Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge understands why Gary Neville is not questioning Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United future at the moment.
Following United's disappointing 4-2 defeat to Leicester City last weekend, Neville was asked for his thoughts on Solskjaer, and he stopped short of criticising his former teammate.
What did Neville say?
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Neville admitted that fans have been wanting him to call for Solskjaer to be fired, but he insisted that he will never go down that route.
As quoted by the Daily Mail, Neville said: "I won't call Steve Kean out, or Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. I'm not going to come on this show 11 years later and ask for a manager to be sacked. It's never going to happen. He's a club legend. He's my team-mate. I actually like him a lot.
"Manchester United have failed with two previous managers who have been world class. I think they persist until the end of the season."
What has Bridge said about Neville's comments?
Bridge appears to respect Neville's consistency with regards to refusing to call for managers to be sacked over the years. However, he did suggest that the former United full-back may have been harsher on Solskjaer if he didn't have a personal relationship with the Norwegian.
Reacting to the comments, Bridge told GIVEMESPORT: “Gary Neville’s a bit defensive of it, but then he did say: ‘look, he is my mate.’ But he said: ‘I never openly ask for managers to get sacked’, and maybe you don’t fair enough.
“I know there was an element of ‘he’s my mate’ in that as well.”
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Is Solskjaer on borrowed time at Man United?
Neville believes that Solskjaer will be given until the end of the season to prove himself at Old Trafford, but it does feel that the current period in the season is crucial for the United boss.
On paper, the Red Devils have a very tricky fixture list coming up, as they will be facing Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal over the next six weeks.
United managers are judged for how the team performs in the big games, so Solskjaer will need his players to deliver. If they do well in this run of matches, his position should be fairly secure.
However, if United drop points over the next month or so, and fall out of the title race, Solskjaer's time at the helm may be at serious risk of coming to an end.
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