Phil Neville's Hiring as England Manager is an Insult to the Women's Team
The England women's senior team deserves so much more. Having finished third place in the 2015 World Cup and now sitting at the lofty heights of third in the world rankings too, this group of footballers deserve more.
They deserve more than the "inappropriate and unacceptable" behavior of former coach Mark Sampson. They deserve more than the stifling wage gap between male and female players. Though, most of all, they deserve more than Phil Neville.
Our country's finest footballing talents are to be found in the women's half of the game; it's indisputable. While the men's England squad crack on with their cycle of habitual underachievement, the England women's are breaking new ground. For those of you with red-blood boiling at the very thought of this, take a moment to accept it: it won't dent your prideful masculinity, honest.
These women deserve a manager with talent, quality, a proven track record and someone who understands the women's game. What they've been given, bizarrely, is a former pro with a big name and a single match's experience of management. That match, for the record, was co-managed in the sixth tier of English football.
If ever there's been a damning indictment for the FA's view on women's football, it's that.
It seems almost symbolic of the disregard given to half of this country's national obsession that it's being governed by a man who has about as much managerial experience as he does charm. And about as much charm as he does Liverpool appearances.
Perhaps worse still, this concerning symbolism becomes a little too real when you take a moment to peruse through the annals of Phil Neville's Twitter account.
Women - the raging #hypocrites - who "of always wanted equality until it comes to paying the bills [sic]" and should all be "busy preparing breakfast/getting kids ready/making the beds", perhaps aren't held in the highest regard by Mr Phil 'Back in the Kitchen' Neville, as seen below.
How on earth a man with such little regard for the opposite sex can even be considered for a role whereby he'll manage a whole team of them is beyond belief.
Anyway, as we've established, Neville has little or no managerial quality and he's a dreadful ambassador to fly the flag for women's football.
So just how did he get the job?
Well, off the back of others' rejection, it would appear.
Six contenders for the role turned their back on it and that seems to have left the FA floundering a little. Step forward: Phil Neville.
England's female footballers don't deserve this. They don't deserve a PR stunt and a flashy name. Their talent should be the real driving factor in attracting crowds, not the controversial appointment of Gary Neville's kid brother.
Perhaps, dear FA, that might suggest some investment in the game. Who knows: decent wages and the avoidance of sex pests? Just two suggestions to consider next time.
Though, if you're going to plug on with appointing grossly inappropriate and under-qualified men for the job, may we recommend you check their Twitter first?
