Gary Neville tore into Manchester United for the leaks. (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Manchester United legend Gary Neville says leaking stories to the media is ‘f*****g unforgivable’.
The former England defender was referencing stories this week that emanated from United’s camp.
United banned journalists from four different publications from a press conference on Tuesday after reports of dressing room unrest between the players and Erik ten Hag.
The club were angered they were not given the ‘right to reply’, and Ten Hag strongly denied the claims in any case.
Leaks from United’s dressing room have grown since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, when information was famously kept within the club.
And Neville, who described those leaking information as ‘f*****s’, says it’s unforgivable for a player to give information to the press.
Ten Hag insists he has the support of the dressing room(Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
‘I have been soft on the [United] players for 12 months because I’ve focused on the rotten environment with the ownership, there’s difficulties at the club for players to succeed just with everything that’s around them,’ Neville told the Overlap.
‘A lot’s not right with the club, and hopefully new ownership will sort it out.
‘But what we’ve heard from Nemanja Matic in the last week about lateness is something that just riles me.
‘The biggest betrayal you can have in a football dressing room is when players or players’ representatives are going to the media to undermine the manager and other players in your dressing room. Honestly, that is f***ing unforgivable.
‘For me, I concentrated when I heard these stories on ‘here we go again the f***ers, they’re going to try and get another manager sacked’, ‘another group of players thrown out’, and you know it’s happening and that it’s been fed.
‘I thought ‘stop winging, shut your mouths, work as hard as you can, and the day after, come back and do it again’ – that’s it.
‘I have some sympathy with them at the moment and how it is at the club, the continuing poor recruitment, negativity, lack of sporting department.
‘I’ve given them a pretty easy ride – but I have no sympathy at all for them if they are leaking stories or if they are being late.’
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