If there is such a thing as a punditry gene, then it is fair to say that of the Nevilles, it has been bestowed upon Gary, rather than Phil. Even when Phil tries to be controversial, it rarely works out for him. Take, for instance, his fallout with Liverpool's Loris Karius a few months ago, in which he stuck to his strong criticism for all of two minutes: his urging Liverpool's keeper to shut his mouth for a couple of seasons was immediately reduced to "one or two games" upon a counter-argument by Mark Chapman.
Neville has been voicing criticism once again, via his twitter page, and once again rowed back on it almost immediately.
Legendary referee, and former winner of the FAI's International Personality award, Pierluigi Collina has granted an interview to Sky Sports News, with their reporter Bryan Swanson tweeting a couple of quotes from the interview. Here's one of them:
This tweet did not go unnoticed by Phil Neville. Neville's opinion of Collina is considerably lower than the one generally shared by the rest of football, going back to Everton's defeat in Villareal in the Champions League qualifier in 2005/06. Everton had finished clear of Liverpool in fourth place the season before, meaning they earned a two-legged shot at the Champions League stages at a time when the money on offer would significantly differentiate Everton from much of the competition, only for it to go awry.
With the game tied at 1-1 at El Madrigal, Duncan Ferguson headed Everton in front, only for Collina to harshly disallow it for a foul.
Everton were ultimately knocked out, and Neville hasn't forgotten:
The tweet has since been deleted.
See Also: "I Really Miss Pasta, Too": Hull's Italian Provides Comically Sad Review Of Life In England
