The Portland Timbers hiring Phil Neville as their new head coach was met with nothing short of animosity from large swaths of the club’s fan base. Supporters’ groups quickly put out a statement urging the club to reconsider when The Athletic broke the news a deal was close to name Neville head coach. “We are deeply disappointed that the club has reportedly settled on a finalist for head coach who has a history of sexist public statements that run counter to our ethos as a club, city and supporters’ group, and who also lacks a proven track record as a manager,” the statement read, in part.
The public statements they referenced were several sexist tweets written by Neville in the early 2010s, which he first described as “wrong then and wrong now,” when he initially addressed them while in charge of the England women’s national team in 2019 and reiterated again this week.
Undeterred by the cold welcome and aiming to win over the fans, Neville sat smiling, confident and affable as he addressed questions from the local and national media on Tuesday for the first time after officially taking the job.
“The statement (the Timbers Army) put out showed this club cares about their people,” Neville told the media. “In reference to the tweets I made in 2011 ……
