There are fewer more “Marmite” personalities in football than the badge-tugging, seldom-scoring, Carragher-bantering Gary Neville.
The former Manchester United captain turns 40 today and, in honour of his divisive character, we’ve decided to look at the reasons to love/hate the Sky Sports pundit.
1. The Twitter exchanges with Jamie Carragher
Clumsy those number 23’s for Liverpool!
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) January 20, 2015
“@Carra23: @GNev2 Do what you want I’m doing Liverpool.” On Uk Gold with the highlights of their last title! — Gary Neville (@GNev2) January 19, 2015
“@Carra23: @GNev2 And those *FIVE* European Cups don’t forget.✋” Was that when you had to play 4 games to win it! ” The Backpass Cup”
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) January 19, 2015
2. He’s not opposed to throwing his buddies under the bus
Redknapp was a colleague of Neville long before Henry but Gary likes to impress the cool kids.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdgJAuysirA
3. He used to do shuttle runs in the aisles of planes
4. Neville’s not afraid to meet some of his biggest haters
If it was Liam, we reckon this would have gone down a little differently.
5. He’s not the most respectful guy you’re going to meet
He burst out laughing at the mere mention of Liverpool potentially winning the league.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axc3etRBxLI
6. The guy adored his teammates
Paul Scholes got a taste of Neville’s moustache after he scored against Man City.
7. Gaz could be too strict with his players
When on coaching duty for the national side, Neville took umbrage with Jack Wilshere’s insistence on warming up with earphones in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-_lZNFlYNk
8. He loved this Torres goal more than his Valentine’s evening
That’s a roar that’s reserved for the bedroom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReK1waJFhLI
9. He didn’t exactly play the referee well
“I can’t kick the ball at supporters?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHgXzZMfUX4
10. He honours bets
Neville pledged £10,000 to a charity of Piers Morgan’s choosing after Manchester United finished below Arsenal and outside the Premier League’s top five last season.
I owe 10k to charity for a bet with @piersmorgan. Open minded about where it goes but please tweet me your story/charity and I will consider
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) May 18, 2014
11. He taught Danny Welbeck how to beat his man
12. He has more than a touch of the Karl Pilkingtons about him
Neville has a bit of the Karl Pilkington about him when he compares the modernisation of football to the fact that we say latte rather than milky coffee.
13. He was an innovator
Neville took the opposition by surprise with this clever throw-in.
14. His tackle-timing could, at times, make Lee Cattermole look like Paolo Maldini
15. Gold like this
“It’s like having a choice of two blokes to nick your wife.”
16. He could piss off a fan like nobody’s business
In 2006, after United snatched a late winner courtesy of Rio Ferdinand, skipper Gary Neville went as over-the-top as over-the-top celebrations could be in front of the travelling Liverpool support.
17. His dad’s name is Neville Neville
No, really!
18. He doesn’t deal with police well
When being Punk’d by Rio Ferdinand, Gary was approached by two policemen (one Manc and one Scouse) and revealed that he’d prefer to take six points on his licence rather than take a photo with the Liverpudlian.
In fairness, he claimed that it was a refusal to be blackmailed but we reckon the officer’s accent may well have played a part.
19. Great full-back, substandard translator
When the fresh-faced Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t understand the use of the word “confidence” by an interviewer, Neville’s approach was to repeat it, louder, in a Bury accent.
20. He could be … a bit temperamental
In 2004, the United right-back was running at the Manchester City defence before going down dramatically, before head-butting Steve McManaman and getting a yellow card for each offence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CJ2r-4GY9o
21. He can take it, as well as dish it out
Neville soldiered through the opinions of his punditry soul-mate Jamie Carragher when the Liverpool legend said “Nobody wants to grow up and be a Gary Neville.”
22. Sometimes he thought he was Eric Cantona
23. He seems to have fought through 40 years of life with a debilitating fear of water
24. He might have taken games a little too seriously
After playing together between 1992 and 1999, Neville really lost interest in Peter Schmeichel when the legendary ‘keeper joined Manchester City.
