Gary Lineker has offered his verdict on an incident involving an Everton player yesterday.
And whilst that may seem strange, given the Toffees play tonight, it was actually Sheffield United’s clash with Brighton and Hove Albion where the flashpoint occurred.
After just 12 minutes, as Kaoru Mitoma swanned down the wing with the ball at his feet, Mason Holgate came steaming across to put an end to his driving run.
However, in doing so his challenge was high, wild and emphatic, leaving the Japan international in a heap.
The referee’s yellow card was swiftly upgraded to a red card after a VAR check, and the on-loan Everton man was rightly dismissed.
What Gary Lineker said about Mason Holgate
Well, given his co-host Alan Shearer had described the challenge as ‘shocking’ in that same podcast, the former Everton and Barcelona striker took a far more measured approach to his analysis.
If anything, he actually jumps to the defence of the defender, even if he admits that the challenge was a ‘moment of madness’.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the 63-year-old notes: ‘The sending off was a moment of madness. I think honestly he just tried to kick the ball hard and followed through and missed the ball.’
‘Really?’ Shearer questioned.
‘Yeah, I don’t think he went to do him. It doesn’t make anything,’ Lineker replied. ‘Genuinely. You know what slow motion is like, but if you see it from a distance in normal speed I think he went to kick the ball and missed it, with a bit of aggression, I don’t think he deliberately went and booted him even though it does look like it.’
Mason Holgate doing his Everton career no favours
Loan moves can have numerous purposes behind them in football.
Some might be just to free up some wages for a star who is not yet ready to move on permanently, whilst others are to afford game time to those who deserve it but are not quite yet ready for the first team.
In Holgate’s case, it kind of feels like he belongs in the former camp, although it is widely expected that his days attached to Everton are numbered anyway.
Especially under Sean Dyche’s leadership, who has seemingly made it abundantly clear that the 27-year-old is simply not in his plans.
The speed with which he was shipped out in the summer emphasises that.
This loan spell was expected to put him in the shop window, and, should he enjoy a miraculous run of form, perhaps return to Goodison Park ready to play a part under this new leadership.
Well, his two torrid spells with Southampton and now Sheffield United will have done his career little good now.
In fact, not only will his parent club be dreading welcoming him back in the coming summer, but it will take an almighty task to convince another club to take a chance on him permanently.
His career is at a real crossroads at the moment, and yesterday’s moment of madness will certainly not have opened any new doors for him.
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