Gary Neville, I’ll Miss You

Ah, Gary Neville: Red Nev. GNev, Gaz, whatever! I’ll miss you, mate. Indeed, I’m going to miss him more almost as much as Becks does on the field. In a professional sports world where players change clubs almost as fast as their skanky WAGS, Nev always did it differently. A lot of the tributes this week have described him as ‘Old School’, a ‘Socialist’, a ‘Hard-Man’ and ‘mean-spirited’. Since when has being possessed with winning been a fault.?

First of all, as a footballer, he had a fantastic sense of positioning. Playing behind someone like David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo surely is a dream come true, but Gaz Neville had the kind of brilliant positional sense where he was always aware of when to push up and when to drop back. Gary was never the second winger-type that is so fashionable now, yet his crossing ability was second to none. One of my favorite Red Nev tricks was his ability to execute fantastically perfect pinpoint throw-ins, especially to the twinkletoed Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer, who would often take them on the run and flick them in the net brilliantly.

A ferocious tackler, constantly aware of everything going on around him, his head always panning this way and that, like a Secret Service bodyguard in a thriller, Red Nev was obsessed with his job. Always shouting at his teammates–ever aware of positioning–he was in his element when his buddy Becks’ was captain because the pretty one had that soft little Dagenham twang. Loud, Bury loud, Gary Neville is not shy! Like a battlefield sergeant for the Gaffer and his captain of the time , Gary Neville took a lot of flak for Roy Keane, Beckham, and, finally for himself. He may never have been the most popular player, but he was always one of the most intelligent.

The group of United players Gaz Neville came up with–Giggs, Butt, Scholes, Beckham, Phil Neville — were all quiet lads. Gary really was “Dead Bury!” though. He was the leader and their spokesman. Gaz Neville was always point-man followed by Becks. First in training, first in the weight room, first on the track, first on the plane, first in the cafeteria. This was all right at Carrington, but served to piss off the other little clans from Liverpool and the Arse in the England squad. Did Gary care? Nope!

The same group of United mates would be out in the Manny nightclubs, always with but slightly aloof from Mick Hucknell and his entourage as well as as Barney, Pete, Howard and the rest of the hipper-than-thou crowd who just wanted to bask in being near them. Becks may have fallen for the pop star bullshit, but never Gaz Neville, who always protected his boys like a mother hen.

I’ve interviewed a certain very famous guitarist from Manchester a couple of times and he’s just not the sort of geezer who will say anything interesting about himself, but just ask him about Gaz Neville and Becks. “Close on the sod, right back/right winger. Roommates. Always ate together. They grew up together, man. Do you think it didn’t break his heart when David married Posh and took on his own separate entourage? And was Becks the same with Sergio Ramos or Michel Salgado behind him? Nah! Bloody shame, innit?”

Will he make a good manager? I’m not sure because, like Roy Keane, he has difficulty dealing with stupidity and ignorance. A natural nurturer, to be sure, I’m not certain he could do well with the likes of Ravel Morrison or Andy Carroll. Still, according to a number of different interviews I’ve read with the Da Silva brothers, Gary has been a brilliant, committed tutor to both of them.

Sir Alex Ferguson has been Neville’s mentor for twenty years and he thinks he’ll make a superb manager. When it comes to mental toughness, along with Roy Keane, there is no one capable of competing with him. Instead of making Jose Mourinho the instantaneous successor to the Gaffer, I would suggest that, after a few more seasons of coaching that a yin/yang pairing of Gary Neville and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might just work as a pairing to carry on the tradition.

Anyone who wants to know what kind of geezer Gaz Neville really is ought to watch him on Rio Ferdinand’s TV candid camera gag program ‘World Cup Windups.’ . Watch as he rejects substituting a fan photo taken with a Scouser copper as an alternative to a visit to the police station and a date in court. Brilliant!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mhNpHHa3TA
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Category: Manchester United