25. His choice of words is atrocious
Could he not have said “taking a kid off?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygYnnsWuqvc
26. We wouldn’t call him un-arrogant
His dismissive laugh here niggled us a little bit. Jamie Redknapp, Darren Fletcher and Neville are discussing a matter of opinion and he refuses to accept Redknapp’s because it doesn’t match his own.
27. Gary Neville is a Red Green
The Birthday boy is a very vocal advocate for eco-friendly living and is famous for driving an electric-hybrid car. He also supports the WWF’s cause to protect the rainforest. Good guy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUSa5yhpibY
28. He’s not afraid of making a fool of himself in the name of analysis
When discussing the failure of Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to get to Phil Jagielka’s equaliser when the side’s met last September, Gary Neville all but donned a pair of gloves as he exhibited where he thought the Belgian was at fault.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwm-bOzdUfc
29. He’s extraordinarily dull at home
This scene of David Beckham and Gary Neville having “a quiet night in” in Gary’s mansion is like a comedy skit about monotony. Gary’s biggest worry seems to be finding his wooden spoon and he comes across as being acutely granddad-like.
30. He was one of few to stand up for David Moyes
It’s difficult not to admire Neville for avoiding jumping on the “Moyes out” bandwagon last season. After news of Moyes’ imminent sacking arrived at the Monday Night Football studios, Neville immediately announced his belief that Alex Ferguson’s successor should have been given more time and placed the blame of United’s downfalls on the players rather than the manager.
He also came across as admirably old-school as he lamented the times of old when managers would be, for the most part, guaranteed more than 12 months.
31. He tried to bring the goatee back
32. He doesn’t have a bad drive.
33. He’s a doctor of science (no biggie)
Last year, Neville was given an honorary doctorate by Salford University.
34. Technically, he was behind the famous Keane/Vieira tunnel bust-up
Apparently the Arsenal captain spoke to Gary in a way that upset the easily upsettable Roy Keane who said: “F**king picking on Gary Neville? Pick on one of us!” Troublemaker!
35. He’s actually the livewire of the Neville children
People might be bored by Neville’s monotone Manc accent but he’s like David Lee Roth compared to brother Phil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHmjpcOC-t4
36. He likened United v Liverpool to a pub team game
Of an upcoming clash of the two great rivals, Neville said that the match could be “like the Dog and Duck versus The Red Lion.” Safe to say that irked the United fans as much as it exacerbated the hatred from the Liverpool fans.
37. He’s actually a damn fine analyst
His relationship with Jamie Carragher in the studio is one that Sky Sports could have only dreamt of before they were paired together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCFfRawa0sA
38. He stands up for his beliefs
When Stan Collymore engaged Neville into an argument over Diego Costa’s three-game ban, the former United captain refused to back down. Collymore has since deleted a lot of his tweets around the debate but this gives you the gist.
@StanCollymore you as a player want him banned for 4 games for that.Come on.Ask players to be men and not dive and ban them for opposite
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) January 29, 2015
@StanCollymore it’s called “Tolerance” I didn’t want Suarez kicked out when many did. Human beings that are in an instinctive environment
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) January 29, 2015
39. England coach as well as pundit?
Some have argued that the fact that he’s art of Roy Hodgson’s coaching staff limits the amount of criticism he’s going to lay on England players when he’s covering games for Sky Sports.
It does seem like something of a conflict of interests and it’s understandable for the Neville haters to be perturbed by this.
40. Best right-back in Premier League history?
On the pitch, it’s hard to make a case for any other right-back as the greatest to ever grace the Premier League. While undeniably talented, arguably his greatest strength came in the mental standings. He was seen as the playing embodiment of Alex Ferguson as he took to the field with fierce passion and the philosophy of “it’s the world against us.”
Whatever you think of him, as a pundit or a person, you can’t deny that, at his peak, you’d be hard done by to find a full-back that you’d want in your team ahead of Gary Neville.
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