Gary Neville ADMITS he will refuse to call out his 'mate' Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or tip him for the sack after Jamie Carragher accused him and Roy Keane of 'making excuses' for a fellow Man United legend
- Manchester United's poor form has piled the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
- Boss Solskjaer will hope to inspire a turnaround ahead of a tricky run of fixtures
- But despite his struggles, Gary Neville refuses to call out his former team-mate
- Pundit Neville insisted on Sky Sports he will also never demand he is sacked
- Neville has been called out by Jamie Carragher for 'making excuses' for Solskjaer
Gary Neville has admitted he will refuse to call out Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, or demand he face the sack, despite Manchester United's stuttering form this season.
The pressure is building on the beleaguered Solskjaer with United already floundering in their expected Premier League title challenge, and in the wake of their limp 4-2 defeat at Leicester at the weekend.
But when questioned on Solskjaer, Neville has stood firm on his stance of not savaging his former team-mate on live television, and instead still believes United will remain patient until at least the end of the campaign.
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Speaking on Sky Sports yesterday, Neville said: 'He (Solskjaer) should be under massive pressure with the squad that has been assembled and the fact he's been in the job now for two-and-a-half, three years. 100 per cent.
'But the club are not going to change him. The club are going to stick with him until the end of the season. I've got Manchester United fans on my social media all of the time saying, 'Gary, he's your mate. You won't call him out.'
'No, I won't. I won't call Steve Kean out, or Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. I'm not going to come on this show 11 years later and ask for a manager to be sacked. It's never going to happen. He's a club legend. He's my team-mate. I actually like him a lot.
'Manchester United have failed with two previous managers who have been world class. I think they persist until the end of the season.
'If he does win the Europa League and the FA Cup, and they finish in the top four, I would still say that's building a successful team.
'You're up against three of the best teams in the world in Chelsea, City and Liverpool, with three of the best managers. Manchester United changing their manager now doesn't prove anything to me in terms of what could happen.
'I still think they could struggle against those three teams. But the pressure is building, 100 per cent. It should do. They've got to now start to perform, and he's got to get them to perform.'
This morning, Neville has doubled down on his argument - and said that being a pundit is 'irrelevant' because he prioritises being 'someone's friend'.
Replying to a reporter who has criticised Solskjaer's former team-mates for not calling the Norwegian out, Neville said: 'I'm really happy to admit I won't ask for any manager or Ole to be sacked.
'Me being a pundit is irrelevant compared to my position as a human being and someone's friend. At least I admit it.'
This is not the first time that Neville has been accused of standing by a fellow United legend despite the side falling far below expectations.
His Sky Sports punditry colleague Jamie Carragher took a playful swipe at both Neville and Roy Keane for making 'excuses' for Solskjaer and their old club. Both men have continued to throw their weight behind the manager.
When questioned on what has annoyed him recently, former Liverpool defender Carragher was quick to call out the duo.
'It must be something to do with football... and it must be something to do with Neville,' Carragher told the Tony Bellew is Angry podcast.
'I did a newspaper column on it - I was with Gary Neville a few days before and we did this YouTube chat about the season with Roy Keane.
'The two of them just make excuses for Ole because they played with him and he's their mate.
'They were saying, 'they can't win the league, they still lack this, they still lack that, the Glazers aren't putting enough money in, they should be going for Harry Kane.'
'I'm sitting there thinking, 'you've just signed a player that's won the Champions League four times, you've just spent 75million on a winger.
''You finished second last season, you didn't lose a game away from home all season', and I'm like… 'there's only one step to go!'.
'Honestly, it wound me up so much. I went, 'that is it. I'm doing my newspaper column on it'.
'Ole wasn't too happy with the column, but I just said it's time the excuses stop at Manchester United, I'm sick of it.
'It's always, 'they still lack this, they lack that' – every player's on £50m! You go through the whole team, it's unbelievable!'
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