Richard Keys on Gary Neville

[Neil Young]

It'll all end in tears. Mark my words.

[Fredo]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57pEGCSwEOQ"]Richard Keys and Roy Hodgson discuss recent events - YouTube[/ame]

[Vermilion]

It'll all end in tears. Mark my words.

[ChesterDave]

I think all the pundits on MOTD are pretty boring and mediocre.

The important thing is Colin Murray is leaving MOTD. Its a start!

[Leyton388]

He's ****ing brilliant, as good as I've seen football punditry and probably as good as it can get. His stints on MNF make the whole thing worth watching regardless of the game. Who cares that he used to be a cunt we all hated - he's finished playing now, he's just a bloke.

I couldn't stand him when he played but he is great at Sky and its so refreshing too have someone who knows what they are talking about on sky. He is fair and tells it how it is. I hope that this is the start of sky ****ing off the old dross and brining in ex players who know what they are on about.

[Liverpel]

Sir Alex Ferguson has rounded on the "idiots" who criticised David de Gea following the mistake that allowed Tottenham Hotspur to draw with Manchester United at White Hart Lane last Sunday.

Gary Neville and Alan Hansen were two of the more prominent critics of the Spaniard. Neville, a former United captain, spoke on Sky Sports on Sunday and Monday about how the goalkeeper's error had cost United two points, while Hansen used his newspaper column to claim that De Gea should be dropped if he makes another mistake.

Asked what Ferguson, whose team host Fulham in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, thought of the general criticism, the United manager said: "I am not getting into that at all. You have to listen to some idiots in the game."

When Neville's criticism, specifically, was put to him, the Scot said: "It is better we deal with David de Gea rather than the press deal with him. We are quite good at that. He had a fantastic game and was 30 seconds away from that. It is unfortunate for the lad but he has to deal with it. We will help him. Outfield players maybe make 20 mistakes in a game. But they [goalkeepers] are in a crucial position. We are OK with him. I thought we should have had a foul in the buildup to the goal. Rafa [da Silva] was fouled going out to the touchline. [Clint] Dempsey fouled him. The ball goes back to the left full-back and he bumps it into the box and it is a goal."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jan/25/manchester-united-alex-ferguson-david-de-gea

[-V-]

This time last year when we heard Neville was going to get the Sky job, how many thought we would end up praising him?

[EwarWoo]

I think the general feeling was it would lead to cancelled subs if anything. Heh. There was a bit of a furore from many people.

[pondus]

Getting a bit sick here. All this praise for Neville...

He's still the ratfaced cunt IMO.

Of course, I don't watch Sky.

[Camble]

I think he's a brilliant pundit.
I almost cancelled SkySports when I heard he was coming on board.

I still hate the ****er though. I wouldn't piss on him if was on fire.

[BigChief]

It says something when a forum that despised a player with a passion, is using the same passion to defend his new role. Neville is that good that he's united everyone's opinion of him. Maybe he could get Israel and Palestine talking.

For those wishing a new beginning I think we just hit lucky. I don't think he's the first of many, just the first.

[Exiled_red]

Neville's commentary is terrible though. He tries to over complicate it. He is better pre and post match.

[Neil Young]

I know it's hard to believe now but when Gray started for Sky Sports he was widely seen as a refreshing change. And Alan Hansen was once seen as an exemplar of cool, detached, rational criticism.

I think Neville is better than that but his fondness for man to man marking is an indicator of what may happen. His views are new to us and he feels a need to justify them, argue for them. Sooner or later though they will become received wisdoms, pearls of insight that can simply be repeated without the trying task of backing them up with already familiar arguments. And at that point he could start down the road to self-parody and will inevitably become boring, and very probably defensive about anything that challenges any of his lofty pronouncements on his ever-growing record of sayings and truisms and clichés.

I've already heard him refer to zonal defending in just that way.

So let's just see how he's viewed in a year or two when the novelty has worn off and his voice is just one more that we've heard a thousand times before.

[Red_Polo]

Yeah he's quality atm, but they all end up eating themselves.