Gary Neville admits watching Solskjaer struggle at Man United 'was tough'

Gary Neville has admitted he found it 'tough' to watch his friend and former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer struggle during his final days as Manchester United manager.

Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho as United boss on an initial interim basis in December 2018 before being handed the job permanently four months later after making a positive start in the dugout at Old Trafford.

He went on to guide United to second place in 2020-21, but the wheels fell off the following season and Solskjaer was sacked in November 2021 after a 4-1 defeat by Watford.

Solskjaer was on the receiving end of fierce criticism from fans and pundits towards the end of his United reign, but Neville continued to stand up for the man he shared a dressing room with for 11 years. He has now spoken out about why he never turned on Solskjaer.

Speaking on Stick to Football: The Overlap Special, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville explained: 'Ole [Gunnar Solskaer] was tough, for me and Roy Keane, when he was manager of [Manchester] United. People at the end abused him, but me probably more than Roy, the idea of going against Ole, that’s never going to happen.

'I can say, "He’s under pressure, the team aren’t playing well" – we said all those things – but the idea of going a step further which says, "He should lose his job, he should be sacked" – never.

'That’s what people want but I would never go into that. I’ve never once [done that].'

Neville arrived on the punditry scene in 2011 after hanging up his boots earlier that year.

He maintains that his stance on calling for managers to be sacked has never changed, and revealed who he has felt most sorry for since switching the pitch for the studio.

'It was a rule when I came into Sky, for myself, about 13 years ago – I said I would never ever [call for a manager to be sacked],' Neville continued.

'I remember the manager at Blackburn – Steve Kean – I’ve never seen a manager have as tough a time, for a longer period – than Steve. It was getting painful in the end where you’re thinking, "Actually, he probably wants to be sacked", but you never say, "Sack him, put him out of his misery".

'Some do and feel comfortable with it, but I’ve never said it and I’m quite proud of that.'

Neville believes he has chosen his words carefully when talking about managers, but conceded that it can be difficult to always get things right when working as a co-commentator, insisting it is a 'more challenging' role than punditry.

'I did co-commentary for a long time and I felt it was more challenging than punditry. It is the one you get the most criticism for because it’s in-game and you’ve got to react on the spot,' Neville said.

'Whereas punditry in the studio, you’ve got maybe 20 minutes, half an hour, to think about what you’re going to say. On commentary, you’ve got no time to think, you’ve got to react to what you see so it is probably harder.

'The hardest thing with that was the timing of when to say things, when not to say things, knowing when they’re going to speak, when you’re not going to speak because you’re both sat there watching the game and you don’t really know when they’re going to speak.'

Gary Neville was speaking on Stick to Football: The Overlap Special, brought to you by Sky Bet.