Hate-Philled

‘PHIL Neville probably isn’t the first footballer you’d think of in connection with a texting scandal.

You have to go to bed very late to fool Phil

Heavy breathing down the phone would be more his style, you’d think, given his famous propensity for going around with his gob hanging open.

But according to the Mirror, the slack-jawed international is this morning at the centre of and unlikely row, following his “text rant at Fergie”.

The story is this. A student got hold of Phil’s phone number and texted him, purporting to be team-mate Alan Smith. He then received a “four-letter text tirade” from Neville – or rather, a nine-letter tirade, as it described Sir Alex Ferguson as a “s***house”.

Fair comment, you might say, but obviously a little embarrassing for Neville, who denies all responsibility. “I swear I haven’t sent it,” he says. “It can’t have been from my phone. It was with me all day.”

Some might say that this weakens his argument, but Neville has a final trump card to play.

“Why would I make a catastrophic f*** up like that?” he asks, with a rhetorical flourish.

No idea, Phil. You tell us.

Ed Barrett’

Posted: 6th, April 2005 | In: Tabloids Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink