Gary Neville was targeted by Arsenal fans during their win over their Chelsea as they take aim at the Sky Sports pundit following his comments on Gabriel Martinelli
Gary Neville has angered the Arsenal fans with his comments on Gabriel Martinelli(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Gary Neville was the subject of brutal chants from the Arsenal crowd during their win at Chelsea as the fanbase make their feelings known after he labelled Gabriel Martinelli as “disgraceful”.
The Gunners faithful have firmly put the Sky Sports commentator is their bad books following the remarks he made about their player in the wake of Conor Bradley‘s injury last week. Martinelli attempted to shove the Liverpool ace off the pitch as he received treatment.
The incident happened in the dying moments and the Arsenal ace didn’t want time to be held up by treatment. He wasn’t to know, but Bradley was dealing with a season-ending knee injury. Neville was fuming with Martinelli’s actions and took aim, with the Gunners fans hitting back.
They chanted “Gary Neville, he’s a w*****, he’s a w*****” during their 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge.
It comes after Neville said on commentary: “You can’t push him off the pitch. You cannot do that. That is so poor. I think an apology is needed. Bradley is being stretchered off. I’m fuming with Martinelli to be honest. Disgraceful. I’m surprised a Liverpool player hasn’t gone over and whacked Martinelli there!”
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Neville’s suggestion that a Liverpool player should’ve got physical with Martinelli has resulted in a mammoth 576 complaints with Ofcom. That is way above the average number of complaints they would usually receive for shows and it is understood to be more than any other show this year.
An Ofcom spokesperson said of the backlash against Neville: “We’re assessing these complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.”
Martinelli was involved in a controversial incident with Conor Bradley(Image: Getty Images)
Martinelli was quick to hold his hands up and apologise to Bradley, taking on Instagram and saying: “Conor and I have messaged and I’ve already apologised to him. I really didn’t understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment. I want to say I’m deeply sorry for reacting. Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery.”
Despite Neville’s outburst Reds boss Arne Slot did not seem as fuming as he claimed: “I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli, but he comes across as a nice guy.
“I think the problem for him – and it’s a problem in general in football – is that there is so much time-wasting and players pretending that they are injured in the final parts of the game and during the game, that you can sometimes be annoyed if you want to try to score a goal that you think the player is time-wasting. You cannot ask Martinelli to think so clear in the 94th minute.”
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