Neville slams 'f***ing unforgiveable' Man Utd stars for 'undermining' Ten Hag
Suraj Radia
- 7 Dec 2023 17:54 GMT
- 3 min read
Gary Neville has blasted Manchester United’s stars for undermining Erik ten Hag and ‘trying to get another manager sacked’ after the club were forced to ban a host of outlets following leaked reports of turmoil in the dressing room.
Multiple reports emerged following United’s dismal 1-0 loss to Newcastle last weekend claiming that Ten Hag had lost the support of half of the dressing room due to his management style.
The club responded by banning several high-profile journalists from Ten Hag’s press conference prior to United’s win over Chelsea on Wednesday and Neville described the players as ‘f***ing unforgivable’ due to the nature of the leaks.
“I've been soft on the players for 12 months because I've concentrated on the rotten environment and the ownership.' Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast. “But the biggest betrayal you can have in football dressing room is when players or players' representatives are going to the media to undermine the manager and other players.
“'Honestly this is f*****g unforgivable. So when I heard these stories coming out I thought "here we go again, the f*****s. They're at it, they're going to try and get another manager sacked, another group of players thrown out".
“That's it. I have got some sympathy with them at the moment with the club and how it is with what's going on, the continual poor recruitment, negativity, bad ownership, lack of sporting department and lack of all the stuff they've got. I've given them a pretty easy ride but I've got no sympathy if they're leaking stories or they're being late.”
United stars called out for punctuality by former teammate
United bounced back from the loss at Newcastle with a determined victory over Chelsea at Old Trafford, with Ten Hag’s side outclassing their opponents and emerging with three points thanks to Scott McTominay’s double.
The matchup saw Marcus Rashford dropped by Ten Hag after his display at St James’ Park, which saw the forward heavily criticised for his attitude and body language, having scored just one goal from open play this season.
Along with the dressing room leaks, former United star Nemanja Matic revealed that players racked up more than £75,000 of fines in a single season due to lateness, with Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho described as two of the most serial offenders of tardiness.
“Just the standards that I set, just if anyone else was late I’d criticise people, because that is the most disrespectful thing you can do, making your teammates wait,” Neville said. “Working hard goes without saying, but if everyone is waiting for you, you can’t be that person in life.”
