Gary Neville has revealed he has a strict rule at Sky Sports that he is yet to break nearly 13 after first joining the broadcaster.
Former Manchester United captain Neville called time on his professional career in 2011, having won numerous trophies with his boyhood club – including eight Premier League titles and the Champions League twice.
Shortly after, he made the switch into punditry with broadcaster Sky ahead of the 2011/12 season and has been with the company for the majority of the time since, only taking a short break to take charge of Valencia during an ill-fated four-month spell at the Spanish club.
He has become one of the most loved pundits in British football, regularly appearing alongside his Sky co-host – former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher - on Monday Night Football and other shows.
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Neville has now revealed he has a strict rule as a broadcaster that he is yet to break.
Speaking on Stick to Football: The Overlap Special, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville revealed he will always refuse to call for a manager to be sacked – regardless of how badly they had done in their role.
Neville admitted one of his toughest challenges to stick to the rule was near the end of former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's spell in charge of United, with the Norwegian eventually sacked in 2021 after nearly three years at the helm.
"Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] was tough, for me and Roy Keane, when he was manager of [Manchester] United. People at the end abused him, but me probably more than Roy, the idea of going against Ole, that's never going to happen," said Neville.
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"I can say, 'He's under pressure, the team aren't playing well' – we said all those things – but the idea of going a step further which says, 'He should lose his job', 'He should be sacked' – never.
"That's what people want but I would never go into that. I've never once [did that].
"It was a rule when I came into Sky, for myself, about 13 years ago – I said I would never ever [call for a manager to be sacked]. I remember the manager at Blackburn – Steve Kean – I've never seen a manager have as tough a time, for a longer period – than Steve.
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"It was getting painful in the end where you're thinking, 'Actually, he probably wants to be sacked', but you never say, 'Sack him, put him out of his misery'.
"Some do and feel comfortable with it, but I've never said it and I'm quite proud of that."
Topics: Gary Neville, Sky Sports, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United, Premier League, Football
Rory O'Callaghan