Phil Neville: A career of two halves

Neville has constantly reiterated the critical roles Alex Ferguson and David Moyes played in his playing career and continues to reminisce about Ferguson’s wisdom, post retirement. He said, “He gave us a great lesson when we were doing my B license, with Roy Keane, Gary, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs. When you are a footballer at Manchester United, you are probably looking for a bit of a short-cut or can we get someone in to do the sessions for us, sign it off, and he gave us not a rollicking, but said ‘no fast track to coaching or management.” If Neville does join Moyes in some capacity as a coach once he returns from his stint with the English U-21 side that has been playing at the European Championships, he would have adhered to what Fergie said to him.

Neville’s England career, though he made 59 appearances for his country, was not as successful as he would have wanted it to be. He was left out of the English squad for the 2002 World Cup and though recalled for the Euro 2004 competition, his stint was restricted. He was on the margins all along during Capello’s reign, but only on the margins. In an interesting incident, Neville sought consolation from an unlikely source - Paul Gascoigne – when both of them were left out of the World cup squad of 1998. Though Neville’s international career was marked by these disappointments, he wore his shirt with pride and he did so a considerable number of times. Phil Neville will continue to be cherished by both Manchester United and Everton fans and we will be seeing enough of him in different roles as a media person, pundit and coach.