When Gary Neville talks, people listen. Then they argue. Then it descends into a bit of a mess.
The former Manchester United captain rarely shies away from contentious subjects, from England’s Euro 2016 woes to the Brexit debate to…ahem…photos of Gary Neville.
Neville has also been very vocal on the refereeing debate in which the Premier League is currently engrossed – specifically the recent comments made by former ref Mark Halsey about being told to lie about having seen incidents.
Sergio Agüero is sitting out the Manchester Derby after video evidence saw him banned for an elbow on West Ham United defender Winston Reid – something which seemingly prompted Halsey’s comments.
And, while geeing up his followers ahead of Manchester City’s visit to Old Trafford, Neville couldn’t help but throw in a cheeky reminder of that large question mark.
Right!!! Derby weekend .. Looking forward to it. Have the @premierleague and @fa investigated @RefereeHalsey comments yet? Enjoy.
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) September 9, 2016
You can almost picture the grin etched across Neville’s face as he hit send.
It’s like Columbo turning back to the guilty party and hitting them with that classic line ‘just one more thing’.
It’s the mental image of a man seeing a can of worms on the counter, holding the ring-pull open for a couple of seconds as he turns to the camera, and then ripping it wide open.
And plenty of people could see exactly what he was up to.
Ooh Gary I love the timing
— Aran (@_SuperArio_) September 9, 2016
Even if he was trying to be a little cheeky ahead of United’s meeting with City, the point he was making is seen by plenty as a valid one regardless of the circumstances.
https://twitter.com/Jordan_Maloy/status/774508827349770240
please don't let this go. We need integrity and those culpable must be made accountable
— Mark James (@BazzleGram) September 9, 2016
It’s an interesting side-plot to a derby match that already has the not-inconsiderable storylines of Pep Guardiola facing off against old foe José Mourinho, Paul Pogba making his first appearance in an all-Manchester clash, and teenage strikers Marcus Rashford and Kelechi Iheanacho going head-to-head.