Probably because Scholes isn’t the most prominent UK football pundit on telly? Are you really suggesting the reason he’s getting more criticism than Scholes for his punditry is because of his political opinions?
Gary Neville - Pundit
- Thread starter Jamie Shawcross
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I often disagree with Neville's takes but the reactions here are over the top. Roy Keane is even more critical of Man Utd but no one gives a toss about it. They all get god mad at Neville's statements about Sesko but if you go to the player performance thread of Cafe, they're saying the same exact thing as Neville does.
Exactly, great point.
Even if people want to criticise it's fine but using terms like twat and prick seems wild
Agree there, but Scholes has, in my opinion, been far more cutting towards United. As has Keane, who is on Super Sunday weekly and has been far more critical of some players - Bruno for example.
Roy Keane the pundit - no activity since 2021. Why would that be when he has savaged United regularly?
I think it's part of the picture. Could also be over-saturation as he is on TV every weekend, plus The Overlap now. And some just don't like his personality. Maybe some of jealous of his success outside of football?
But also think that we treat our ex-players differently. Scholes and Keane are United legend status. Neville is a rung or two below that.
Neville might be a rung or two below as a player but definitely not as a legend. They are all in the same legend tier. People don't take what Keane says as seriously because his whole bit is the grumpy old man shouting at clouds and Scholes is just one of the most boring people to listen to of all time and I say that as someone who loved him as a player. Neville is regarded as the main authority on PL football along with Carragher and his podcast he does with Martin Tyler, the overlap stuff and the commentary stuff means he has a huge influence on what the topics being discussed will be. Neville can create and shape narratives a lot more than the other two and when he chooses to do so against Manchester Uniteds best interests, of course the fans have a right to be pissed.
This post almost sounds like you want Neville to go all North Korea "everything is great, the club are doing a great job" meanwhile United are 15th tremendous
There is a huge gap between Carragher/North Korea style and what Neville does. Pundits can and do straddle that line of being fair and objective while not going over the top into clickbait. Owen Hagreaves for eg
I disagree Hargreaves is terrible. If United and the players were doing an objectively good job he wouldn't have anything to say but they aren't so he can say what he wants.
On top of that he regularly says worse stuff about other clubs and players David Luiz like a playstation player, bottle jobs, Kerkez has got absolute pelters from him to name 3, the way you lot go on he only says shit about United he says stuff about all clubs many times worse than what he says about United
We're just going to have to agree to disagree. He literally said " This United team, you almost want them to get beat", he made up a story about Bruno wanting to be subbed. Show me any other pundit saying or doing something like that about a team they are a legend of.
He called a whole team billionaire bottle jobs for crying out loud, he says shit sometimes in the heat of the moment sometimes it's probably a bit off key but no more so than most United fans do when we are getting our arse handed to us at A field.
But fair to move on I don't think we'll agree and thats fine.
Neville’s nothing more than a Sky shill these days. Rage baiting fans by spouting absolute shite. Click baiting nonsense. They’re no better than TalkSport at this point and the double standards when it comes to how certain clubs get treated couldn’t be more obvious at this point.
Scholes and Keane just say what they are thinking, there seems to be no hidden agenda with these two, they say it as they see it.
Neville just comes across as a unlikeable individual to me, he seems to crave acceptance for some reason and there is always some kind of hidden agenda to everything he says.
Scholes and Keane are not interested in any of that, they are just two United legends who love football and hate to see how far United have fallen.
Neville wants to be a media star, a politician and a property magnet, the guy craves power.
Neville just comes across as a unlikeable individual to me, he seems to crave acceptance for some reason and there is always some kind of hidden agenda to everything he says.
Scholes and Keane are not interested in any of that, they are just two United legends who love football and hate to see how far United have fallen.
Neville wants to be a media star, a politician and a property magnet, the guy craves power.
Saying the under fire captain of a club wants to come off in the middle of a 7-0 drubbing at Anfield is not "off key". It is a lie and only serves to instigate a pile on.
