Football
ESPN staff 10y

Phil Neville hoping to stay on at United

Phil Neville says he is desperate to keep his coaching job at Manchester United and work under the incoming Louis van Gaal.

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The Dutchman is expected to be appointed as the permanent successor to David Moyes next week following United's final game of the season at Southampton on Sunday and admitted he wants the job on Wednesday.

Neville was brought in as an assistant under his former Everton manager Moyes and retained by interim manager Ryan Giggs, but the future of the pair, as well as the fellow "Class of '92" members Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt on the Old Trafford backroom staff, remains up in the air.

"I don't know what's around the corner for me in terms of my own personal job," Neville said in the Mirror. "But the season as a whole has just not been good enough. We've got to make sure next season, whoever is in charge and whoever is coaching, that we get back challenging for league titles.

"I want to be part of United's future, I'm a Manchester United person, I love the club. Results aside, it's been an incredible learning experience at a club that I love. I want to be here for the rest of my life, being involved with United. So that's my hope."

Neville said Tuesday's lap of honour around Old Trafford following the 3-1 win over Hull left him feeling empty; the dismal campaign that has seen United slump from being champions to seventh in the Premier League leaving a wound he is keen to heal.

"It's been a real difficult season," Neville said. "A club that should be challenging for league titles to finish seventh is obviously not good enough. And to see a man [Moyes] who, for the last eight years, has put so much confidence in me -- to see him lose his job was probably one of the toughest days I've had in football.

#INSERT type:image caption:Phil Neville's first season back at Man Utd has been a memorable one, for the wrong reasons.END#

"Walking around the pitch after the Hull game was probably the emptiest I've ever felt on a football field. I took the job expecting to be walking around the last home game of the season either challenging for a league title or parading a league title. That's what this club demands and we've got to make sure next season we are doing that."

It is the sacking of his friend Moyes that has been a particular lowlight for Neville. The former defender added: "He has taken the majority of criticism from outside the club, but if you speak to anyone inside then we've all got to take collective responsibility -- from players, the staff, the coaching staff, everybody.

"It was really disappointing when David lost his job because I class him as a friend. As a player, I've never experienced anything like that with a manager -- maybe once with Kevin Keegan at England, when he lost [left] his job.

"The thing we've all collectively failed on is definitely that we have lost eight games [in all competitions] at Old Trafford this season. That is not acceptable. If we played all our games away, then we'd be champions. But we've lost games at Old Trafford against teams that we should be beating. That has been the biggest single failing."

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