Has Tevez proved Ferguson wrong?
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GARY NEVILLE is set to retire from football at the end of this season.
ALEX FERGUSON once dubbed Gary Neville as the man who 'never gives in'. But even he can now see that the ravages of time and injury have taken their toll on one of the greatest full-backs this country has produced.
Neville is 35 next month, his contract at Old Trafford is up in June. With no likelihood of it being renewed, retirement finally beckons for a man who has been as much the embodiment of Manchester United as any player who has ever pulled on the Red shirt.
Players like Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo may have put the swagger in the Reds over the past two decades. But players like Neville have provided the foundations for them to do so.
Like his brother Phil, Gary had one dream from the moment he kicked a football and has lived it. He is a United fan, player, captain and legend.
Fergie has always spoken positively about someone he regards as a true pro, who made the most of his ability. The United boss said: "He never had the talent of Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes but he had determination to make sure he was always in the team.
"He also showed that quality to come back after a year and a half out with injuries recently. At his age, it isn't easy. "But he's been absolutely fantastic. It's a demonstration by Gary that he's never going to give in. He's an amazing man."
Now even Ferguson recognises that the years and the rigours of 16 years' football at the very top have taken their toll. From leaving school in 1991 at 16 to join the club's academy until now, United has been his life.
He made his first-team debut in 1992 and became a regular in the 1994-95 season with the likes of Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
Neville was a mainstay of the 1999 treble-winning team and achieved a lifetime ambition when he succeeded Roy Keane as club captain midway through the 2005-06 campaign.
He lifted his first trophy as captain that season when United triumphed in the Carling Cup. And he would often take his responsibilities as captain to incredible degrees - even testing if there was too much oil on the pasta before the players ate on away trips!
His professionalism once even included doing shuttles on a plane on the way back from a United trip claiming his preparation for the next game began in mid-air. It was an attitude that kept him at the very top of his profession while others fell by the wayside.
But Neville's career took a nosedive when he damaged ankle ligaments against Bolton in March 2007, since when he has made only 17 Premier League starts.
The same injury kept him out for most of the 2007-08 season and he has suffered a succession of pulls, strains and niggles ever since. He has been absent from the last two Champions League final squads and John O'Shea and Wes Brown have jumped ahead of him in the right-back pecking order.
Injuries to other players meant he got a rare start in the FA Cup against Leeds United at Old Trafford last weekend. But Neville subsequently got the runaround as the League One outfit pulled off a shock 1-0 win. It was a performance that confirmed to many that a long and illustrious career was now at an end - with his faint hopes of making the World Cup squad for this summer as defensive cover now over.
He won his 85th and undoubted last cap in February 2007 in the friendly defeat to Spain. Neville was a surprise call-up to the squad in May last year for the qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra but did not play in either.
He is a legend with the United faithful and not only for his longevity at Old Trafford. His outspoken views and public dislike of near-neighbours Liverpool has helped to endear him still further to United fans.
That was most notable in January 2006 when he celebrated Rio Ferdinand's last-minute winner over Liverpool at Old Trafford by charging towards the visiting fans and celebrating in front of them.
He was charged with improper conduct and fined £5,000. After Neville said: "Are you meant to smile sweetly and jog back to the halfway line?
"People want footballers to be whiter than white. Do they want a game of robots?"
It is unlikely he will walk straight into an ambassador's role with the club at the end of the season. He has taken his coaching badges and will undoubtedly want to use those qualifications and his vast experience to stay in the game in a more active form.
What he will not do is drop down the leagues having only ever wanted to play for one club - Manchester United.
A club he has always served with honour.
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Good News Indeed!
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Sad but true... he has to retire...
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a good servant, but age/injuries have taken a toll..
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for the last 3 years, he has been injured mostly. besides he is no longer any younger and its his body telling him that they cant stand the rigours of professional football any longer.
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hope rafael is the new gary neville and will play at the right side for the next 10 years.
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Gary Neville's dilemma over new one-year Manchester United contract at Old Trafford
Decision time: Gary Neville is contemplating a one-year extension at Old Trafford
Gary Neville could extend his career at Old Trafford after it emerged on Thursday night that Manchester United have offered their captain a new one-year deal.
Despite speculation that Neville would not be offered an extension, Sportsmail can reveal that it is the player who is unsure whether or not to prolong his stay at the club into a 19th year.
