Sunday, December 24, 2006

Grim news from the Brothers grim

It's not often I get wound by things printed in the News of the World, but then I saw this screaming great headline:



Ok I know, it was their Christmas do, so they had a right to let their hair down. And they are footballers, and they aren't known generally for being the brightest brunch (look at the stick Graeme Le Saux took just for reading the Guardian when he was at Blackburn Rovers).

But to have a team of highly paid professionals sat in a pub, singing a song with lyrics along the lines of "Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, put the scousers on the top. Put City in the middle, and we'll burn the f***** lot!" begs some very obvious questions.

Fair enough, it's an age-old terrace chant and I'm sure Liverpool have ones just the same about their friends in Trafford, but that's not where I'm coming from today.

My point is the person who apparently led the chants. Stand forward one Gary Neville, one of half of the ugly duo Neville Brothers who have dominated United's backline for the last decade or so.

Brother Phil is now plying his trade at Everton, but more on him soon (he's used to coming second out of the two - particularly when it comes to England call ups).

He's the one who isn't just content with being a talented footballer, but also has to take the moral high ground in front of the cameras at every opportunity. If it's not telling fans off for turning on a player, it's setting himself up as some sort of spokesman for the England players.

He wants to be whiter-than-white, the voice of the players. Then he pulls a stunt like singing this song. So he might have been drunk, but he's the one who wants everyone to listen to when he's climbing on his pedestal. So he needs to remember he's on that same perch when he's out drinking.

Because for as long as he's wanting people to listen to him, you can be assured someone will be. And this latest incident, along with his kissing of the badge in front of Scousers and once admitting 'I was brought up to hate Scousers' just goes to show he's not worthy of the respect he craves.

And now Phil, down the road at Everton is at it as well - leading the chorous for the players when their star striker Andy Johnson was accused of diving against Chelsea. He said it was an outrage. As if Andy Johnson would do that!

Then, rather amusingly, he went on to say: “Maybe he should have a look at the incident on video, then have a look at himself in the mirror."

I let you do the jokes about what may happen if either Neville looks in the mirror but perhaps they'd be better off doing that - regardless of the results - than opening their mouths, letting anything fall or sing out, and leaving themselves open for ridicule.

Merry Christmas by the way!

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