Gary Neville says he will never call for Manchester United to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but concedes his former teammate has been guilty of making a ‘silly’ and ‘glaring’ error this campaign.
A poor run of form which culminated in Man City’s embarrassingly comfortable 2-0 victory at Old Trafford prior to the international break has again left Solskjaer clinging to his job.
The two-week hiatus did little to down the speculation that the club are already making plans to hire a replacement, even if they may bide their time and wait until the end of the campaign.
Neville, who once shared a dressing room with Solskjaer for 11 years, has been placed in an awkward position in his role as a lead pundit for Sky Sports with the Norwegian’s position appearing increasingly untenable.
No matter how deep the crisis, Neville is adamant he will never call for a managerial change but says Solskjaer’s failure to address the lack of balance in his team earlier this campaign, showed an error of judgement.
‘This season has been a shock and they have a horrific week coming up,’ he told the Mail Online.
‘The signing of some very good players adds further condemnation to these recent performances. I think United with this squad should challenge for the title. But we are in a really bad position and it’s heartbreaking to watch Ole.
‘For Man United fans who loved him and ex-players who still love him. It’s not easy commentating on a former team-mate. I think Ole not sorting out the compactness of the team earlier was silly. It was a glaring tactical omission.
‘I am happy to say that. Not good enough. But I just won’t say the other thing. Not about Ole or any manager. I never have.’
‘I text Ole that once because I thought it was getting that bad,’ he added. ‘But I don’t have any football communication with them, even when my brother [Phil] and Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] were working at the club.
‘A sporting director at another club asked to meet so he could give me some insight on his place and I said no. It would compromise me.
‘I don’t have a personal relationship with anybody in football including at United. ‘It means I can speak openly on TV about anything or anybody.’