United have tabled the same one-year deal they have already agreed with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, and talks are planned for next month, when Neville will turn 35.
Sir Alex Ferguson is keen to retain the defender’s experience and leadership skills as United go through a period of transition, but wants to be satisfied his body can withstand another season at the top.
Having missed almost the entire 2007-08 season, he looked to have revived his career after playing 27 games last season.
However, Neville’s lack of pace has been exposed on occasion, and he was one of several United players singled out for criticism after the shocking FA Cup defeat by Leeds on Sunday, when he returned to the starting side after a month’s lay-off.
It sparked renewed speculation that this season could be Neville’s last as a United player, and it is still possible he will decide he can no longer do himself justice at the highest level.
He faced a similar decision a year ago but chose to stay, saying leaving United would be like ‘falling off a cliff’.
Tall order: Neville knows he has slipped behind Wes Brown and Rafael at United
He appears to have slipped behind Rafael da Silva and Wes Brown in the battle for the right-back slot, although the United injury crisis this season has given his cause a boost and seen midfielder Darren Fletcher filling in at the back as well.
Rafael and his brother Fabio are among the young players Ferguson is trying to integrate into his team, and the United boss wants his skipper to stay so he can share his knowledge and help instil the winning mentality he has built up over years of success with his only club.
With Nemanja Vidic’s future uncertain amid speculation he will leave for Spain in the summer, and no guarantee Edwin van der Sar will extend his career by another year, Ferguson would be loath to lose another experienced player.
Vidic, who pulled out of the Leeds game just before kick-off, trained away from the rest of the first-team squad yesterday and took part in rehabilitation work with Rio Ferdinand.
Senegal striker Mame Biram Diouf trained with his new team-mates after receiving a work permit to complete his move from Norwegian club Molde.
United have rearranged their League game against Hull at Old Trafford for the free FA Cup date on Saturday, January 23.
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Gary Neville has not made a decision to retire, despite newspaper reports claiming that the 35-year-old United captain will call it a day in the summer.
Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson says the suggestion that Neville, a veteran of 583 matches and 18 seasons in the first-team, has made a decision to hang up his boots mid-season was “nonsense”.
"I don’t know where these kinds of rumours come from,” Sir Alex said on Friday. “Gary hasn’t made any decision and we haven’t made any decision.”
Neville has made 13 appearances for the Reds this season and is undoubtedly in the twilight of his distinguished career, but Sir Alex says the club and the player are due to talk in the summer when the defender’s current contract expires.
“I always say to my players when you’re going to make a decision about your future, make sure you do it in the summer. You don’t make decisions like we’re talking about in the middle of the season. That's nonsense." -
Gary Neville has not made a decision to retire, despite newspaper reports claiming that the 35-year-old United captain will call it a day in the summer.
Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson says the suggestion that Neville, a veteran of 583 matches and 18 seasons in the first-team, has made a decision to hang up his boots mid-season was “nonsense”.
"I don’t know where these kinds of rumours come from,” Sir Alex said on Friday. “Gary hasn’t made any decision and we haven’t made any decision.”
Neville has made 13 appearances for the Reds this season and is undoubtedly in the twilight of his distinguished career, but Sir Alex says the club and the player are due to talk in the summer when the defender’s current contract expires.
“I always say to my players when you’re going to make a decision about your future, make sure you do it in the summer. You don’t make decisions like we’re talking about in the middle of the season. That's nonsense." -
Iron man movie need him ar..
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Wah Cui! Just retire will you?
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Gary Neville insists Manchester United's players will not be affected by the off-field rumblings of discontent over the club's finances.
Documents released last week in conjunction with a proposed £500million bond issue suggested the Glazer family would be willing to sell United's Carrington training complex and their iconic Old Trafford home should enormous debt prove impossible to repay.
Many critics argue that is inevitable given the vast amounts of interest the club are responsible for, with only the £80million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo allowing them to record a profit for the year to June 2009.
Extra security measures were taken on Saturday as United defeated Burnley 3-0, while chants of 'We want the Glazers out' were heard.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has declined to comment on the situation, claiming he is restricted by regulatory rules.
However, Neville is adamant the whole thing is none of his team-mates' business and could not be used as an excuse for failure on the pitch.
"All the speculation about the finances at Manchester United does not affect the players," he told the Sunday Times in Malta.
"We are always very well protected and never get involved in the financial side of things.
"There have been talks and rumours over the years going back to when the Glazers took over, and even when Michael Knighton nearly took over in the 1980s.
"As players we never get involved in those things; our job is purely on the pitch and we allow people who are paid to do jobs in other areas of the club to do their job.
"It is nothing to do with us at all."
Nevertheless, it is likely to remain an issue for some considerable time, especially as the anti-Glazer faction among the United support are mobilising themselves.
The general mood would improve with a victory at Manchester City in the eagerly-awaited Carling Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday night, though.
Darron Gibson and the Da Silva brothers Rafael and Fabio are all in Ferguson's mind as he ponders whether to stick with the youngsters who have steered United to the last four.
Whether Dimitar Berbatov will be involved is a different matter given the £30.75million record signing was forced out of Saturday's game after opening the scoring.
Ferguson confirmed he was once again feeling discomfort from a knee injury the Bulgarian has so far ignored advice to have an exploratory operation on.
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Gary Neville says Manchester United were right not to buy Carlos Tevez, who proceeded to join their local rivals instead. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty
Gary Neville has rejected suggestions that Manchester is witnessing a shift in the balance of power and said United have "nothing to prove" as they collide with a resurgent City in tomorrow evening's Carling Cup semi-final first leg.
City's lavish spending in the transfer market over the last 12 months, and ability to convert a £305m debt into private share equity, contrasts markedly with United's attempts to manage their own debt. Relations between the clubs have been strained as the ramifications of Sheikh Mansour's takeover threaten the established order in the top flight, with Sir Alex Ferguson dismissing City as "a small club with a small mentality" and, subsequently, "noisy neighbours" after the Premier League derby in September, won 4-3 by United deep into stoppage time.
Yet, with the champions still nine points ahead of fifth-placed City in the title race, Neville believes the power in the city remains firmly at Old Trafford. "I don't see the game as an opportunity to reassert our dominance over City," he said. "We're quite comfortable with where we are. We are second in the league, we're in the Carling Cup semi-final and we're in the second phase of the Champions League, so we have nothing to prove.
"Our two games against Manchester City in the Carling Cup are massive for us. It is a competition we have done well in over the past couple of years, and no doubt they will want to do well too. It's a local derby and one of the biggest games we have played against City for a long time. Certainly we expect it to be difficult. They are in good form, and it's always difficult away against City. We will have to be at our best for the game at their ground."
Neville also insisted that Ferguson had been right not to sign Carlos Tevez, who subsequently joined City, for £25m last summer. "The manager over the years has made many decisions with regard to players coming and going, and he has almost always been proved correct," he said. "I can't disagree with his decision on Tevez. He was a good player for us but if the financial demands are too big then that's just the way it goes. Other good players have left this club in the past; it's not the first time it's happened.
"Should [Sir Alex] sign a striker? Well, the manager will sign players when he wants to. He has never been a great fan of signing players in January so I'm not sure he will sign anyone this month. At the end of the season he will assess the situation and do what is right for the club. We have the best manager in the world at putting teams together – he's done it successfully for 20 years. There have not been many people who have questioned him over the years and been proved right."
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Carlos Tevez taunts Manchester United after scoring at Eastlands
Carlos Tevez's English may not be fluent, but you could not fail to understand the message he sent Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson on Tuesday.
As Tevez inflicted the blows that gave Manchester City a slight advantage amid the domestic warfare of this Carling Cup semi-final, he went through his tick-list of targets as he remembered those who dared to doubt him.
Tevez reacted to equalising from the spot by gesturing in the general direction of Gary Neville, who backed Ferguson's assertion that financial demands made the Argentine too expensive to keep at Old Trafford.
And when Tevez headed the winner, he was off again. The cupped ear gesture towards the directors' box mirrored his celebration towards the Old Trafford hierarchy after scoring against City last season as negotiations on a permanent deal started to sour. He was determined no-one should feel left out.
Whether Ferguson will make the final gesture of this little squabble will be decided after next week's second leg, but Tevez is proving an inspired arrival at City and a loss for United, at least for now.
The final reckoning on whether Ferguson was wrong not to sign Tevez can only be made at the end of this season when the successess of the respective clubs are measured.
