Gary Neville hopes Real Madrid and European Super League president Florentino Perez has a £100million fine waiting for the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ after they withdrew from the controversial project on Tuesday night, leaving the plans for a breakaway competition in ruins.
Just 48 hours after signing up to the universally hated Super League, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham were left licking their wounds after they all announced that they’d be enacting the withdrawal procedure from the £4.6bn scheme.
After facing fierce backlash from the world of football, the European Super League’s house of cards collapsed dramatically on Tuesday following player, pundit and fan protests from all over the continent.
Gary Neville hopes those involved in the Super League are slapped with £100million fines
And Neville, who has been one of the leading voices against the Super League, claims the project is now ‘finished’ and hopes the clubs involved ‘eat themselves’ while being slapped with hefty fines.
‘Quite incredible,’ Neville told Sky Sports while reacting to the news. ‘Large concern yesterday morning was waking up thinking that, for me particularly as a United fan, that Joel Glazer had put his name on a statement which you think what he went through in the takeover of Manchester United, they withstood a barrage of abuse and they went through it and you thought, “it’s going to be difficult for them to back down”.
‘They haven’t backed down yet but the fact that [Manchester] City have enacted the withdrawal procedure and it looks like Chelsea are on the way, it’s done. It’s finished.
‘They will have their PR teams scrambling around to make this as lovely as possible in the next 24 hours, working out what the right time is to sort of, withdraw from it.
Neville wants Real Madrid and European Super League president Florentino Perez to fine the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ for withdrawing from the breakaway league as punishment
‘[Florentino] Perez might have them on a £100m fine and I hope he does. I hope Perez has got them on a massive fine to withdraw the lot of them and they basically end up eating each other.’
The news of the Super League quick demise was followed by the revelation that Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward had resigned from his role. United were one of the main drivers behind the Super League concept.
It’s understood that Woodward was planning to go at the end of the year – and will stay in his role until then – but the announcement has been brought forward. The club confirmed the news following the closing of the New York stock exchange on Tuesday night.
Neville believes Woodward knew ‘his time was up’ in football and has called for other high-ranking executives involved in the European Super League to be thrown out with him.
‘We obviously don’t know why the timing is now,’ Neville said. ‘The leeches could’ve thrown him under the bus or it could’ve been the sensible thing has happened.
‘Ed Woodward knew it would get hot in the kitchen and he had to get out of there.
‘Every single executive who sits at the Premier League table, on these UEFA and FIFA committees, they need throwing out of that club. There is no way they can be trusted. Ed Woodward knew his time in football was finished. Ed Woodward is the trunk of the tree, we now need to go for the roots.’
Carragher claimed the comments of Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, midfielder James Milner and Leeds striker Patrick Bamford after Monday night’s match, helped swing the balance.
‘I just think the reaction of everybody, Jurgen Klopp coming out last night, James Milner and Patrick Bamford.
Neville believes Ed Woodward (pictured) knew ‘his time was up’ at United and in football
‘Yesterday afternoon I was fearful. It was really serious, it felt like there was no fight, that the ship had sailed.
‘But after the game I felt re-energised and was confident this would be over after those players came out. That gave me a huge lift. I said as soon as one goes that’s the end of it, and it’s finished.
‘Klopp threw the owners under the bus, the captain (Jordan Henderson) has, Kenny Dalglish has. I don’t know what they are hanging on for. I don’t see a future for the ownership on the back of this.
‘I said if Jurgen Klopp walked they would be out in a week, but I don’t see how John Henry can sit in that wonderful main stand he was part of building.
‘I don’t see how they can come to the club again off the back of this. So I think the best thing for them is to find a buyer. I think it will be very difficult for them to have a relationship with the club going forwards.’
Jamie Carragher admitted that he can’t see owner John Henry back at Anfield after this
Neville aded that the concept of the Super League had no sporting merit and was in fact drawn up by accountants.
Neville continued: ‘It was just a mad idea drawn up by non football people. It was drawn up by accountants and people looking to maximise the profit out of football.
‘You look at the share price of Juventus and Man United, investors liked it. Make no mistake these clubs could have doubled in value. Man United and Liverpool would have been looking for their exit, been in there for a few years, been successful and it would have been a great time for them to get out.
‘In Man United’s case they are paying themselves enormous dividends. They saw this as an opportunity to double, treble their asset.’
Carragher also pointed out how it’s the club’s owners that should be punished and not the clubs themselves following their failed venture into the Super League.
Carragher has called for the owners of the ‘Big Six’ to be punished, not the clubs themselves
Carragher added: ‘The most important thing for me is getting everybody together. These are huge institutions in our game. This is not Liverpool, Manchester United, Man City, Chelsea, Spurs or Arsenal. This is the owners. It’s not the clubs.
‘Should the players be punished? Should the managers be punished? They shouldn’t be. It’s the owners. Ed Woodward has moved on and I think there will be more. I think we will look back at this and realise the magnitude of what we have all done.
‘We have all proved in this country, the media, the supporters and the players have been more on the front foot and that is something everybody should be proud of in taking this European Super League down.’