0
MANCHESTER: Gary Neville said on Thursday he intended to stay with Manchester United for the rest of the season.
The 35-year-old full-back announced his retirement with immediate effect on Wednesday, ending a one club career of some 20 years that yielded eight English titles, a Champions League final triumph and 85 caps among a host of honours.
Neville, speaking to United's in-house television channel MUTV on Thursday, said retirement from a career that ended with his appearance against West Brom on New Year's Day, had been on his mind for some time.
The outspoken defender has been linked with both a move into television punditry or a place in United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's backroom staff.
But Neville insisted he would not be rushed into a decision regarding his long-term future.
“I am going to stay at the club until the end of the season and do some coaching because I have got my coaching badge to complete,” he said.
“But at this moment in time my mindset isn't to go into coaching or management full-time.
“I have been working for a football club every day for 20 years. I definitely want to try and continue my relationship with this club, even if it is just as a fan.
“But I want to have 12 months to gather my thoughts. I don't want to rush into another relationship quickly.”
Neville was a member of the celebrated 'Class of 92', the United youth side that yielded first-team players Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who are both still at Old Trafford, and David Beckham.
When former England captain Beckham was at United, close friend Neville often gave the midfielder additional space from which to deliver crosses as a result of hard charging overlapping runs.
And Neville said his career owed more to sheer desire than football ability.
“I relied upon qualities that weren't technical or skilful to get to where I did,” he said.
“I like to think there is a level of intelligence and physically, I felt like I could run all day. But mentally I had to do whatever it took to win a game for Manchester United.
“I was determined to win and felt to succeed was the most important thing.
“That was probably my greatest asset.
“Some players can play at 100 percent and drop by three percent and be okay. With me it was 100 percent or nothing. There was no in between.”
Neville was fortunate to escape a red card against West Brom for a tackle on Graham Dorrans and he said he knew his time as a player was up during the course of the game at The Hawthorns.
“After that game on New Year's Day I felt I had reached the end,” he said.
“In fact, it wasn't after that game, it was during.
“I had been thinking about it for a month or so before that.
“You don't just give up after one bad game. I had enough of them over the last 20 years to know that can happen.
“But the way I felt at the start of the season, when I started picking up injuries, there is only so many times you can come back.
“In the previous two seasons I had played 25-30 games and there was always a period where I felt I was contributing.
“Once you have lost that and you know it was not quite right, you don't want to be a passenger.”