But there is a fact that is currently beyond dispute. Manchester United would benefit from having Tevez back in their ranks - 13 goals in his last 10 starts tells you that.
Ferguson would never admit he erred in allowing Tevez to fall into the grateful arms of Manchester City, but the striker looked driven by a personal mission to torture his former manager on an atmospheric night at Eastlands.
Barracked when he returned to Old Trafford earlier this season and clearly aware of Neville's less than flattering assessment of his value to United, Tevez could barely contain himself as he tormented United. The man who declined to celebrate when he enjoyed successes against another former club, West Ham, had no qualms about rubbing United's nose in it here.
And how City's fans revelled in it. The familiar cry of "Fergie, Fergie sign him on" (the rallying call of the Stretford End pressure group pleading for United to land Tevez) swept around Eastlands off the back of every decisive Tevez contribution.
It all added further weight to the arguments coming from those who suggest Ferguson has dropped an almighty clanger. That said, there were reasons why the Scot did not pursue the deal.
Tevez was unexceptional and not a regular goalscorer at United last season. As he basks in the glow of his achievements at City, it should also be remembered that he did not make a cast-iron case for Ferguson to regard him as indispensible.
Often, the adulation Tevez received was out of proportion with the contribution made. Yes, there were some key goals, but Ferguson perhaps thought he had a better version of the Tevez template in Wayne Rooney.
Also, Tevez's attempts to use Old Trafford adulation as a lever against Ferguson and the United board were ham-fisted and a distraction when the serious business of winning the Premier League still needed to be done.
With Cristiano Ronaldo gone, Rooney was going to be operating even more through the centre, so with Dimitar Berbatov in the ranks it was understandable that Ferguson would not regard Tevez as an essential purchase in an extravagantly rich deal.
As I stated in an earlier blog, none of these reservations that United would have justifiably expressed made him a dubious purchase for City, and he has proved to be a wonderful signing so far.
When assessing whether to sign Tevez, City will have asked two questions: Could they afford the transfer? Yes. Was he an upgrade on what they had? Emphatically so, althought I suspect the impact he has had so far this season has outstripped even their most optimistic expectations.
The danger for Ferguson was that Tevez had the quality and capacity to be a potential success elsewhere - and when that elsewhere happens to be Manchester City, then his absence is highlighted even more.
City conducted a parade of legends from their 1969/70 team before the lights were dimmed as usual at Eastlands - and the way Tevez was greeted when he was substituted late on suggests he is on course to join those illustrious names.
Tevez may have been the match-winner on Tuesday, but Rooney is still the player most would take ahead of him. This is not to decry Tevez, it is simply an acknowledgement of Rooney's brilliance, which he showed in full force as time ran out.
But as Tevez stood on the halfway line in almost mocking pose after scoring his second goal, Ferguson may just have wished for a moment he could take him back to Old Trafford - if only for a little while.
This is because the drive and urgency Tevez brought to everything he did was lacking in United's work until the last 20 minutes, when Rooney embarked on a magnificent one-man mission to take his team into next week's second leg at least on level terms.
United, with extra forces deployed in midfield, dominated the first 40 minutes and led through an early Ryan Giggs goal, but they appeared content to stroll, declining to kill off a desperately nervous City, and paid for it.
In a strange season on and off the pitch at Old Trafford, this was further confirmation that they are not the team they were. United are too average too often in games, and they are not getting away with it as often as they did.
They still possess some of the old instincts that allow them to remain in the hunt for silverware - and City's euphoria at beating the arch-enemy and moving close to a first major Wembley final in 29 years was tempered with large helpings of caution.
Goalkeeper Shay Given formed a barricade on his own in the closing stages, usually against Rooney, perhaps a taster for next Wednesday at Old Trafford.
Ferguson had paid City the compliment of fielding a strong side and ditching his plans to play a young team - and his fierce, fists-clenched reaction to his side's early strike showed how important this was to him.
Make no mistake, Carling Cup or not, Ferguson will be badly hurt if City finish the job off in his own house next week and will surely use every weapon at his disposal at Old Trafford, something that should flatter their rivals after being downtrodden for so long.
For City, to come from behind and beat United will only add to their confidence and conviction that special things are happening at Eastlands. Next Wednesday could be a seminal day for the club -or confirmation of just how far they still have to travel.