As has been mentioned above - He holds influence due to being on Sky and the success of his own YouTube channels and, for me at least, with that should come more care and thought in how he communicates his opinions.
At the start I thought people where over exaggerating the way he commented towards MU, mostly because I saw how upset and happy he got when we lost or won, so I thought "he's just a frustrated MU fan, like most of us". Also during those Stick to Football he seems a bit better when talking about MU.
But now with the, imo, unfair criticism towards Sesko and staying mostly quiet when talking about Squirtz and Liverpool. Then now looking back at the way he's spoken about MU and keeps on talking about our club. It genuinely comes off as a, well what you said, a media shill that's just there to rage bait MU fans and spread what seems to be a media agenda towards MU, considering how much attention we get, compared to any of the other "Big 6".
agree with both of you
I mean, some would argue Clayton Blackmore is a United legend, so I guess that is all subjective.
But I think Keane and Scholes are ranked in the upper echelon at United all time greats, which is why it's surprising to hear you dont think their words are not taken seriously.
It wasn't long ago Amorim was being asked about Keane comments in pressers, so I think his words carry weight. And when he is calling out Bruno, for example, that isn't a bit.
You bring up Carragher. He said Wirtz needs to be benched a couple of weeks back. Has Neville said anything as savage than that?
And its Peter Drury. Martin Tyler left Sky Sports a few years back.
What was unfair?
Why would he be craving acceptance? He's been in the Sky Sports job for 15 years.
And what do you think the "hidden agenda" may be?
I very much agree with nearly all of Neville's politics but I can't help but be infuriated at how he plays the Uncle Tom role when it comes to slating everything about United and not doing the same across the board.
Yup, I’m really surprised at how many United fans on here and our prominent social media fans like Mckola etc have been over this alleged heavy Sesko criticism.
I feel like I’ve missed something almost but no like you said it’s just some very thin skinned United fans.
Agree 100%. Gary gives of a fake vibe. Pandering to the masses.
Nope you were right the first time. You're missing something. Gary trying to come off non biased is looking biased. People are just calling him out on it. Thats what you do to people who are in that type of position. If their is never any "policing" then they can just spew non sense to boost their ratings. And thats what Gary did. And he is getting called out on it.
The Youtuber that said Ole was worse for United than the Munich Air Disaster instantly lost his right to criticise Neville (or anyone for that matter) for being too harsh on the team the moment he said that.
And yet so many fans are so blind to what he is doing. If he was not a legend, he would be called a bitter..
I said as seriously. Of course their word still carries weight just not as much as Neville.
He was right to call out Bruno. Keane is one of the greatest players and captains we've ever had so when he sees bad play and bad captaining he might go off. It's very different to Neville making up a lie about Bruno.
Saying a player needs to be benched is not savage. Neville has said Ugarte is 'not a Manchester united player' That's definitely more damning than saying someone should be benched.
My mistake on the podcast co host.
Why would he say Ole? He said Woodward. Not that I enjoy defending Howson.
Not many players are ever judged based on five starts at a new club in a new country. For good reason.
I think some people can’t see past their own opinion and just because it aligns with Neville’s it doesn’t change the fact that Sesko has started five games.
This is definitely NOT the time to place judgements particularly when you’re an ex United player with a prominent media role pushing agenda’s for your own personal benefit.
Neville has caused problems for United. He’s led a rush to analyse and ambush Sesko. Two weeks of him calling Sesko out directly for his impact (5 starts into his United career) has led to multiple articles published questioning him, Amorim having to field questions and Match Of The Day basing its entire United analysis on Sesko, who had come on as sub and went off injured 25 mins later. Shearer stating (over the top) that ‘you’d expect both those ‘chances’…loose term…to end up in goals…When you really wouldn’t ‘expect’ any such thing.
Neville is piling undue pressure on Sesko to show how impartial he is.
He’s also stated as fact that Bruno asked to come off at Anfield. When he doesn’t know that to be true at all. Leading to multiple sources repeating the claim.
He called Pogba taking a penalty ‘treason’ leading to him being racially abused and than refused to apologise.
The guy is a narcissist. He’s an utter moron.
I think some people can’t see past their own opinion and just because it aligns with Neville’s it doesn’t change the fact that Sesko has started five games.
This is definitely NOT the time to place judgements particularly when you’re an ex United player with a prominent media role pushing agenda’s for your own personal benefit.
Neville has caused problems for United. He’s led a rush to analyse and ambush Sesko. Two weeks of him calling Sesko out directly for his impact (5 starts into his United career) has led to multiple articles published questioning him, Amorim having to field questions and Match Of The Day basing its entire United analysis on Sesko, who had come on as sub and went off injured 25 mins later. Shearer stating (over the top) that ‘you’d expect both those ‘chances’…loose term…to end up in goals…When you really wouldn’t ‘expect’ any such thing.
Neville is piling undue pressure on Sesko to show how impartial he is.
He’s also stated as fact that Bruno asked to come off at Anfield. When he doesn’t know that to be true at all. Leading to multiple sources repeating the claim.
He called Pogba taking a penalty ‘treason’ leading to him being racially abused and than refused to apologise.
The guy is a narcissist. He’s an utter moron.
No im not missing anything, just stuff like that doesn’t bother me, at all. I know Neville sometimes can say things to try and appear unbiased, especially during commentary, but the way people are reacting you’d think he’d call Sesko the worse ever United signing or something.
Honestly if you’re a United fan and you DIDNT expect Sesko to come in and do little and then subsequently be questioned then I think that’s your own fault because it was very obvious how this would play out.
United fans should be venting anger towards the board.
There are several prominent United pundits on TV, Sesko was a big money signing who again was unlikely to be successful and so at some point one of those pundits was going to go “Sesko hasn’t settled etc etc.
All the big money signings who haven’t hit the ground running have been questioned. Isak, Wirtz, Gyokeres, Xavi Simons. Yes sometimes United players get it a bit more (but that’s a combination of size of club and United usually doing badly) but the idea that all these other big money signings are getting off Scott free is simply not true. But lots of United fans live in bubbles and are apparently very very thin skinned and repeatedly get very upset over things Gary Neville says. Despite everything he says being said on this forum.
It should not come as a surprise that ‘football supporter critiques and criticises own club more than other clubs’.
Manchester United have got most things wrong over the last decade and continue to do so. There is little point in pouring glitter over what has been a shitshow. Thing with Neville is, he spends every pre season predicting we’ll finish top 4. It only takes us winning a few games during a season for him to start saying we’re on the up. He is very pessimistic a lot of the time.
Liverpool won the league last season and sky sports pundit and Liverpool legend/supporter Jamie Carragher proclaimed they needed several signings.
After two games this season he said Liverpool did not look right and he was worried.
He said Wirtz should be benched, Isak was an ego signing and basically called Konate shite.
That’s a team that won the league last year…
Honestly it’s really important that some of you guys look at things beyond the United prism.
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Has Carragher made up lies about a Liverpool player like Neville did about Bruno? It's not about the volume of his criticism, it is the more the lack of context and the timing of certain comments that you know are just designed to make a splash on the internet, which reveals nothing more than a cynical self-interest.
I think it's important to call out self-serving punditry from an ex-player. Again, were he not a legend, nobody would be out here defending his ridiculous takes and biases.
Familiarity breeds contempt. Neville is mainly guilty of over exposure. I like him but I am getting tired of him and Carragher. The broadcasters need to mix things up a bit. Keane will never get old for me though. He just has that charisma and personal presence that the others lack.
Re Bruno, Neville got that wrong re asking to be subbed - though only according to ETH, who obviously wants to protect his player. That doest mean he lied.
Both were right to call out Bruno that day. His performance and captaincy was an absolute disgrace. Screaming and holding his face after being touched in the chest and putting hands on the linesman. Lucky not to receive a ban.
