Gary Neville has identified the three former Manchester United players who ensured the “principles and the values of the dressing room” were upheld for Sir Alex Ferguson.
One of United’s famous ‘Class of ‘92’ members, the 48-year-old Sky Sports pundit spent his entire club playing career at Old Trafford and excelled under Ferguson.
Neville served as captain during Ferguson’s reign and won plenty of silverware at United, including eight Premier League titles and two Champions League trophies.
The ex-United skipper retired from football in 2011, with Neville later serving as an assistant manager at England and enduring an ill-fated spell at Valencia as manager.
Neville has become a key face in punditry for Sky and the former Red Devils right-back has actively pursued business ventures after his playing career at United.
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Neville planning for his post-United life
Neville, who recently revealed a Liverpool figure that he would take at United, has now candidly opened up on how he began to prepare for the transition off the pitch.
The ex-England international admitted that he was rocked by an injury he suffered against Bolton Wanderers in 2007, which led to an extended period on the sidelines.
Neville missed out on United’s sensational 2008 Champions League final win and later came to the realisation that he was “well off the pace” when he returned to training.
Speaking on The Daily Ketchup, he said: “Do you know something? Probably the worst thing… I wouldn’t say [the] worst thing, the most disappointing thing that happened in my football career was I was captain of United, flying and I remember being in an unbelievable moment and I got an injury against Bolton.
“I injured my ankle and I was out for 12 months. And I missed the 2008 Champions League final when we won the Champions League final and won the league, which was an unbelievable team with Rooney, Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra.
“It was an amazing team. And I missed that season, which was a great regret. But what it taught me was that my football career was coming to an end and I needed to start thinking seriously about doing other things.
“And what really pushed me towards that was when I went back after my injury with my ankle, and I started to join back in with those lads I’ve just mentioned, I was well off the pace. I was well off it.
“You know I was just a yard short and then Rafael was coming through, the young Brazilian right-back, and I thought, ‘He looks sharp, and I don’t look sharp.’ And I’m aware and I know when sort of things are going well.”
Neville on Ferguson’s three ‘guardians‘
Neville has since been involved in property development in Manchester and even took over League Two side Salford City with other members from the Class of ’92.
The footballer-turned-pundit played for United after his return from injury, with Neville being a key figure for Ferguson during the late stages of his managerial career.
Neville believes that Ferguson kept him in the dressing room after his injury to ensure that the “work ethic” and the “discipline” at United remained high.
And the former England defender added that Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and himself were Ferguson’s “guardians” for the United locker room.
“So, I just think that I had time in that two or three years because Sir Alex kept me in the changing room because I think me, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes were almost like the guardians of the principles and the values of the dressing room, so he knew he didn’t need to be in the changing room because we were in there,” Neville continued.
“And we would look after the work ethic, the discipline, making sure everything was spot on.
“We wouldn’t tolerate sort of what would damage our chances of success and careers […].”
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