Neville wants Team GB Olympic role
Phil Neville has confirmed he wants the Football Association to make him manager of the Great Britain team for next summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo even though he has already decided to step down as England’s head coach.
Neville returned from a chastising Shebelieves Cup tournament in back in March, where England were beaten by both the United
States and Spain, to announce he would not be extending his contract beyond the summer of 2021.
That came as a surprise to the FA who had continued to back Neville, both publicly and privately, despite a poor run of form since the World Cup which had brought three wins in 10 games.
Neville had said he would know when the time was right to leave the England role, but rather than step down immediately, he will continue for another season to ensure the FA nominate him for the Olympic role. “Nothing has changed in my focus,” he said. “I’m going to honour my contract. There has been a lot of speculation and stuff going on as far as the players are concerned but my commitment to the team and the FA is there for all to see. I’m going to finish the journey I started two years ago.
“In that cycle, there was the World Cup, the Olympics and the European Championships. Unfortunately, because of the Covid situation, I won’t be here for that but I would still like to go to the Olympics and I am having those conversations and a decision will be made soon.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision to make [to leave next year]. After the Shebelieves I was angry and disappointed with the results and ultimately the buck stops with me. I wasn’t getting the team to play how I wanted them to play. We haven’t played football since and it was a great period of reflection.”