Neville doesn’t ‘recognise’ Man Utd stars in ‘vanilla’ posts
Gary Neville says he struggles to “recognise” the Man Utd players he knows when they post updates on social media.
Many players in the Premier League now use a social media manager to run their accounts online with Neville previously voicing his disappointment that they don’t run their own accounts.
And now Neville has said that he is finds it upsetting that people don’t get to see footballers’ “human qualities” when they post on social media.
Gossip: Newcastle eye Man Utd trio, Barca’s tiny January budget
Neville wrote in The Times: “There are characters inside the Manchester United dressing room that I greatly admire not just for their football abilities but their human qualities — vulnerabilities, resilience, sense of humour and all the things that make them distinct. I don’t recognise them at all when I see some of their social media posts.
“I see vanilla, sanitised messages. I read apologies that don’t come over sincerely to me or any United fan. I see half the dressing room posting almost identically-worded tweets like they are reading off a script. And not just at United.”
He added: “Some of these tweets and posts are diversion tactics. You feel manipulated reading them and this is meant to be football, not some Putin-esque plot to control the narrative.
“It takes character to succeed at United or any top team. I want to see that character, but it is being lost to PR messaging, scripted words and corporate-speak.”
Neville was also critical after Bruno Fernandes took to social media back in September to apologise after his missed penalty saw Man Utd lose at home to Aston Villa.
The Portuguese playmaker was given the chance to level proceedings at Old Trafford on Saturday just moments after Kortney Hause had put Villa into an 88th-minute lead.
But Fernandes, who had scored 21 of his previous 22 penalties for United, sent the ball high over the bar and Villa held on for a 1-0 victory.
The 27-year-old issued a lengthy apology on his social media platforms which Neville described as “embarrassing”.
Neville said in a Twitter Q&A: “It’s embarrassing! They need to sack their PR people, speak with some authenticity and get on with it.
“I’m going to go big on this in the next few weeks. They’ve all got these comms managers that are creating personalities that don’t exist!”
He later added: “The apology culture that’s engulfing football would be ok if it came from a genuine place.
“However more often than not it’s a smokescreen and diversion tactic designed to mask a crap performance by experts!
“Lose a game = crisis comms meet! How do we spin this one our way?”
