Timbers Hire Phil Neville

John Spencer. Caleb Porter. Giovanni Savarese. All three of these men have been the full-time head coach of the Portland Timbers. A new name is set to join their ranks, and it is a familiar one to soccer fans worldwide.

Philip John Neville was born in Bury, England on January 21, 1977. He joined the Manchester United Academy when he was 13, and became a club legend. He finished his playing career with Everton, and acquired quite a trophy collection. This includes 6 Premier Leagues, 3 FA Cups, 3 Community Shields, one UEFA Champions League, and one Intercontinental Cup. His status as a player hasn’t changed since he started his managerial career.

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Neville got his managerial career started with the England Women’s National Team, leading them to a SheBelieves Cup and a 4th place finish at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup before resigning ahead of the 2021 Women’s Euros, who went on to win that tournament with new manager Sarina Wiegmann. He took the vacant Inter Miami job, and had to deal with some serious roster sanctions. However, his Miami team made the playoffs in 2022. After a horrific start to 2023, Neville was fired. Miami then signed Messi & Friends, hired Tata Martino, and won Leagues Cup. His last coaching job before Portland was an assistant on John Herdman’s staff with the Canadian National Team during the Gold Cup.

I tried my hardest to put together a comprehensive article about Timbers head coach candidates. I ended up ranking them in tiers: “front-runners,” “eyebrow-raisers (the good kind),” “due diligence,” and “NO GOD PLEASE NO.” Out of all the names I looked at, there was only one name that fell into that last category: Phil Neville.

I’m not impressed by Neville’s managerial record. You could argue about the limitations he had to deal with at Miami, but he had a full cupboard with the English Women’s team. However, it’s too early to completely write him off. That record by itself doesn’t disqualify him from coaching another soccer team, and he should be given a second chance. 

Portland should not be that place, and here’s a picture explaining why:

Yes, those tweets were sent over ten years ago. But that’s not the point. If the Portland Timbers were a serious organization, and they genuinely wanted to prove to their fanbase that they have learned from their mistakes, any candidate with Neville’s history should be nowhere near their list. That’s where my anger comes from. I am willing to give Phil Neville a chance. I’m intrigued to see what he can do at the helm, but this is still a missed opportunity. We don’t know what happened with the other interviewees. Some of them might have declined the job outright or didn’t have their contract demands met. I’m not sure that criteria applies to Miles Joseph, but I don’t believe directing your anger at Neville is the right move here. 

He’s a coach, and his job is to coach the team. I’m willing to judge him on what he can achieve on the field, but it doesn’t take away how much of a terrible decision it is from THIS TEAM’S front office to hire him. They have once again betrayed the wishes of their fans to hire him. They continue to show no desire to repair the wounds in the community THAT THEY HAVE CREATED. Every manager hire is a gamble, but this one was a serious risk. They risked pushing their core fanbase farther and farther away from the club and decided that this gamble was worth it. And there’s only one reason that I can see it truly being worth it in their eyes.

Money, money, money. Heather Davis was hired as CEO in January of this year. Since her hire, there have been concerts scheduled at Providence Park in 2024. She was brought in to help this club make as much money as possible. There is a giant cash cow in MLS right now, and his name is Lionel Messi. If Neville’s hiring could get the Timbers a Miami game at Providence Park next season, anyone who likes money would be instantly on board. Is it worth upsetting your entire core fanbase to get ONE SOCCER MATCH? 

This isn’t the worst thing the Timbers front office has done. But it’s their attitude towards it that continues to make fans lose trust in this organization. In the press release that announced Neville’s hiring, GM Ned Grabavoy said the following: “Phil’s character makes him the right person to lead this team forward as we continue to reshape the group with a goal of returning to sustained success.” WHAT CHARACTER ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NED?! 

I was willing to let Grabavoy cook for this hire. I had faith in him to put this team in the right direction. Phil Neville is not the right direction for this team. It’s a complete 180 for this franchise. Caleb Porter and Giovanni Savarese were managers who had success at lower levels of the sport and deserved a chance to prove themselves on a bigger stage. Phil Neville has already been at this stage, and hasn’t done enough ON THE FIELD to convince me. That’s even before taking the off-field baggage into account, which should automatically disqualify him from even being on a shortlist. But this is the Portland Timbers, and they’re going to do what they’re going to do. They don’t care if their fans are OK with it. According to this article from The Oregonian, they don’t even care if their own employees are OK with it. What did the city of Portland do to deserve a team that they love but continually lets them down? 

Not only are the Timbers the new laughingstock of MLS, they are now one of the laughingstocks of the entire world. I really wish I could keep communicating how big of a letdown this is, but I still love this team. I’m willing to give Phil Neville a chance to try and build a winning soccer team. To the people who forced this choice on their fans, employees, and everyone else who loves the Portland Timbers, I never thought that my opinion of you could get lower than it already was. But, once again, why should I expect the Portland Timbers to do anything decent? I feel bad for the employees of this club who don’t want him here. I feel bad for the social media admins who are going to sift through comment after comment deriding a decision that they had no control over. I feel bad for all of the people who have given this club their time, money, and effort only for it to be thrown back in their face and disregarded. \

https://x.com/TimbersFC/status/1721654332817658038?s=20

This is what the team’s Twitter account tweeted after the hire was announced. Neville steps over the North End to get into the stadium. Another incredible metaphor birthed the day after Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim’s Gotham FC eliminated the Thorns on the Providence Park turf. The universe gave Merritt Paulson a middle finger last night, and the next day he gives a middle finger back to his fans. For many people, Rose City Till I Die is no longer a certainty. It sucks that the decision makers in charge of something that brings joy to so many people continue to go against the best wishes of their fans. 

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