GARY NEVILLE claims beefed-up security has turned Old Trafford into a “prison” – causing “devastating” damage to Manchester United’s worldwide image ahead of Thursday night’s clash with Liverpool.
Fans repeated their protests before the rescheduled game after demonstrations against United owners the Glazers and the European Super League plot forced the original match to be postponed 11 days ago.
And Old Trafford legend Neville believes the scenes as United prepared for their big rivals showed “something has gone badly wrong”.
A Liverpool ‘team bus’ was temporarily blocked by fans on a side street amid Thursday evening’s protests, although the vehicle was later reported to be a “decoy”.
And former England defender told Sky Sports: “What we have at the moment is a fan base more wound up than ever before.
“Let’s be clear what we’ve seen on that forecourt, which is effectively Manchester United turned into a prison.
“It’s a devastating image for the Manchester United image and brand around the world.
“When you have to put prison walls around your ground and have hundreds and hundreds of police officers on a game where fans aren’t attending, there is something gone badly wrong.”
And Nev doubts fans will trust “detached” United co-owner Joel Glazer after he promised better communication plus supporter involvement.
He said: “The only two times he has communicated previously has been through apologies.
“I’m not sure how Joel Glazer is going to be able to communicate effectively with these fans because he doesn’t talk their language, he doesn’t understand where they are at, he doesn’t ‘feel’ this club.
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“They’re detached completely from the ethos, from the passion that the supporters feel.”
He added: “The European Super League was such a damaging proposal that … the trust in the ownership of the Big Six has now gone completely.
“The most important thing is that… there are protections put in place by the Government to stop what would be the owners of these clubs damaging the interests of the game.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
