Gary Neville and Jamie Redknapp got in to a furious bust-up live on Sky Sports talking after Manchester United’s defeat at Brentford.
The duo had a heated debate after the Red Devils were beaten 4-0 in West London in what was another abysmal display.
Erik ten Hag has had the worst possible start to life as Manchester United boss with two defeats in their opening two Premier League fixtures.
Despite spending upwards of £50m on a central defender in Lautaro Martinez this summer, the club’s problems are still prominent and pressure is growing on the owners with an ‘Empty Old Trafford protest’ already in the plans for the game against Liverpool.
Neville started a passionate rant during the post-match analysis on Sky Sports, before the debate with fellow pundit Redknapp got rather awkward. Here’s every word said from it.
Neville began: “I think those players, to be fair, (Christian) Eriksen and (Lisandro) Martínez are new. A five foot nine centre-half away at Brentford is very difficult and I think he’s seen that. But those players, we’ve told the story of them now for 12 months and I feel like we’re continuously saying the same things about the same people.
“However, I cant believe eight months out, nine months ago, Ralf Rangnick said that Manchester United needed open heart surgery. He was the guy that was going to come in and direct this club moving forward beyond his coaching role, so they’ve obviously not listened to him – or they’ve got complete inability to be able to bring the players into the club.
“That’s the problem now, Manchester United in the past 10 years have always answered the fans’ anger through money and spending in the transfer market. The problem is now, nobody wants to take their money and that’s a massive issue.”
Redknapp then replied: “Maybe no one wants to come here at the moment.”
To which Neville responded: “That’s what I’m saying, nobody wants to take their money. I mean at the end of the day, they can’t spend the money and that’s a big problem. I said at half-time, if you’re a player watching that performance in the first-half, what are you thinking about coming to this club. It’s a great football club, it’s a magic football club, it’s been the biggest thing in my life and I couldn’t be more proud to support the club.
“But at this moment in time, it is really desperate. There’s no leadership, there is no voice, you can’t blame the individual player or the manager. You’ve got to look above, you have to the very top now. This week, honestly, they’re going to get peppered those players. The coach, the sporting department, the new CEO, they’re all going to get peppered. But there’s a family over there in America who are literally just letting their employees take all the hits for them and that is unforgivable.
“Joel Glazer has got to get on a plane tomorrow, come to Manchester and he’s got to start to divert the issues away from the club and tell everybody what the hell his plan is with the football club. What is he doing?”
Things got a little more heated as Redknapp tried to reply, before Neville cut him off and said: “No, no no. You’ve had a go at the players before the break Jamie.”
“But you can’t keep blaming the owners when the players are performing like that,” Redknapp said. “If you’re a player, do you actually think to yourself-”
Neville continued to attempt to cut him off, but Redknapp went on: “When you’re a player, and I’ve been there, we didn’t win the league for 30 years at Liverpool,” he began, before calling his fellow pundit out. “Just look at me when I’m talking to you. We didn’t win the league for 30 years.”
Neville attempted to cut in again: “You had a go at the players before the break.”
“No,” Redknapp responded. “I’m not having a go at the players. But they have to take responsibility. When you’re a player do think ‘oh, wonder what Joel Glazer is doing tomorrow’. I couldn’t care less! You have to do better for the team when you play.”
G Nev then said: “How many times are we going to sit here and say those players lack leadership, personality-”
This time, it was Redknapp to cut in, saying: “How many times are you going to keep saying we’ve got to give it to the owners? They’ve spent a billion pounds on the team!”
“They’ve proven it,” Neville responded. “They’ve proven they can’t handle it these players so they need to have a good transfer window and they’ve not had a good transfer window.”
“It was Ed Woodward’s fault,” Redknapp continued. “He’s now gone. So whose fault is it now?”
Neville then made the point: “When the business is failing and not performing, it’s the owners of that business. It’s really simple! It’s failing miserably.”
“They keep spending money on the players Gary,” Redknapp added. “So they think they go and everything is going to be great?”
“Jamie, they took 24 million quid out of the club about two months ago,” Neville responded. “We’ve got now a decrepit, rotting stadium that is, to be fair, second rate when it was the best stadium in the world 15 to 20 years ago. You’ve got a football project where they haven’t got a clue. You’ve got bankers in charge of a football club not making football decisions. They’ve not appointed a sporting director.
“You can look at the players all you like, but there are that many big things that need to be put right first. They’ve got to show up and face the music, now is the time. You can’t keep hiding over in Tampa and think that nothing is going to come back to you.”
Redknapp then spoke: “Yes, I get that with the owners. But you can’t keep saying it’s nothing to do-”
Neville cut in: “Jamie, I’ve heard you criticise Daniel Levy at Tottenham when they failed over a long period of time. Because, to be fair, they’ve had failure over 20, 30 years. And that’s a fact. My point is here, we’ve had failure for 10 years at Manchester United, the club is rotting-”
“But he’s got it right (Levy),” Redknapp said. “Do you know why he’s got it right? Because he’s done what United should have done and got Antonio Conte in as manager. You didn’t want to touch him, he could have come in here and he would have got those players in a better shape than what they are.”
