Football Daily | In defence of Harry Maguire, England’s meme-worthy figure of fun

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If an army general insists on repeatedly sending morale-sapped troops charging into a hail of bullets, it could be argued it is churlish of them to complain when those manning the heavy artillery inevitably mow them down. And yet this is where we find ourselves following England’s win over Scotland in a fairly hostile friendly at Hampden Park. On a day when most headlines should be devoted to the effortless elegance of Jude Bellingham in making Steve Clarke’s side seem far more ordinary than their serene progress towards qualification for Euro 2024 suggests, a lot more coverage is being given to Gareth Southgate’s post-match anger at what he sees as horrifically unfair media treatment of one of his firm favourites, Harry Maguire.

Touching to see Gareth (a man who understands moments of difficulty) bigging up Harry Maguire and giving him that very public vote of confidence despite his woes, much like the many embattled chief suits of popular football clubs do to their managers immediately prior to going their separate ways by mutual consent, sacking, resignation or any other means possible. It can’t be easy being Maguire at the moment, but maybe he could put the smile back on his and everyone else’s faces by simply switching to clown make-up, red nose and fuzzy wig, some of those long shoes they wear, and honking a horn every time he touches the ball. Or go and do a pizza advert and wait for the England job to come up. You never know. It’s a funny old game, football …” – Jeremy Boyce.

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