Neville expects Glory fan taunts
FOOTBALL: Less than five months ago Scott Neville was being cheered by Perth fans in an A-League grand final.
On Sunday the Brisbane recruit is expecting those cheers to turn to jeers when the Roar kick off their A-League season against his former club.
The 30-year-old was a key part of Tony Popovic’s team last year as the Glory stormed to the premiership before being pipped on penalties by Sydney FC in the grand final.
That was Neville’s last appearance in his second stint in Perth but he’ll be back in Western Australia when Robbie Fowler’s Roar take on the Glory at HBF Park.
“Definitely not warm, no,” Neville said when asked what kind of reception he’s anticipating from Glory’s notoriously parochial fans.
“I’ve left there twice now. They’ve got a good set of fans and I’m sure they’re going to hammer me and boo me or whatnot.
“That’s part of the banter, I’ll take it on board and hopefully we can get the win and stick it back to them.”
Leaving the Glory to join the Roar may seem a backward step for Neville given the difference in the clubs’ performances last season.
Neville however played alongside Liverpool legend Fowler at the Glory in 2010-11 and said the Roar’s new head coach’s ambition had been impossible to resist.
“I’d worked under Tony Popovic for a few years and he’s a great manager and obviously gets the results but once Robbie called and said what he wants to do here, the plan he had in place and the plan he had for myself ... it was something I was excited about and a new challenge,” Neville said.