Manchester United legend Gary Neville has slammed Boris Johnson over the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis that is currently gripping the UK and the rest of the world.
The former Man Utd and England defender has announced that he will offer up his hotels to be used for NHS staff, and has also vowed to continue paying his workers despite these uncertain times for the economy.
MORE: Enquiry made: Manchester United approached over clinching potential £150million transfer
As well as that, Neville has been an outspoken critic of the way Johnson has dealt with this, as he slams the PM’s lack of leadership and mixed messages.
Speaking today on Sky Sports, as quoted by the Daily Mirror, Neville said: “In moments of crisis the real leaders stand up and make tough decisions which sometimes go against the grain of essentially what’s happening,” Neville told Sky Sports’ The Debate.
“The government at that time (the start of the pandemic), through Boris Johnson, were essentially zig-zagging all over the place with their messages.
“Even today he’s talked about ‘let’s protect each other’ – I watched his address earlier on – and he talked about self-isolating, protect yourself and each other, be resilient on this, but he’s not shut clubs, bars, restaurants, pubs, schools aren’t closing until tomorrow evening.
“The messages are so conflicting from the government and, to be fair, economically driven at times I have to say.
“I felt the Premier League saying that the games would continue for another weekend was almost ‘winging it’ to try and get another round in.
“I understand the complexities of it but I do feel decisive leadership is important.”
It does seem fair to say that the British public could do with more clear, coherent information right now, and that the UK has seemed slower to respond to the coronavirus crisis than many other countries around Europe and the rest of the world.
Neville also called, in the video below, for the footballing world to play its part in helping ordinary people through these difficult times:
"There is an opportunity for the Premier League to lead the way."@GNev2 thinks the Premier League can help health services and the football community to recover from the coronavirus pandemic…
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 19, 2020