Manchester City fans serenaded Gary Neville during their 8-0 win over Salford City despite him not being at the Etihad Stadium.
The reigning Premier League champions welcomed Salford City – a club of which Neville is a co-owner – in the third round of the FA Cup. But the Manchester United icon decided not to attend the match.
Instead, he decided to go skiing. But City fans haven't missed the opportunity to make their feelings about him public.
Supporters at the Etihad chanted: “Gary Neville, you're aw*****, you're aw*****!” The chants came after Pep Guardiola's side made a perfect start against League Two.
Jeremy Doku opened the scoring after just eight minutes, with Divin Mubama doubling the lead with his first goal for the club. Nico O'Reilly made it 3-0 minutes before half-time, after which Jack Grealish scored a penalty after half-time. James McAtee scored City's fifth goal, while Doku grabbed his second of the match shortly afterwards, with McAtee scoring two late goals and bagging a hat-trick.
Guardiola gave his opinion on Neville before the match after labeling City 'boring'. Instead of biting back, the Spaniard claimed he could never become an expert.
Speaking before the match, the City boss said: “I don't think I'll do that. I am careful or concerned not to make a comment that could offend my colleagues. I know how difficult our work is. I don't want to pretend that I'm sitting there and I know what happened. It's so unpredictable and a lot of things happen.
“If I hurt someone, it's always childbirth, even though I don't want it. It's to defend my club. I always felt how difficult it is. I used to be a footballer and now a manager. Our affairs are so complicated.
“It's unpredictable, so difficult. I don't want to hurt my colleagues. Maybe (becoming an expert) will happen in the future, but honestly, I don't think so.”
“It's a job they do, it's normal,” he added. “If it's boring, if they say obvious things, people won't pay attention. But normally I completely agree with what they say. I'm not kidding. I completely agree with what the experts say about the games.
“For me it's not a big problem. Managers get paid for many reasons. One of them is accepting what people say in the good and bad moments.”
Salford will now have to focus on their battle for promotion to League One. They are currently third ahead of next weekend's match with Fleetwood Town.
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