‘Absolute codswallop’ – Piers Morgan defends ITV reporter over controversial Thomas Tuchel interview

Piers Morgan has jumped to the defence of Gabriel Clarke after the ITV reporter was hit with a wave of criticism for his post-match interviews with Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham at the World Cup.

Clarke has worked for ITV since 1991 and is a familiar face to football fans, widely renowned for his in-depth vignettes and features during the channel’s coverage of England through qualification campaigns and major tournaments.

But Clarke has found himself on the receiving end of a fierce backlash in the 48 hours following England’s quarter-final victory over Norway, with many accusing the 62-year-old of stoking division and tension within the Three Lions’ camp.

After all, it was Clarke who insinuated to Tuchel that his squad may have a ‘mentality’ problem in the immediate aftermath of the 2-1 win, a suggestion the England head coach was quick to dismiss.

Elsewhere in the interview, though, Tuchel admitted his side had got ‘lucky’ and ‘made life difficult for themselves’ with their performance in Miami, as Bellingham once again came to the rescue to steer his country through.

When Bellingham swapped in for Tuchel in front of the ITV cameras, Clarke proceeded to inform the midfielder that his manager was ‘not very happy’, to which Bellingham shrugged, shook his head and replied: ‘Ah well, whatever. Whatever.

‘It’s difficult out there, it’s difficult. It’s a tough shift, all the players have put in a very tough shift so my thoughts and appreciation goes to the players out there who put in a great shift.’

Bellingham and Tuchel were believed to have patched up their somewhat frosty relationship, which came to a head in June 2025 when the Real Madrid star’s on-pitch behaviour was described as ‘repulsive’ by the German.

And while Bellingham’s remarks on Saturday perhaps point to an underlying and ongoing friction between the pair, it is Clarke who has since received much of the blame for the apparent disagreement between player and manager.

‘I just want to highlight, Gabriel Clarke is an absolute disgrace,’ one England supporter said during a talkSPORT phone-in programme on Sunday night.

‘He is! He completely misread Tuchel’s comments about the team playing badly and then he took that comment and ran with it to a tired and emotional Jude Bellingham.’

The caller continued: ‘The is just typical of our media. We destroy our heroes, like Gazza [Paul Gascoigne], [Wayne] Rooney and now Jude.

‘I see it with journalists online, they’re defending Clarke and saying he’s a journalist and not a cheerleader. Well I tell you what, boys, give me a cheerleader because everyone now should be on the same page: all positivity, no negativity.

‘This is the joint-second biggest match in our football history and if we lose I tell you what the narrative will be… they’re going to dig out Jude Bellingham saying he caused bad blood.’

What a load of absolute codswallop… @gabrielclarke05 did his job, superbly well. He asked the right questions, and got very newsworthy answers.
It’s not his fault that Tuchel decided to go nuclear (which I loved) and then of course he had to ask Bellingham about it. https://t.co/NhKiqzYLYm

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 13, 2026

A clip of the interaction was subsequently shared on talkSPORT’s social pages, drawing a mixed reaction from fans and viewers in the lead-up to England’s eagerly anticipated semi-final with defending champions Argentina.

One of the large number who responded was a certain Piers Morgan, who called out the ‘codswallop’ comments made by the talkSPORT caller in question, before praising Clarke on the ‘superb’ job he did getting ‘newsworthy answers’ out of Tuchel and Bellingham.

The journalist and TV personality wrote on X:’What a load of absolute codswallop…

‘Gabriel Clarke did his job, superbly well. He asked the right questions, and got very newsworthy answers.

‘It’s not his fault that Tuchel decided to go nuclear (which I loved) and then of course he had to ask Bellingham about it.’

In response to Morgan’s tweet, talkSPORT presenter Simon Jordan wrote: Yes of course he did … selectively chose parts of what Tuchel said, to curate a response…

‘What a delight our media are and all its creations revel in manipulated, diminishing outcomes. What a winning mentality that is.’

Morgan replied again: ‘We’ll discuss this later on World Cup Uncensored. Suffice it to say, you’re wrong. (And you’re part of the media…whether you admit it or not)’

Bellingham will look to put any possible friction in the background ahead of England’s return to action on Wednesday, with a place in this year’s final against one of France and Spain on the line.

The match will be broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm BST at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Before a ball was kicked this summer, there had been some speculation that Bellingham may not even be in Tuchel’s favoured starting XI – talk which the 23-year-old has since been put to bed.

Only Kylian Mbappe (8), Lionel Messi (8) and Erling Haaland (7) have outscored the former Birmingham City and Borussia Dortmund star (6) with just three games remaining of the tournament, plus the third-place play-off.

Bellingham also scooped his fourth Player of the Match award in six matches with his heroic double as England came from behind to beat Norway.

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