GARY NEVILLE has slammed the ‘leaderless’ Premier League for failing to unite football in the fight against coronavirus after the pay cut row.
The former Manchester United ace believes football should be setting an example as the killer virus continues to sweep across the nation with a devastating impact.
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Gary Neville has slammed the ‘leaderless’ Premier League for failing to unite football in the fight against coronavirusCredit: PA:Press Association
The Premier League proposed that players should take a pay cut of 30 per cent on Friday – a move which Gary Neville originally slammed for “blindsiding” players.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock chimed in and demanded that Prem aces take a pay cut and do their bit in the fight against coronavirus.
Top-flight stars feel they are being blamed for the actions of owners who are asking the taxpayer to pick up the tab for their lowest-paid workers.
The majority are willing to take a rain check on their monthly wages to help colleagues but they remain furious with the clubs for the way they have tried to force them into wage cuts and deferrals.
Neville, 45, has again hit out at the Prem’s decision and labelled them “bullies” in their handling of the situation.
On the Sky Sports Football Youtube channel he said: “The players want to contribute to the NHS, to the lower leagues, to the non-playing staff and ensure their money goes somewhere that is helpful.
“If you want to bring people on a journey with you, to take a wage cut, you have to land that softly.
“Trying to bully them by announcing it mid-afternoon Friday and calling them to a meeting on the Saturday with their manager and owners is probably not the best way to land the blow as hard as that would have been, to the players.
“I do think the way it has been handled from day one has been a mess, I don’t think it’s been quick enough and ultimately it shows the lack of leadership we have at the moment to come together to capture the mood of the country.
“Football will be judged, we want it to be judged differently, because the power that it has to influence people is enormous. Those players, those badges, are steeped in history. It means so much to everyone around the world.
“The idea that we don’t want football to be judged differently? We do want football to be judged differently. There’s an opportunity here for football to do an amazing thing.”
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Fellow Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Carragher, insisted it will be “impossible” for all 20 clubs to agree on an outcome.
And added that the 30 per cent figure simply won’t be able to apply to every player, with some clubs potentially struggling more than others in future.
He said: “There’s no way the Premier League as one are going to come together and agree on it. Every club is in a different position.
“There’s no way owners at the bottom of this division can afford to just be handing out hundreds of thousands to players each week.
“I’m not saying it has to be 30 per cent, but I think every club’s situation is different, and they as a club have to get together. “Forget the conference calls, or captains of each team getting together, that’s not going to work, it has to be your own players at your own clubs.”
Wayne Rooney has been at the forefront of the players’ fightback in the pay cut row, branding the government a “disgrace” over their handling of the issue.
The Manchester United legend, who now plays for Derby, says footballers have been made “scapegoats” at a time of national emergency.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche also blasted the Health Secretary for his remarks about footballers as a “massive generalisation”.
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Sean Dyche criticises Matt Hancock’s ‘massive generalisation’ as he warns MPs to lay off players
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
