Gary Neville should perhaps think about broadening his horizons into political punditry.
Neville was on ITV for the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon and while France and Croatia played out an absolute classic, the former Manchester United right-back gave us a comment which many viewers have described as the moment of the tournament.
The 2018 World Cup will be remembered for several moments. You had Cristiano Ronaldo’s stunning free-kick in the early stages, you had the hope provided by Gareth Southgate’s England side and you had the emergence of Kylian Mbappe on the world stage.
You also had Gary Neville describing Boris Johnson and David Davis as “muppets.”
Last week saw Davis and Johnson resign from their posts as Brexit Secretary and Foreign Secretary respectively and Neville somehow managed to shoehorn their names into his discussion of France’s World Cup triumph.
While praising Russia for how they’d organised the tournament, Neville suggested that British football fans ought to take a long, hard look at their own politicians.
“There was so much scaremongering before this tournament about how it was going to go and how it was going to be bad,” Neville said as the presentation ceremony took place.
https://twitter.com/Cheema_FC/status/1018550723305459713
“Everybody’s got their dream tournament when they’re growing up, mine was 1982.
“I think this tournament has been the greatest tournament I’ve ever seen. It’s been unbelievable.
“You see Putin there and obviously he’s got this horrible reputation. He might not be a saint.
“But we’ve got a couple of muppets back home! You’ve got Boris Johnson and David Davis and those guy who’ve just resigned. They’re absolute muppets, these guys.
“We’ve come here this month to Moscow and it’s been absolutely brilliant. The whole tournament has been amazing. I’m actually sad that the tournament’s finished because it’s been wonderful.”
It goes without saying that Neville’s comments went down well online.
Huge respect for Gary Neville calling Boris Johnson and David Davis "a couple of muppets" live on air. #FRACRO #WorldCupFinal #BrexitShambles
— Tom Sutherland 🔶🇪🇺🇵🇱 (@SimplySuvo92) July 15, 2018
BBC
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. Gary Neville calling David Davis and Boris Johnson "muppets"
ITV WIN WORLD CUP 2018
— Oldfirmfacts (@Oldfirmfacts1) July 15, 2018
Fair enjoyed the #worldcup2018 but the highlight has definitely been @gnev2 calling Boris Johnson a muppet live on tv 👍🏻👍🏻😂 #FRACROA
— Lorna McA (@brisbanebairn) July 15, 2018
@GNev2 on Boris and David Davis…😂 couple of Muppets back home #WorldCupFinal #BrexitShambles
— khaled hussain (@Idiosyncritic0) July 15, 2018
Gary Neville calls David Davis and baffon Boris muppets He isn,t wrong@Conservatives @DailyMailUK .Speaking for the many not the few.
— ANDREW ABEL (@poneytail) July 15, 2018
Gary Neville just called Boris Johnson a muppet during #WorldCupFinal2018. Hilarious!
— Matt Birch (@mattbirchdesign) July 15, 2018
What a special @FIFAWorldCup tournament. Absolutely outstanding and a reminder of everything good about football and why we love it. Special mention though to @gnev2 who produced my moment of the tournament, calling Boris and David Davis ‘muppets’, which of course they are!!
— Scott (@junenius) July 15, 2018
Loving @GNev2 calling Boris Johnson & David Davis “absolute muppets” on @itvfootball! He’s not wrong! Great coverage all tournament, hats off to the entire @ITV Team #FRACRO #WorldCup18 #WorldCupFinal #WorldCup
— Emmet Kennedy (@RadioEmmet) July 15, 2018
Fair play @GNev2 labelling Boris and Davis Muppets. Slightly unfair to the Muppets though 😂😂
— Simon Cumpsty (@thecumpster) July 15, 2018
@GNev2 calling Boris Johnson and David Davis absolute muppets is possibly the high point of this world cup
— David Scriven (@djscriv) July 15, 2018
Best moment of the #WorldCupFinal Gary Neville calling Boris Johnson and David Davis a couple of Muppets 😂😂
— Adam (@InnsAdam) July 15, 2018
A brilliant tournament and a captivating final is capped off with Gary Neville calling David Davis and Boris Johnson muppets. Perfect.#WorldCupFinal #WorldCup
— Amateur Opinion Haver (@neilcaff) July 15, 2018