Neville has blasted the players responsible for the leaks
Gary Neville has claimed he knows which Manchester United players are responsible for leaking information to the press in recent weeks.
Speaking on his podcast from St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon, Neville delivered a typically frank assessment of his former club’s current position having watched them drop more points at home to Southampton on Saturday.
The 1-1 draw continued a turbulent spell for United, who failed to capitalise on a dominant first half display against Burnley and suffered an embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of Championship side Middlesbrough in their previous two outings.
The sense that all is not well behind closed doors at United was also reflected in reports that several of the first team squad were unimpressed with Ralf Rangnick’s “old-fashioned” training methods. United’s players were said to be confused as to why Chris Armas, Rangnick’s assistant, was leading the sessions, jokingly referring to the American as “Ted Lasso”.
“I thought that was downright disrespectful on Friday,” Neville says. “I didn’t find it funny at all that they were describing the number two of Ralf Rangnick as Ted Lasso. I thought it was disrespectful; I thought it was disgusting, in fact.
“In fact it summed up what I think of them, that they are disrespectful. If I was Ralf Rangnick and his assistant I’d gain strength from that because I wouldn’t want to be on the same page as some of those players that are leaking those types of stories.”
Comparing the situation, Neville recalled one of his earliest experiences working for Sky, when he covered Chelsea in one of their final games under Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese manager had decided to leave out several prominent players for a Champions League game with Napoli.
“That is what managers tend to do in their final days at a club, as they see it as a free hit,” Neville said. “I remember sitting there at lunchtime with our team and they were getting messages of team news being leaked and the manager being slagged off, and I sat there thinking “does this actually happen?”
“Players’ agents and PR teams were briefing the media on a matchday about what was going on inside a club, and it was the first time I had seen it and known for it to happen. It really unnerved me.
“That is happening at Manchester United now – they are at it, the PR teams, the agents and the marketing teams, as a self-preservation for their own player.
“But what they don’t realise is that unfortunately, when they go to the media, then those media people go to us – so we know who is briefing.
“Now, obviously, we’re not going to throw people under a bus here because you have that journalistic respect. But the fact of the matter is they’re at it, just like the Chelsea team were all those years ago. This Manchester United team are at it: self preservation, looking after one another, excuses, all the time. Stop it. Go in, work as hard as you can, represent you, your family, the club the very best you can every single game.
“If you get picked, go for it. If you don’t get picked support that lads on the pitch who are there. That’s it, that’s your job.”
Despite United’s stuttering form, they lie just a point off the top four with a game in hand – though could be overtaken by the likes of Arsenal, Wolves and Tottenham who have games in hand over them.
They return to action on Tuesday when they face Brighton at Old Trafford.
Related links:
- Ralph Hasenhüttl’s is brutally blunt in appraisal of Man United’s problems
- Paul Scholes claims Man United appointed a ‘sporting director’ instead of a manager
- A number of Man United players call assistant manager ‘Ted Lasso’, according to report
