at Alex Ferguson - a strange bloke" - and Lineker's former England colleague Paul Gascoigne, who "has an in-built self-destruct button, like a naughty schoolboy."

Then came the Wimbledon sting. "In his typical selfish way," said the players, "Lineker is trying to promote himself as a strong man with strong opinions. But it can never happen. He will always be perceived as a wimp."

Next to one illustration of a jellyfish, they said: "Lineker has the charisma of a jellyfish - and is just as wet. He is a jellyfish without a sting and in a war, he would have been the first to line up - behind Vinnie Jones - and the first to run for cover.

"The men he has attacked are all winners by nature and deed and he clearly envies them for one thing he will never have - a personality. He would never have dared to make those comments directly to Vinnie, Alex or Paul."

Lineker angered Wimbledon three years ago when he said, after one of their televised games, that he might as well have followed the match on Teletext.

Wimbledon now responded:

"The BBC has spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to make him the new face of television sport but he simply has no charisma or presence about him and is a waste of the television licence fee."

His dig at Ferguson followed Manchester United's manager once saying Lineker "was too good to be true."

Lineker retorted: "What does that mean? I doubt he knows. He's a strange bloke, irritated by everyone, I think."