Carragher saying Wirtz needs to be benched is far more "savage" than Neville saying the jury is still out on Sesko.
Re Ugarte - is there any objection there?
What makes you sure that any comments are designed to make a splash?
How can you be sure that he isn't just saying what he sees and believes? Same for any pundit, commentator or even fan.
So the player and the manager denied it but you're still unconvinced. Sure. I criticized the hell out of Bruno after that game and have no problem with anyone criticizing him but making up a lie about the captain of the team you support and are a legend of after the worst loss in their history is pathetic slimy behavior.
I don't have a problem with what Neville has said about Sesko. I agree its pretty mild but I understand some people see a pattern with him and don't like it.
Re Ugarte My point wasnt that Ugarte is good enough but that Neville has said much harsher things about United players than other pundits do about the team they support/ are a legend of.
Erm yeah, Mo Salah to begin with…
Anyway Neville didn’t “make up lies”. He was sat in commentary watching United get humiliated at Anfield and made a snap and incorrect judgment after misinterpreting Bruno’s body language believing that he had asked to be substituted. It’s not some grand inquisition. It was clearly an emotive made comment at a time where Bruno was putting in one of the most unprofessional displays ever seen. He didn’t proceed to spend the next several weeks claiming Bruno asked to be subbed.
I honestly could not tell you one ridiculous take or bias that Neville has used against United.
I know during games he gets weird about decisions and tries to show favour with the opposition to not appear biased. But you’ll have to point me to where all these ridiculous takes and biases have been.
Gary Neville says lots and lots of things. I’m not sure I’d be able to ascertain which ones are done to make a splash on the internet. Clearly there are more qualified people than me who can form this clarity.
No, im not unconvinced. It is more than likely that Neville got it wrong. If someone gets something wrong, that doesn't make it a lie. You have to knowingly say something that is untrue for it to be a lie.
But also, even if it was true, are Bruno and ETH going to come out and say he was asking to be subbed? No.
We know one person that day definitely did lie......
Many do have a massive issue about what he said about Sesko, hence the last 5 pages of this thread.
I'm glad someone here knows the difference between a lie and a mistake.
The only person who can provide that clarity would be Neville himself.
Personally, I don't think any comments are made to make a splash. Does he think fully before he speaks every time? No, but he is on live TV and there is always a certain level of passion when watching or talking about football - especially the club he loves. Not all takes will be perfectly considered, measured, correct or provide full context.
Fact is, the main pundit and commentator on Sky Sports, and now pundit on NBC, happens to be a ex United captain at a time where United are struggling. Im sure he would love to see United winning every week, but were in an era where there has been much to criticize.
If people really think he says things just to make a splash, then he is doing a poor job of that because he could have been 10x more critical of some of the shit we have seen over the last 10 years.
I dont think it is so much what he says, it is the recycling of those comments by the journalists to then stretch out the story when they seek comment from the manager. We see even more of this of late since we are playing one game a week, news weeks are slow and there isnt much actual football to focus on.
If you get something like that wrong and it is a mistake then after the parties have come out and denied it then you hold your hands up and say I was wrong. To my knowledge Neville has never done that.
I think Neville is a symptom of Sky's dreadful coverage. It's more important to stoke up controversy and keep a negative narrative going to fuel their content needs for a 24 hour news cycle rather than actually analyse a whole game.
They spend a countless amount of time stoking up whatabouttery on social media to wind supporters up. They focus on countless replays that show why a referee's decision was wrong or why X should have been sent off to the point where it's almost a controversy factory rather than a sports channel. Clearly done to drive up engagement.
They spend a countless amount of time stoking up whatabouttery on social media to wind supporters up. They focus on countless replays that show why a referee's decision was wrong or why X should have been sent off to the point where it's almost a controversy factory rather than a sports channel. Clearly done to drive up engagement.
G Neville only loves him self. If he had any opportunity to leave UTD like Giggs, Scholes ect he would do it. But he hadn't any because he was mediocre player. Even worse pundit.
Interesting opinion.