GARY NEVILLE has landed a surprise new job – leaving fans shocked and divided for the new Premier League season.
The England and Manchester United legend already stirs plenty of opinions with his punditry for Sky Sports.
Now he’s been unveiled for a top role covering the English top-flight in the USA.
NBC have heralded their capture of the 49-year-old as a major coup.
And they also announced a unique title for the former defender.
They proclaimed: “NBC Sports is proud to welcome Gary Neville to the team as a special contributor throughout the 2024/25 season!”
NBC say Nev will be part of their studio coverage every Sunday – but will start work with Friday’s Prem opener at Old Trafford between his old club United and Fulham.
And if supporters finish up as animated by the season as they are starting it over Nev’s appointment, then we are in for a fantastic feast of drama!
One fan spearheaded the doubters over his arrival with this message: “Oh well, I’ll be muting commentary this season.”
Another joked: “How did you get the Mayor of Manchester to do the crossover?”
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Less subtle shots were also fired towards NBC’s pick.
“Yikes,” said one observer, while another claimed: “This is the change we did not want.”
Other disapproving verdicts included: “Pass”… “Boooooooo”… and “Wtf”.
One supporter reckons two ex-US players would be better choices.
He wrote: “I would take that Alexi Lalas guy over Gary. I’d even take Eric Wynalda. Pls man, not Gary.”
But Neville also had his backers – one hailing him as a “huge get”.
A second enthusiast posted: “Truly love this. It’s what we need. More of everyone working for both NBC Sports and Sky Sports.
“We pretty much use their stuff—why not also have the pundits too. Most of us know (Jamie) Carragher via CBS UEFA Championship League coverage. “
Amongst the more succinct votes for Nev were: “GOOD”… “Yesss”…. and “NBC needed this!”
Meanwhile, the broadcaster confirmed their studio team for this weekend – experienced ex-BBC presenter Rebecca Lowe and former Man Utd goalkeeper Tim Howard, plus fellow ex-top flight aces in Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe.
NBC described Neville’s role as “in collaboration with Sky Sports”.
And they boasted of some record-breaking figures last season .
That included an average audience of nearly 3million viewers in English and Spanish for “Championship Sunday” – the final day of the campaign.
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Changes to the Premier League for 2024/25
NOTHING stays the same forever.
And that includes the Premier League, which is making a number of tweaks this season.
Team news will now be released 75 MINUTES before kick-off, 15 minutes earlier than had been the case before.
Things could get crowded on the touchline, with the number of substitutes permitted to warm-up boosted from three players per team to FIVE.
There’s also a change to how added time is calculated when a team scores a goal, an update to the ‘multiball’ system and the introduction of semi-automated offsides – but not straight away.
Go here to read about all the changes to the Premier League for 2024/25.