Gary Neville believes he finally witnessed what he’s been waiting to see and hear at St James’ Park for over a decade on Sunday afternoon.
The former Man Utd full-back was on commentary duties for Sky Sports yesterday and was clearly blown away by the atmosphere on Tyneside, revealing that it left him with ‘goosebumps’ at one point – as it was so loud he ‘couldn’t hear himself think.’
He also explained why it feels so special to see the stadium finally rocking again after a period of neglect, no hope and awful football during the Mike Ashley era, saying this is the best he’s seen it in ’10 or 11 years’ since he started working for Sky.
The pundit also praised our performance level and work rate, feeling ‘sure’ we will now survive after what he saw in that 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
Here’s everything he had to say when speaking on his podcast after the game:
“I have been waiting for this actually for about 10 years at Sky Sports.
“I remember Newcastle when they were right up there challenging for the title. This is the best I’ve seen it in probably 10 or 11 years of working for Sky: the feeling, the energy in the stadium.
“The performance was really good. The work rate of the players was really good. It feels like St James’ Park is back.
“I can’t hear myself think. I don’t actually know if my sound is being picked up at this moment in time or not, but it’s absolutely brilliant.
“I’ve got goosebumps actually because this place has been absolutely depressing for a long time. It’s been awful.
“In fact, I’ve not enjoyed coming up here at all. Woeful football, spiritless in the sense of the club disconnect from the top with the owner and, now, this feels like something.
“Look, they’re still near the bottom of the league, but that performance that I’ve seen from Newcastle doesn’t leave them in a relegation battle this season.
“They’ll get out of it, I’m sure. Obviously, they have to continue to keep playing like that.”
