Gary Neville 'spineless' Tottenham comments were out of order - Jermaine Jenas

Published on: 03 November 2018

Gary Neville was head coach at Valencia from December 2015 to March 2016

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville saying Tottenham have been "spineless and soft" for much of his life was "rude" and uncalled for, says ex-Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas.

During a discussion on Sky Sports, Neville said Spurs teams had been "flaky" and "pathetic" for 30 years.

But the 43-year-old added the current side is the "toughest, most resilient" Tottenham team he has seen.

"I felt he sounded like a privileged kid, almost," Jenas told the BBC.

The former England player, who made 203 appearances for Tottenham, told the Football Daily podcast: "What I mean by that is Gary Neville only knows what life is like at the best football club in the world, under the best manager in the world.

"And that obviously bred success for a number of years and he lived it year in, year out.

"At other clubs, there are different variants that you're bringing in to the fold, which has a negative impact on the team."

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Neville, speaking on Monday Night Football, said: "Tottenham Hotspur, for 30 years of our lives, were spineless and soft, flaky, rubbish.

"You could be 2-0 down against them and think you would win 5-2."

But he praised Mauricio Pochettino's current side, and described chairman Daniel Levy as the "best operator in football".

Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp described Neville's criticism as an "absolute disgrace".

And Jenas said he felt Neville would have learned from his time managing Valencia, who sacked him after less than four months in the role.

"I actually felt like the one thing he would have gained from his experience as a manger is what life is like outside that Manchester United bubble," he said.

"At other clubs, players are striving to be at the best clubs in Europe. That's what he had as a player but he didn't have it as a manager."

Gary Neville compared his managerial record to Harry Redknapp's after Redknapp criticised his comments

Source: bbc.com

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