A host of pundits toasted the apparent demise of the Super League with the controversial breakaway tournament seemingly on the verge of collapsing.
With Manchester City announcing they are withdrawing and Chelsea believed to be following suit, the proposed new venture looks doomed just 48 hours after it was announced.
When the news that Ed Woodward was understood to have resigned as Manchester United executive vice-chairman broke, Gary Neville, an outspoken critic of the Super League, tweeted a waving emoji.
The former United defender then posted a picture of himself drinking a glass of wine with the caption: “To the Super League.”
(Image: Getty)
Neville’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool defender, tweeted a picture of a headstone engraved with the inscription “European Super League, born April 18, 2021, died April 20, 2021.”
Carragher added: “At Sky Sports yesterday I felt resigned to #SuperLeague happening, but during #MNF after hearing managers, players & fans from LUFC LFC I’m convinced if we all get together & forget our tribalism we can stop this. Keep banging the drum.”
Former Chelsea midfielder Pat Nevin, covering their match against Brighton on Tuesday night, told BBC Radio 5Live: “I’m not going to make excuses for Chelsea, they got it wrong.
“But the best thing to do when you realise something is wrong is hold your hand up and get out of it. Chelsea might pat themselves on the back and say ‘we’ve destroyed this’.
“It is so obvious that it is going to fall apart now.”
Ex-England captain Gary Lineker posted the simple message: “We’ve got our ball back.”
That came after Lineker welcomed the news of Chelsea withdrawing from the Super League, writing: “The first crack before it crumbles.”
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