Report: Talks are very advanced of Phil Neville becoming the next manager of the Portland Timbers

Tom Bogert of the Athletic first reported it and broke the news on social media about the Portland Timbers making Phil Neville their sixth manager in the club history.

Neville is  considered part of the golden generation in the glory days of Manchester United Class of 1992, accompanied by his brother Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, and David Beckham.

His managerial stints include a brief spell at Salford City with just one match managed, moving on to England’s Women’s national team where he had a record of 19 wins, 11 losses, and 5 draws. Then, he came to Major League Soccer to take over Inter Miami FC leaving with a record of 35 wins, 42 losses, and 13 draws. He was replaced by Argentine manager Gerardo Tata Martino at the helm of the Herons early in the 2023 season.

As a player, he had a stellar career with Manchester United and Everton playing 10 seasons with the Red Devils and eight for the Toffees.

After being fired by his former teammate and boss David Beckham when he was in the helm of the Herons of Inter Miami following a slow start, his latest role as assistant to manager John Herdman for Canada’s National Team.

Prior to his being hired by the England FA, Neville came under fire for a series of sexist tweets posted in 2012, wherein he said women were too “busy making breakfast/getting kids ready/making the beds” to read his tweets and in another post joked that he “just battered the wife.” In the end the Neville apologized for the tweets and sating how wrong then and wrong now”.

Per the Athletic reports, Portland is in talks to bring Jason Kreis as an assistant along with Miles Joseph, who was interim coach leading Portland to the final spell of the 2023 campaign and narrowly missing the postseason.

However, per the Oregonian, the response of the 107^th Independent Supporters Trust and Timbers Army issued a statement to reconsider their forthcoming hire of Neville as the team next manager.

“The Portland Timbers are currently rebuilding a team on the pitch in addition to their ongoing efforts to rebuild trust with their fans and the community,” the statement reads. “We are deeply disappointed that the club has reportedly settled on a finalist for head coach who has a history of sexist public statements that run counter to our ethos as a club, city and supporters’ group, and who also lacks a proven track record as a manager. We urge the Timbers to reconsider this hire and reevaluate other candidates before finalizing a contract.”