• 'Neville was not that influential at Manchester United'
• Keane questions wisdom of combining coaching and punditry
Roy Keane has suggested that Gary Neville was not as influential in the Manchester United dressing room as many assume and has expressed surprise that he will combine his media work with his new role on Roy Hodgson's coaching staff for England.
During his playing career, Neville built a reputation for having a strong personality, not least when he led a proposed strike by England players in 2003, and has also earned respect for his forthright opinions as a pundit for Sky Sports last season. However Keane, who was Neville's captain at United for eight years, does not expect his former team-mate to be a dominant figure with England.
"It's important you are yourself," said Keane. "Listen, Gary can talk but don't think for one minute he was as influential in the dressing room as people might think he was. Gary would say his piece but he wasn't running the show. Far from it.
"So don't think for one minute he will be going into England and calling the shots. He will be learning his trade and being a link between the manager and the players, and I think he will be good at that."
The Football Association has no problem with Neville continuing in his role as Sky's lead pundit for Champions League and Premier League matches, or his column in the Mail on Sunday, yet Keane has questioned the wisdom of combining the two roles.
"I'm surprised he has kept his role with doing TV," he said. "That can be difficult. You can get your way around criticising players by saying: 'I'd expect the player to do better.' He probably won't be as critical as me and speak in the terms I do. I know Gareth [Southgate] does it, but he's not in the dressing room, he's not on the training pitch, he's not working with the players."
While Hodgson's decision to recruit Neville ahead of Euro 2012 has largely been met with praise, Keane is wary about building him up too much and has urged people not to become too critical if he is not an immediate success.
"There's a lot of thumbs-up, everyone says it is a good appointment, but I'd say let's wait and see," said Keane. "We've got to give him a chance. He's not done any coaching before. I know he has done his coaching qualifications but sitting in a studio talking about teams is very different.
"What he has got is he'll be working under Roy Hodgson. It is not as if he will be calling the shots. He can learn his trade. I'm pretty sure if they have a decent tournament, or a decent couple of years, Roy Hodgson and his staff will get praise. If they don't, the manager will get criticism and people will start criticising Gary. Gary's a decent guy and he's played at a decent level, but that doesn't guarantee you success."
Despite the potential pitfalls, Keane, who has managed Sunderland and Ipswich Town, still believes Neville was right to accept Hodgson's offer, even if failure might harm any managerial ambitions he might harbour.
"You have to look at these opportunities when they come," he said. "You can't be too clever when you are outside of football and not involved in a team, and if an opportunity comes up.
"He is going to be working with top players and a top manager so there is no surprise Gary jumped straight into it. There is only one way to find out if you can do it or not – let's get into it. It's no good just talking about it. It's not a week-to-week job. He will still have a bit of time off and will be learning from a top manager." Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
