Neville: ‘I love Coleman to bits’

PHIL NEVILLE reckons that Seamus Coleman has what it takes to become a major player for Everton and Ireland over the coming years.

Coleman, who got his call-up to the senior Ireland squad ahead of the Russia and Slovakia Euro qualifiers last month, looks a certainty to be included in the panel which Giovanni Trapattoni will unveil in Dublin tomorrow afternoon for the friendly game against Norway at the Aviva Stadium on November 17.

But although Everton manager David Moyes has used the Donegal man as a right-sided midfielder at times this season, club captain Neville expects that Coleman will make a lasting mark in his usual right-back position.

“He’s only made a handful of first-team starts, and already he’s bossing games,” says Neville in an extensive interview in the latest issue of Hotpress. “He’s got that something in him that’s going to make him successful. He’ll run through a brick wall for you and I absolutely love him to bits. I think he’s got an unbelievable opportunity to be Everton and Ireland’s right-back for the next 10 years.”

And the veteran Neville believes that the 22-year-old, who joined Everton from Sligo Rovers, benefited significantly from getting his senior football education in Ireland’s domestic league.

“Personally, I think playing Airtricity League football in front of two or three thousand people and learning how to deal with crowds and the media is a far better education for young Irish lads than being stuck in the Scunthorpe — or indeed Everton — youth teams for two or three seasons,” he says.

In the same interview, Neville also pays tribute to another Irishman — his former Manchester United colleague, Roy Keane.

Says Neville: “He makes me laugh, he makes me smile. Everything about him I just love. He was always at arm’s length, but I had an unbelievable amount of respect for him and he showed an unbelievable amount of respect back to me. He was scary, he was frightening and he pushed me never to settle for second best. You know when you look for leaders that you want to be in the trenches with when you go to war? Roy was that person. I knew 110% as a full-back he’d be there to take the ball off me, and if I had a problem on the pitch he’d be the first one — sometimes literally! — to jump in and help.”