Gary Neville has urged his Sky Sports bosses to 'take him off' commentary duty for Manchester City matches as the fallout from the club's seismic guilty verdict continues to cast a shadow on the Premier League.
City cruised to an impressive 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, triumphing in their first match since being found guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules by an independent commission last month.
Appearing on Sky Sports Super Sunday, Neville made a bold request to his bosses to take him off City matches while the club appeals the verdict, admitting it is difficult to 'eulogise' over the league leaders with such a dark cloud hanging over them.
'This is the first Manchester City game that I have done today since the charges or guilty verdicts were handed out a few weeks ago,' he said on Sky Sports.
'We were just doing the podcast then and said if you could take me off Manchester City games moving forward for the next few months until the verdicts have been heard, I would be absolutely delighted.
'To come and win at Anfield is really difficult, we should be eulogising over them without a but or any hesitation, but there is that thing in the back of your mind.
Gary Neville has urged Sky Sports to 'take him off' commentary duty for Man City matches
City fan and Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher rejoiced at the prospect of Neville being taken off commentary duty - and took a swipe at the pundit's Sky Sports colleague Jamie Carragher
'They have done a brilliant job here today. They have dominated the game in the last 20 minutes, from the red card onwards. They have dug in and I think players like [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, [Ruben] Dias and [Elliot] Anderson, in that first-half were excellent. They stood strong as a group.
'At the end of the game it is quite hard because you are imagining basically if these guilty verdicts are confirmed in January or February, then Manchester City are not going to be in the position they are in and there is going to be a huge cloud hanging over the whole league, which is not good for the Premier League right now and that is what I have just recognised today.
'Really bad for the Premier League and it is going to continue for a few months.'
City capitalised on Ryan Gravenberch's red card in the 62nd minute to run riot during the second half, with goals courtesy of Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki.
Enzo Maresca's side, who boast a perfect record with six wins from six games so far, showed no signs of slowing down after the guilty verdict as they extended their lead at the top of the table.
City, who are appealing the independent commission's verdict, were found to have used 'sham' commercial deals to disguise more than £900m in funding from their Abu Dhabi owners, artificially inflating revenues and understating costs over a nine-season period between 2009 and 2018.
With the appeal process expected to drag on, City could face a range of severe sanctions if the verdict is upheld, including hefty fines, points deductions, transfer bans and even expulsion from the Premier League.
Passionate Man City supporter and Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, who has been outspoken in his staunch defence of the club since the guilty verdict was published, rejoiced at the prospect of United legend Neville being taken off commentary duty.
The singer also took aim at Neville's Sky Sports punditry colleague Jamie Carragher, referring to the former Liverpool defender as his 'Scouse mate' in an expletive outburst on social media.
Manchester City triumphed 3-0 over Liverpool at Anfield in their first match since being found guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules
Carragher, left, said there is 'no way' City could be allowed to win the title if the verdict remains
Gallagher wrote on Monday: 'Gary Neville threatening to not commentate on city games anymore HALLA F***ING LULU take your Scouse mate with ya ya pair of BIG CRY BABYS MCFC LG.'
Carragher, who was in the Sky Sports studio as a pundit at Anfield, claimed there is 'no way' City could be allowed to win the league this season if the verdict remains, and stressed the need for a final outcome before the end of the campaign.
'Man City right now are the best team in the league, they are top of the league, but there is no way Man City can be allowed to win the league this year if they are found guilty,' Carragher said.
'That cannot happen. We keep using the word sham, the Premier League used the word sham about the last eight years, but we didn’t know it at the time.
'We know it now, we are watching it. That today, what does it mean going forwards. This has to be done before the end of the season, there is no way this can carry on until the end of the season.'