Neville ‘cannot be more qualified’ to be England boss

Phil Neville insists he “cannot be more qualified” to take over as the new England Women manager.

The 41-year-old was named Lionesses boss last Tuesday, but has no past experience of working in the women’s game.

He also had to apologise for past comments about women on Twitter but at his first media opportunity on Monday, defended his appointment.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I’ve done all of my qualifications, I cannot be more qualified for this job than what I am.”

Neville went on to say that being given the job ranks high amongst his career achievements.

He added: “We agreed that I was the right man for the job and I’ve got to say that it was probably one of the highlights of my career.

“Take everything I’ve done on the football field and since then it was a special moment because being manager of the national team is the ultimate honour and I’ve got that now.”

After ending his playing career, Neville assisted David Moyes at Manchester United and then brother Gary at Valencia.

As such, he believes his record with working with elite players is there for all to see.

“I’ve coached at the top level and the players that I’ll be coaching in three weeks’ time are elite players,” he said.

“(Regarding) experience, I would have thought that not many candidates that applied for the job have the experience that I’ve got of coaching elite players.

“I’ve coached the best players in the men’s game at the top level and I believe the players I’ll be coaching in the England women’s team are top-class professionals at the elite level.

“I’ve done all my qualifications, I did my B-licence when I was 24, my A-licence when I was 28 and I’ve got my UEFA Pro-Licence. I cannot be more qualified for this job than what I have.”

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