Phil Neville has looked to address concerns surrounding his appointment as manager of the England women’s team.
Many were surprised at the appointment of the former Manchester United player, which was announced earlier this month.
His lack of experience, his true ambitions and questionable tweets from 2011 and 2012 have all been called into question.
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The former player has taken charge of just one game during his coaching career – at Salford City which he co-owns. In his first comments upon the announcement of his appointment Neville appeared to suggest the England job was a route to other opportunities.
In addition old tweets resurfaced which were deemed sexist, including one which he said he had ‘battered the wife.’ Neville subsequently deleted his account.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Neville has looked to address those points.
On the sexist tweets…
‘I live my life right. I think I have a lot of respect in the game, it’s the reason I apologised and tried to clarify those comments,’ he told the BBC.
‘I know the words I used were totally wrong.
‘I had to apologise because I looked at the words I used and I didn’t like them myself.
‘I apologised, it’s not a true reflection of me. In terms of the public I want to be judged on performances.
‘I made the decision 12 months ago (that) if I was to become a manager I was to come off twitter.’
Here are the tweets that have got Phil Neville’s tenure as England women’s manager off to a controversial start (has now deleted his account). Might want to hold a press conference & address them, their relevance to doing the job, & his lack of managerial experience, fast. pic.twitter.com/bXrDViWBTW
— Dan Roan (@danroan) January 24, 2018
On his long-term ambitions…
‘I’ve never used the word stepping stone,’ said Neville.
‘I want to develop into a World Cup winner, I want to win the Euros. I’m England manager. Any job after this would be a step down, not a step up.’
On his qualifications and lack of knowledge about the women’s game…
‘I’m qualified for the job because I have my UEFA Pro license.
‘Not one person said to me I wasn’t allowed to work in the women’s game, it (the license) is to work in all aspects.
‘I’ve worked at elite level, I’ve worked with the best players, I’ve worked in Spanish football. I’m working with a group of players now, some of them are the best in the world.
‘I know women’s football. Do I know everything? No, but I will.’
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