Gary Neville gives behind-the-scenes tour of new job as he misses Sky Sports’ coverage of Aston Villa vs Man Utd
GARY NEVILLE gave fans a tour of his US studio as he missed Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage to start his new job on Sunday.
The Manchester United legend, 49, would usually have been expected to be part of Sky’s broadcast as they aired Aston Villa’s draw with The Red Devils and Brighton’s thrilling 3-2 win over Tottenham.
Instead, Neville was over in America working for NBC Sports for the entire weekend as his punditry took him across the Atlantic.
And he shared a video on TikTok giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of his new workplace on Saturday.
Neville walked from the hallway into the studio and showed off his surroundings ahead of his NBC debut.
Speaking as he walked onto the set, he said: “Hi everyone. So here we are, it’s a big old studio.
“Have a little bit of a look behind the scenes.”
After spotting the title odds on one of the screens, he added: “Arsenal favourites over here in America”.
Neville, wearing a suit, then ended the video by looking ahead to the opening match of his NBC career.
He said: “First game is Crystal Palace vs Liverpool, so I’ll see you all later.”
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Reacting to the clip, one fan replied: “This is exciting!”
While another added: “Good luck Gary ”.
A third responded: “Shirt and tie combo ”.
And a fourth said: “GNev and Oasis breaking into the USA”.
Neville is still expected to be a part of Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage this season as he balances his UK responsibilities with his new US role.
Why NOBODY is the right man to replace Erik ten Hag at Man Utd
SunSport's DAVE KIDD says Erik ten Hag's time at Man Utd is up… and explains what's wrong with all the potential candidates to replace him.
THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.
And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.
If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.
The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.
He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.
None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.
Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.
Emery may well deliver the coup de grace to Ten Hag on Sunday — especially with Bruno Fernandes suspended and Kobbie Mainoo an injury doubt.
And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.
Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.
Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.
Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.
Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.
Thomas Tuchel would be a popular and gettable option but, despite being a fine coach and a very engaging man, he is considered something of a loose cannon.
Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.
Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.
Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.
Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.
So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.