EPL News: Alex Ferguson says Neville will not be Captain any longer
Manchester United’s manager, Alex Ferguson has revealed that Gary Neville will no longer be captain of Manchester United.
Neville was appointed as manager when former team skipper, Roy Keane left way back in 2005. Neville may have been captain for the last five years, but he has barely made any appearances because over the last three years of his career Neville has been injured for the most part. Normally the player who would take over as captain when Neville was injured was Ryan Giggs, however despite that fact, the manager has gone on to appoint Nemanja Vidic as the new captain of the team.
Vidic was captain of the side that drew with Everton this past Saturday night, despite the fact that Neville was a part of the squad. Ferguson justified his decision of switching captains by stating that he needed someone who would be present for most of the games and wouldn’t be sitting them out due to injury.
The manager was reported to have said:
"Gary is still club captain but I have been looking for someone who is going to be playing consistently every week," said Ferguson. "Over the last two or three years we have had to pass the baton along the line a few times.
"We have not had a consistent captain because Gary's injuries have prevented him playing all the time. If he was available all the time he would be the captain. He would have been on Saturday. But I have to look at the overall picture.
"With all due respect to Gary's time at United, he knows and I know, we don't play him every week and I am looking for someone who does (play)."
Most experts believe that this change in captaincy at the club was something that has been long overdue. Everyone believed that Neville despite being a diehard United fan, was just not cut to be captain of the side. The player managed to get involved in a lot of field antics that dented the clubs image.
Some fans strongly felt that, these antics of this were what showed the players loyalty and dedication to the team and were strongly supportive of every decision that he makes.
Despite that fact the team feels that they expect a certain degree of professionalism from their captain which Neville just hasn’t shown over the last five years.
The player’s most recent opinion that the player has made public, was when he went public about how he felt about Manchester City. The player went onto say that if a team goes ahead and spends countless pounds on buying players, but still fail to have any success then the team is quite possibly as bad as it gets. Considering that there is already a more then heated rivalry between the two sides, these words ended up sparking up that age old rivalry.
On the other hand, Vidic has proven time and time again that he is one of the most professional players around. He is also currently the captain of Serbia and has more than enough experience, of filling in as captain at the club.
Tags: