It is being reported that Gary Neville has fallen further out of favor after his “one finger salute” to Carlos Tevez.
The incident happened in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final match between Manchester City and Manchester United on January 19. The camera showed Tevez mouthing and making hand gestures toward the touch line after scoring a goal. What most cameras missed was the gesture by Neville that sparked Tevez’s reaction.
Following the incident, the FA vowed to look into the incident, but in the end no action was taken. That didn’t stop Sir Alex Ferguson from taking his own action against the defender however. Neville was scratched completely from the roster and was not allowed to travel to the game versus Arsenal.
Sir Alex was so enraged by the incident that he even banned the reporters of the television channel, that were showing the exchange repeatedly, from his Press conferences.
We have yet to see whether the snubbing of Neville will continue into this weekend’s match, although Gary has rarely been first choice for much of the season, so it’s hard to tell what is really happening. Perhaps the reports are being blown out of proportion or taken out of context. Either way, he will be retiring at the end of the season and I hope this is not what he will be remembered for.
Tags: gary neville, gesture, Tevez