“Jamie,” Neville replied. “They’ve built an unbelievable stadium that people want to come and play for. He’s got the best training ground in the country, he’s appointed a fantastic sporting director who knows what he’s doing and he’s now got a manager that suits what they want to do at this moment in time. Manchester United are the opposite of that.
“The only money that has been spent on players at Manchester United is the money the club has generated or that it’s borrowed. It does not come from the family. Let’s get this out of our heads that the Glazer family are putting money in like Roman Abramovich did, like the Saudi Arabians are doing at Newcastle, like Sheikh Mansour has done at Manchester City – hands in pockets and spending money on players.
“They’ve not done that. They’ve borrowed, and they’ve used the revenue that the club generates through its incredible fanbase and a great commercial operation. That’s what’s happened. So anybody that owns that club, if us four owned that club tomorrow, we could spend the same money every year on that football club through its generation of revenues. That’s a fact.
“These owners, since Sir Alex Ferguson, have proven in 10 years they cannot manage a forward thinking football club. It’s been overtaken in every single department and it’s painful-”
“When Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager,” Redknapp cut in. “He was happy to work for them, you were happy to work for them, they weren’t quite so bad.”
“No,” Neville hit back. “Jamie, I was a footballer for the club and I would die for this football club-”
“Exactly,” Redknapp chipped in. “So why don’t these players here do the same thing then. What’s the difference?”
Neville continued: “My point is, at this moment in time, there has been a toxic culture and atmosphere created at the club over a 10 year period without its leader, Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill, who were propping the club up while the family were sat there in America glorifying the fact that they were part of it. We’re now seeing what has happened without Sir Alex Ferguson, without Gill and without leadership. We’re now seeing what’s happening and it’s a mess.
When asked whether the problem lies with the appointments being made at the club, Neville responded: “The embedded failure over a 10 year period and where the club are currently at has to come back to the ownership. I blamed (Ed) Woodward for a long time, but the reality is the Glazer family left him in situ. I think he would have done a good job on the business side, but they’ve still not dealt with the football operation, they’ve still not dealt with the players and recruitment department.
“They’ve still not dealt with the stadium, which is rusting. Manchester United need a billion pounds in the next two or three years to re-build or renovate that stadium. They probably need another five or six hundred million pounds for the training ground.”
Twitter users had their say as Gary Neville and Jamie Redknapp get in to a furious bust-up…
@RobLFC_: There’s no coming back for Neville on this 😂😂
@19KhanIm: I wish Keane was working today. I needed Redknapp to say that to Keane & see both men scuffling & rolling around on the Brentford pitch
@Joey_CFC: Neville’s getting bullied worse than Martinez
@Tactical_Times: Neville is desperate for his club to be good again, Redknapp wants to know what the owners have to do with the players’ performance. I get where he’s coming from. If there is a problem with the football, it comes from the players and the coaches who lead them. Not the owners.
@Showmedamanee: Great points from Redknapp.
@Haighy1429: Redknapp mugged Neville off badly here, a stadium getting old has no correlation to United getting battered by Brentford 4-0 with a 350k a week gk, most expensive defender ever, 60 mil on Bruno, 50 on AWB, 70 on sancho with ronaldo too, and Neville wants them to spend money 🤣🤣
@TheBusbyReport: Standard @GNev2, arrogant at times. Thinks his views and only his views are only valid, not open for discussion.
@_JakeeLFC_: Jamie Redknapp and Gary Neville going at eachother on live TV. This Man United collapse is box-office entertainment 🍿
@AlphaKaiser_II: Gary Neville is a smart guy, for sure one of the most knowledgeable pundits on the actual operations of a football club. Probably because he has been a player, manager and now co-owner of a club. Meanwhile Redknapp thinks the United players need more “pashun and desiyah”
@FergieEsque: Jamie Redknapp is a fucking muppet. We have been blaming the players for a while but there has been no action by the club to sort it out. Gary Neville was spot on when he said if the business is failing it’s the owners to blame. #MUFC
@GeorgePooIe: I love Gary Neville to bits, but Jamie Redknapp is bang on. Yes, the club is in desperate need of new ownership, leadership and direction. No question. But there’s literally no excuse for some of the performances being churned out by the players. #MUFC
@dantracey1983: Rarely back Jamie Redknapp but he was absolutely right in that debate with Gary Neville “Ooooh the Glazers” No way Neville can blame the owners for shitting the bed at Brentford. The players have to own that. #BREMUN
@THFCRomaldini: Jamie is right, Gary just doesn’t want to call out the players cause he’s mates with them all
@thfcsxn: We hear the same thing on repeat every time United play Neville is like a broken record
@curtisshaw9: Redknapp and Gary Neville beefing on sky epic scenes….
@JAMES77458423: Jamie Redknapp exposing Neville for the hypocrite he is. My captain
@Malachians: Antonio Conte would have resigned at Utd after 2 weeks
@LegendEskimoBoy: Always the owners fault when they lose but no credit when they win
@lucasjoesph: Jamie is spot on. The glazers aren’t the ones putting out performances like that
Is anyone listening to Gary Neville suggesting these players are not responsible for their performances !
It is solely the owners .., they have to come over and insulate the players from criticism🤷♂️ ffs
Well done Jamie Redknapp for challenging
— Simon Jordan (@Sjopinion10) August 13, 2022
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