IT IS after the end of the formal interview and only in passing that Phil Neville mentions that he has called Glenn Roeder, the West Ham United manager still awaiting neurosurgery. “I just felt I owed him a few words,” Neville said. “He was great to me when I needed him. He is one the good guys in the game.”
In ringing Upton Park and then the hospital to leave a message of support for a stricken manager, Neville was repaying a debt from five years earlier. On the day that Glenn Hoddle sowed the seeds of his own downfall as England manager with his brutally insensitive culling from the World Cup squad of Paul Gascoigne and the younger Neville brother, as well as three others, Roeder, who at the time was part of England’s coaching set-up, showed the humanity so deplorably absent in his boss.
“Glenn was close to Gazza so I know that he was personally gutted that day anyway,” Neville said. “But he still found the time to come and see me in my room at the hotel in La Manga when I wasn’t in the best state. In fact, he was the first to come and check I was OK. It was a little thing but in the circumstances it meant a lot to me.”
It was only a little thing for Neville to make that telephone call but, as his career at Manchester United has proved, the little things can add up to something mightily impressive. In his case, a European Cup, two FA Cup triumphs and five championship medals. By tomorrow night — if United beat Charlton Athletic at lunchtime today and Arsenal fail to beat Leeds United a little over 24 hours later — he could have his sixth.
Perhaps then, even the dunderheads on the nation’s terraces and, particularly, at England matches will admit that Neville, and his older brother, Gary, have done more than strike lucky on the back of the brilliance of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Keane and the more celebrated United players, although the Neville family learnt long ago to rise above the sad and the jealous who will look for faults whatever they achieve.
Phil prefers to laugh at his own dour image, telling the wonderfully self-deprecating tale of when he went to the Real Madrid dressing-room to see if he could swap shirts with one of the celebrated galacticos. “I gave my shirt to one of their kit men,” he said. “Two minutes later, he came back still holding mine so I am not quite sure what happened. Luckily, one of their directors was holding a shirt from Roberto Carlos so I didn’t leave empty-handed.”
Like the call to Roeder, the tale reveals everything about Neville’s humility and, if he was not so modest, he could tell the critics to stick their medals on the table. He could also silence them by quoting the statistic that his next appearance for United will be his 42nd of the season. He has played or been on the bench for all but one of the club’s 61 games in a campaign that, more than any, has shown that a squad is only as good as its weakest parts. Neville deserves better than this comparison but, while Arsenal’s reserves such as Pascal Cygan and Oleg Luzhny have let them down at crucial times, he has delivered some of the best performances of his career.
As for all the United squad, it has been a campaign of extremes for Neville. There was the personal high of a Barclaycard Premiership win over Arsenal at Old Trafford in November, when he famously flattened Patrick Vieira with a shuddering full stop of a tackle. It came just two weeks after the low against Manchester City. The despair of that afternoon explains why Neville and the rest of the players share the sentiment of their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, that this year’s title would be their most satisfying.
“The feeling among everyone in football was that we were a spent force, that we were gone,” Neville said. “That is why the gaffer said it would be our greatest triumph. Arsenal were playing unbelievably well at the time, and the criticism was not just coming from journalists. Professionals were saying it. Every Saturday when we were playing someone, one of their players would be in the papers saying they did not fear us any more.
“The derby was the low point. Nobody has written it but I was involved in all three goals too. Because Gary made the blunder, it was him who got it worst but it was an abysmal day for me personally. The Arsenal game was soon after and we knew that, if we didn’t win, we were out of the championship. It was only November but it was do or die. We had to stop the rot and we tackled, we fought. We showed we weren’t going to lie down and die.
“We have shown unbelievable character to come back. People say they want to win the European Cup, they say the manager’s priority is the European Cup but you have to be the champions of your own country. It was sickening, gut-wrenching, to see Arsenal win the trophy at Old Trafford.”
Neville’s language underlines the intensity of the battle between two great teams but, to him, it has been a healthy contest. Suggestions that the managers and players have allowed sporting rivalry to boil over into something dangerous receive short shrift from the 26-year-old as the season goes into its final eight days.
“All it has shown is how badly both teams want it,” he said. “The psychological warfare, the comments in the papers, both managers going hell for leather. When we played each other, it was tense all over the pitch. You felt it could be kicking off any moment. It has to be the best season the Premiership has ever had. All both clubs have been doing is fighting their own corner.
“It has raised the bar for everyone. We have definitely had to improve to catch them because they were phenomenal last season and at the start of this. We have enjoyed the test of having to catch them. It has driven us on but we know there is still a bit to do over the next week.
“I think they have been suffering so it will be interesting to see how they respond. When they have suffered a defeat, sometimes they can suffer two or three after, so it is a test of character for them. We have had to bounce back from our own disappointments, like not winning anything last year.”
Success with United is Neville’s priority but, so much has he enjoyed his football this season, he has turned his thoughts back to England. Ludicrously made a scapegoat for the early exit from Euro 2000, he admits that he began not to enjoy pulling on the white shirt. He was left at home for the World Cup finals last year but he is ready to return if Sven-Göran Eriksson calls on him.
“I was not the most popular player and I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he said. “It got to the stage where it wasn’t enjoyable playing for England. It is difficult to say that because I love playing for my country but I knew my family didn’t enjoy watching me play for England.
“Now I want to get back in there: I would love to turn public opinion around. It just needs a good performance, maybe a goal. I’ve got 37 caps and I would love to get to 50.”
