England

Roy Hodgson urges Gary Neville to become full-time coach

By Simon Sinclair, Reporter | 15 February 2015

England boss Roy Hodgson urges Gary Neville to end his stint as a television pundit and use his talent to become a full-time coach instead.

England boss Roy Hodgson has called on Gary Neville quit his role as a pundit to become a full-time coach.

Neville has worked under Hodgson as a coach since his appointment as manager of the Three Lions in 2012, but also serves as a pundit with Sky Sports on their coverage of the Premier League and Champions League.

Hodgson has admitted that he wants to see the former Manchester United defender use his talent for coaching on a permanent basis and leave the television studio behind.

"From a selfish point of view, thinking about the importance good coaches are going to have in our game, personally would see him more valuable to me as an English football lover as a coach than as a pundit," he told reporters.

"Punditry, to be honest, is not that difficult if you know a little bit about football. You don't win or lose in punditry. You don't have to deal with players. You don't have the daily contact with them, you're not coaching them. You're just watching the game and giving your opinion.

"But the fact that he's so good at it, who knows? Maybe he'll be under great pressure from Sky to keep that up. Maybe there won't be any jobs that he wants to take. If you're asking me personally would you like to see Gary Neville being a coach or a manger in the future, then of course I would."

Neville retired from football after a 20-year career with United in 2011.