From F365. Typical Bitters We've all heard the shouts from the terraces of not only Goodison, but every football ground in the country, regardless of whether Phil Neville is playing or not. "F**k Off Neville", "You're Sh*te Neville," and "If Neville can play for England then so can I." But why do we dislike the most illustrious player in the history of Everton Football Club so much? Having won pretty much everything there is to win in club football - I think the only major domestic trophy he hasn't won is the League Cup - you would think that us Blues would be made up to have such a successful player captaining our team? Quite the opposite is true though. The majority of the lads I go the match with don't like our Captain Fantastic, the majority of Blues I speak to don't like him, and the general perception in football is that he is just plain sh*te. But why don't we like him is the question that bugs me. Why do I wish he didn't play for us? The answer I come up with is this...I don't know. I don't know why I dislike him. Is it because he isn't as technically gifted than say the best little Spaniard we know? No, because I actually like watching players that maybe aren't technically brilliant but will give 100% every time they pull on the famous Royal Blue jersey, and in fact most of my time as a Blue we have only had this type of player. Joe Parkinson, John Ebbrell and Barry Horne won us the cup in '95 and got us high up the league the next season. Lee Carsley has been absolutely fantastic for the past four seasons and Neville has as much ability as those players, so it's not that. Plus, you don't play so many games for England being a bad player, do you? Is it because he used to play for Man United? Quite simply it's not that because I don't actually hate them that much. It makes me smile that the Norwegians across the park hate them and United always beat them and win the league and that p***es them off, hence making me happy. To quote a famous saying (that I have just made up) - One sad Kopite = 40,000 happy Evertonians. A s**t quote, granted. Is it because he is always in the Echo spouting his mouth off every day? No it's not that either, because although I don't agree with him being in the paper every day, he is the club captain and that is his job. He also speaks sense most of the time, and I enjoy listening to the man speak. It is quite clear that he is a manager in the making. Is it because he has scored own goals against Liverpool and United, both times in games we have lost? No, not even that would make me hate him as every player makes mistakes and it's not as though he meant it (although the United oggy was dubious, wasn't it?) Is it his brother? No. Is it because his Dad is called Neville Neville? No, that's just funny. Is it because he gave a penalty away against Romania in Euro 2000 to get England knocked out? No, because who really gives two f***s about England ? The fact he always does that stupid little dink ball from the half-way line up to Andy Johnson's head, causing big grocks to smash him from behind? No, although that is point when the shouting of the phrases above start. At around 3:05pm on a Saturday. Every possible reason I can think could make me dislike the man gets blown out of the water. How can you dislike someone who would run through brick walls for this club, a man who is a leader, a vital part of this club, not just on the pitch but off it? How can you hate a man who is setting a marvellous example to all the young players coming through on how to behave as a professional footballer. Never has Neville been in the headlines for say, battering his wife Julie with a wine bottle, or him and Gary getting arrested for tag-teaming a young lady in a London hotel without her consent. He is the perfect pro who would never do such things. He is just a thoroughly genuine nice fella that seems to have the respect of every single player that has ever played with him, except for Jaap Stam, who I think called him and Gary, "a pair of busy little c**ts". To sum up, I don't actually know why I don't like him, and I will probably never know, but I will keep on hating him as long as he keeps on doing a great job captaining our club, and hopefully the moment I start to love Phil will be the moment he lifts the UEFA Cup at City. Keep up the good work Phil, it is greatly appreciated. Scott McCallister
Be waiting a while for that Scotty boy!!! Would love to see us snatch Lescott from them tool boxes He is the one player worth taking
"Norwegians".. you gotta love how much this guy makes an idiot of himself.... Uefa Cup... Now he's just being plain silly