Neville's Salford decisions riddled with hypocrisy as Class of 92 opt for change
He is Manchester United through and through - but Gary Neville admits there's been nothing like riding the emotion rollercoaster of Salford City.
Neville’s ambitions to turn a one time struggling non-league club into a Championship side appear to be flagging. Right now, with Salford dicing with relegation back into the non-league and having sacked six managers during their reign, the ‘Class of 92’ comprising of Neville, brother Phil, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Singapore businessman Peter Lim are seemingly at their wits ends.
A crushing 5-1 defeat at home to Tranmere Rovers was the group’s nadir and Neil Wood, despite having taken the club into last season’s League Two promotion play-offs, was dumped. In their roles as TV pundits Gary Neville and Scholes might encourage continuity, but that’s not been the name of the game during their eight-and-a-half years at the helm.
They inherited Phil Power but quickly ditched him in favour of up and coming managerial duo Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley. Three promotions were duly delivered taking the club from the Northern Premier League Division One North into the National League - just one tier away from the EFL.
But a dispute over the length of contracts saw Johnson and Morley leave to be replaced by Graham Alexander, who to the obvious joy of Gary Neville and company illustrated in the TV documentary about the club, took them into the EFL promised land.
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The Scottish international also guided Salford into the EFL Trophy final at Wembley but wasn’t around long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labours, being sacked despite Salford lying fifth early in their second season in League Two. Richie Wellens was in charge at Wembley in the victory over Portsmouth.
Gary Neville cited a lack of an attractive playing style for sacking Alexander, a decision he readily admits he now regrets. “When you’re an owner and you’ve got a football background your passion is the dressing room, the field and the grass, but you can’t do anything about it, you’re making decisions from a distance,” he stated.
“Every season we haven’t gone up I’ve made bad decisions or we haven’t done certain things well. Graham Alexander should never have left this club.”
Neil Wood recently saw his Salford City tenure end (Ryan Browne/REX/Shutterstock)What's your thoughts on Salford City's latest managerial exit? Let us know in the comments below!
The managerial hirings and firings continued with Wellens axed just a week after the Wembley triumph. He paid the price for a slump in the league form which saw them struggling to make the League Two play offs.
At the time his Sky Sports pundit partner Jamie Carragher saw the irony in the decision and reposted a Neville tweet which had said: "How can you (a manager) build a football team without getting 2-3 years? A rule change is required to moderate sacking of managers mind season in their first year at a club."
Salford brought in the experienced Gary Bowyer who had been working alongside Wayne Rooney at Derby County. But when after 14 months the club had once again narrowly missed out on the play offs, Bowyer was also on his way.
Nicky Butt took over from Gary Neville as chief executive and Neil Wood, who had been in charge of Manchester United’s Under 23s, was brought in.
He’s now the latest Salford managerial casualty with the club a long way off fulfilling the original dream and with attendances amongst the worst in the league, an average so far this season of just 2,761 - a far cry from near neighbours Stockport County’s 9,071 and similarly ambitious Wrexham’s 10,270.
The Gary Neville nerves are once again fraying.
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