The Portland Timbers hiring Phil Neville as their new head coach was met with nothing short of animosity from large swaths of the club’s fan base. Supporters’ groups quickly put out a statement urging the club to reconsider when The Athletic broke the news a deal was close to name Neville head coach. “We are deeply disappointed that the club has reportedly settled on a finalist for head coach who has a history of sexist public statements that run counter to our ethos as a club, city and supporters’ group, and who also lacks a proven track record as a manager,” the statement read, in part.
The public statements they referenced were several sexist tweets written by Neville in the early 2010s, which he first described as “wrong then and wrong now,” when he initially addressed them while in charge of the England women’s national team in 2019 and reiterated again this week.
Undeterred by the cold welcome and aiming to win over the fans, Neville sat smiling, confident and affable as he addressed questions from the local and national media on Tuesday for the first time after officially taking the job.
“The statement (the Timbers Army) put out showed this club cares about their people,” Neville told the media. “In reference to the tweets I made in 2011 … they’re by no means a reflection of me as a person, as my character or the way I was brought up by my mother and father. The tweets I put was wrong in 2011 and they’re wrong today. I want to get to know the Timbers Army, I want to get to know everybody in the city. I want them to get to know me as a person. I want to make sure there’s an incredible trust between us.”
General manager Ned Grabavoy, sitting next to Neville and also taking questions, vouched for his new coach, as the supporters remain firm in their stance against Neville.
“(The tweets are) just not indicative of his character,” Grabavoy said. “I’ll stand by Phil’s character, I think he’s a person of high values.”
Both Neville and Grabavoy expressed the desire to sit and talk with the Timbers Army to answer questions and allow them to air their grievances.
“I think we knew we’d have to answer questions, but ultimately to make a decision you have to own it and have conviction and belief,” Grabavoy said. “It’s important to have these conversations and discussions, I’m a true believer that’s most productive to be done in a constructive manner. We have plans to do that. I won’t shy away from it and I know Phil won’t, either.”
Ironically, it’s that passionate fan base that drove Neville to prefer Portland’s vacancy over several others in MLS for which he was a candidate. But as he looks to win over the fans, Portland is bullish about their on-field future in 2024.
Phil meets the press 🤝 pic.twitter.com/oyTu8ZtDNy
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) November 7, 2023
Portland has plenty of building blocks for immediate success in their current roster with a ton of high-leverage flexibility for change.
Club-record signing Evander is the centerpiece of the new-look Timbers, as well as rising Colombian attacker Santi Moreno. U.S. national team midfielder Eryk Williamson and club legend Diego Chara make up the starting point for the midfield. Colombian international right back Juan David Mosquera, Peru international center back Miguel Araujo and homegrown center back Zac McGraw will be key pieces of the defense. Center back Dario Zuparic, who requested a trade, may be as well, if they can resolve his future.
“Evander is a special player,” Neville said, adding that he believes he can have an “MVP-type season” and compare with some of the league’s best No. 10s, Lucho Acosta and Carles Gil.
Evander had nine goals and four assists in 27 matches over his debut MLS season. Moreno had three goals and six assists, coming on stronger under inter head coach Miles Joseph down the stretch. Portland will be busy this winter to add around Evander, Moreno and the core in place.
Sources expect the departure of designated players Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Yimmi Chara, giving the club two huge chips to cash this winter to retool the roster. Long-time winger Sebastian Blanco, who is on a max TAM deal, is also likely to leave, giving the club plenty more salary-cap flexibility for additions. Goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic, who requested a trade and was suspended at the end of the season, will depart too.
Lack of production from DPs harmed the Timbers’ chances last year. Yimmi Chara made just nine starts due to injury and, over four years with the club, never had more than 11 goal contributions. The signing did not live up to expectations, nor did Niezgoda, though a pair of long-term injuries were partly to blame. He scored 20 goals in 80 appearances over four seasons.
At least one DP spot is earmarked for the attack, be it a center forward or a goal-scoring winger.
“A big focus will start out with how to add an additional DP attacking player,” Grabavoy said. “Is that best used at center forward or a wide position, trying to find another player to be goal dangerous, is a main priority. Then how do we strengthen the backline? That could be starting-level quality or depth at positions.”
The Timbers could have as many as five new starters in 2024. Under Joseph, who will remain on Neville’s staff, Portland went on a late-season run of 5W-0L-2D as they nearly climbed back over the playoff line. There’s talent available and more coming.
“I had a number of options, but I wanted to choose a club that gave me the best chance to be successful,” Neville said. “That was the most important thing. What I saw in the work that Miles and the staff had done in the couple of months they had the team, we’ve got the foundations of a really good team.”
It’s up to Neville and the staff to maximize it. Will they be able to?
The impending key signings will reveal what, exactly, the vision Grabavoy and Neville have for the group. Neville has spoken about his tactical flexibility in the past, but with so many key roster spots available for new signings, he’ll get to blend his input into the direction they go, whether it’s possession-based players or those who thrive more in transition.
Neville’s first gig in MLS was with Inter Miami, taking over in 2021 before being fired this summer. Miami’s roster under Neville was far from what the Lionel Messi-led group is now.
“It was impossible to win (in Miami) because of the sanctions we received,” Neville said. “I’m not speaking out of turn because that’s public knowledge. Speaking today, I’m managing a team for the first time on a level playing field with every other coach in the league. I’ve never had that since I came to MLS.”
Neville’s Inter Miami teams were hamstrung by sanctions, stemming from deals prior to him taking the job and only announced after he already got started. Miami’s bloated roster was trimmed, essentially turning over the whole roster over two years. Their best year, a surprise run to the playoffs in 2022, was fueled by a midseason acquisition of Alejandro Pozuelo and a resurgence from Gonzalo Higuain after he was benched for poor form and general apathy for the group.
Miami was pragmatic that half of the season, putting a lot of runners around Pozuelo and Higuain and let those two players attack. Neville spoke often in Miami about the importance of DPs carrying the team, as he did in his introductory press conference in Portland. It’s easy to envision Evander’s importance to their success in 2024 and beyond.
This season the squad remained hamstrung as Miami held key roster space — including two DP spots — for the league-changing goal of bringing in Messi and friends. By the time Messi arrived, Neville had been fired.
The results weren’t great in Miami, going 31-41-11 across two-and-a-half seasons before being let go in June.
“Now is the time to judge me,” Neville said.
The fans have already made their initial judgements and voiced their displeasure. As they build for 2024, that’s the most important task to win.
(Photo: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)