Gary Neville was “told he was s***” by Man Utd team-mate after Sky Sports debut

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has become a staple of football punditry, but a former team-mate has admitted he let him know he was less than impressed with his start

Gary Neville is now widely acknowledged as one of the best pundits on television, with his insightful analysis and on-screen demeanour revolutionising the way football is broadcast in the United Kingdom.

But the Manchester United legend wasn’t always the cream of the crop when it came to his Sky Sports appearances.

Neville was recently forced to relive his Monday Night Football debut from back in 2011, where a nervous novice was seen stumbling his words when trying to interview then Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini.

And while he found it suitably embarrassing, his former United team-mate Nicky Butt has admitted he was also less than impressed.

The full-back had only hung up his boots months prior to his MNF bow, with Butt’s final game also coming during that season.

Butt told the Athletic that he let his Class of 92 colleague know exactly what he thought about his bumbling introduction to the world of punditry.

“As a manager, you’ll have tough times and get cr*p off the press. I know that – and I’m fine with the media,” the former England midfielder explained.

“I wasn’t when I started in my first interviews – or my first managerial speeches, but you learn. I remember seeing Nev on Sky Sports at first and he was s***, and I told him.

“Now he’s the best, by a mile. And you have to be prepared for questions – journalists have a job to do too.”

Neville would probably agree with Butt’s honest assessment of his early show reel, admitting he was extremely unsure about whether to take the gig at all.

“People were very doubtful about ‘Mr. Manchester United’ being able to come on to Sky Sports and be neutral and be fair to all the other different teams that I’ve obviously disliked over the years… There was a wave of opinion and doubt against me”, he said on Sky Sports’ Off Script .

He then added: “They sent one of the MNF analysis screens to my house about three weeks before the start of the season and I had a couple of weeks with it. But I had huge doubts and didn’t really want to do it.”

He presented those early shows alongside accomplished presenter Ed Chamberlain and he recalled a conversation prior to going on air which summed up Neville’s feelings perfectly.

“We were in it together, we were so tight, and I thought [Neville] was the calmest man on earth,” the former presenter said.

“And then basically when you get that in your ear, ‘two minutes you’re on air’, I’m absolutely shaking like a leaf, I’m terrified, I look across at Gary and say, ‘Gary how are you feeling?’

“And he basically said, ‘I’m absolutely cr****** myself. I’m more nervous now than I was in the tunnel at Wembley ’96.”