RED NEV
He's hated by half of Manchester, all of Liverpool and despised in every county in the UK. Except Surrey. and when the rumours came out that he was going to be Sky Sports new pundit on the block, those who didn't laugh threatened to cancel their subscriptions.
He's Gary Neville. Red Nev. Former right back with Manchester United and England.
But the man who famously ran the length of the pitch to show his badge to the Liverpool fans is now endearing himself to fans of all clubs - including Liverpool. At least, I think he is.
Sky Sports called him in to replace the disgraced Andy Gray - an almost impossible task because Gray, for all his eventual faults, was a superb broadcaster, knowledgeable in his analysis and matter-of-fact in his presentation.
Initially, it looked as thought Sky Sports had picked the wrong man: his first appearance on Monday Night Football might have been his last - nervous and edgy and unconvincing. But he overcame that. Many of us doubted he had the 'intelligence' to master that complicated looking technology - we had to eat our words on that, too. And we all thought it would be all praise for his old team and scorn or grudging acknowledgement of Liverpool's exploits on any given match day.
Not a bit of it: he has criticised United many a time, told them they were lucky when they clearly were and called a bad performance a bad performance. And, when applicable, he has praised Liverpool, stated categorically that he thought they should have won if they didn't and been an all round impartial commentator and analyst with regards to all clubs.
And now, of course, he is associated with the full England team under the leadership of Roy Hodgson. Time will tell how successful he proves to be on that one, but if he progresses in the same way that he has with Sky Sports, then maybe we might see a trophy winning England team at long, long last.
Personally I hope he goes on to success both with England and Sky Sports, but Garry, just one thing:
Don't forget to turn your mic off.....
