Gary Neville, via his Gary Neville Podcast, has posed some serious questions directed at the Manchester United Board:
“I can’t change the ownership of United, no one can. I’m struggling to understand why the ownership have persisted in trusting that management team to oversee the building of a Premier League title winning team since Sir Alex left.”
He pressed on, “I can’t believe the investment that’s been put into the squad in the last five, six, seven years and you end up with that out on the pitch. If you don’t lose your job for essentially overseeing that investment, that wage bill, and putting that team out on the pitch then I have to say something is really wrong.”
It’s not that Neville has been harbouring a cockeyed view of Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman. He’s mindful and appreciative of the vice-chairman’s forte as a corporate executive and one definitely better suited to commercial enterprise and not football administration.
“There’s real talent in that executive team … but in terms of what the club needed to do for a number of years now is put the best in class football operators into that club and they’re not doing it. They’re not doing it and it’s a mess.”
Woodward is currently the highest paid director in the Premier League, earning £3.16m last season. This sorely rankled his detractors and the dissent was clearly displayed by a large section of United’s supporters during the 4-0 win over Norwich City at Old Trafford more than a week ago when Woodward and the Glazers were on the receiving end of waves of discordant chants filled with obscenities and anger.
During and after a supposedly glorious win over a rival team at the club’s venerable venue?
It is no secret that the Glazers have long been villified since they took over ownership of the club in 2015. The brooding, pent up resentment has since intensified and escalated into open animosity and hostility towards Woodward and the club’s executive team.
Top on United fans’ gripe list is the long proscratination in appointing an internationally-proven and experienced Director of Football.
Added aggravation and discontentment have also surfaced in the wake of the latest injuries to Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba and the failure to urgently shore up the shortage of midfielders and another forward with quality reinforcements last summer.
Neville, like many other United stalwarts, believes the immediate priority for United should be to incubate a well-strategised and coordinated plan get the club back on track in the shortest time possible. However, he is doubtful that they have the right avenues of expertise required to do so.
“The thing that should shock the owners more than anything, they should see that last minute goal from Mohamed Salah on Sunday – they should have that playing on repeat every single day in their office over in America – Liverpool’s fans singing, ‘We shall not be moved.’”
“I feel emotional. I was proud to be part of a great United team, I lived through a difficult childhood as a United fan, watching Liverpool win every single title it felt like and then United started to win and maintained it for a long time.”
Gary Neville has blatantly made the clarion call for immediate change at Old Trafford. And he’s making a heckuva lot of sense in all that he’s voiced out. Who else, but the former captain and one-club loyalist, has earned the unquestionable right to make a clear stand for this once pre-eminent club for its glory and prestige to be rightfully restored with full dignity?