Ousted Miami Gaffer Phil Neville Joins CanMNT Coaching Staff

Just one week after getting sacked from Inter Miami CF, Phil Neville has landed his next gig.

The former Manchester United player has joined the Canadian national team as a member of its coaching staff alongside Richard Shaw, an equally out-of-the-blue addition who had been assisting with Watford’s U-23 side.

Then again, this is the association that added astronaut Chris Hadfield for the country’s first World Cup since 1986, so perhaps it’s not an out-of-this-world addition.

“Both Phil and Richard bring with them winning experiences at the highest levels and have worked with some of the premier leagues top managers during their careers,” explained head coach John Herdman, who named his preliminary Concacaf Nations League roster this week.

“They’ll work as positional and unit coaches with the aim of helping us to win our first trophy in over two decades.”

Neville does have a tie with Canada Soccer, having worked with current women’s national team coach Bev Priestman with England’s women team.

A title-winner at Manchester United, Phil’s coaching career saw assist his brother Gary during a tumultuous spell at Valencia before becoming head coach of the England women’s national team, helping them to a fourth-place finish at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

He then helped them take the 2019 SheBelieves Cup before shaking hands with David Beckham at Inter Miami, where he led the team to two postseasons until his pre-Messi exit eight days ago.

Shaw also has quite an extensive playing career in England, amounting some 650 appearances in English football – mostly with Crystal Palace and Coventry City – before transitioning to coaching back in 2007. He took a caretaker role at Millwall before serving non-first-team coaching roles with Crystal Palace and, more recently, Watford.

Neville and Shaw will be hoping to help the Canadian men’s national team lock in Canada’s first trophy since the 2000 Gold Cup, with the Concacaf Nations League Finals set to kick off against Panama on June 15.

Should the team win that, they’ll face either USA or Mexico for the long-awaited trophy.