Football isn’t the same without Gary Neville. He’s one of the finest ever examples of a player who you love if he’s on your team, but absolutely hate if he’s not. Even Man Utd fans know deep down that he’s a bit of a humourless prat, but he’s their humourless prat.
We do miss G Neville, it’s true. We miss his obsession with the Man Utd badge, we miss his little moustache, we miss his remarkable consistency at right-back (how many howlers do you ever remember him making?), we miss his bloody-minded Man Utd-ness. I hope he does recover from the ankle and groin injuries that have kept him out of action since March.
Neville was forced to pull out of United’s reserve-team match against Sunderland last night amid fears his ankle has not yet healed. The medical staff at United have not put a firm date on when he might play again, which begs the question: is Neville’s playing career over? I, for one, hope not. It would be a sad way for an English footballing legend (I’m 100% serious about that) to bow out. Vote below.