Soccer Extreme : The Sunday Times of Malta has been forced to issue an apology to Manchester United defender Gary Neville after his weekly column in the paper was altered by a journalist to contain a dig at arch rivals Manchester City. The comment was subsequently picked up by papers in Britain and republished.Writing about the Wayne Rooney affair in this week's edition, Neville apparently signed off his piece by saying: "The main thing is that after a difficult week the best outcome was reached for all parties, except perhaps Manchester City." A sly dig at United's rivals, who were rumoured to want to sign Rooney.
The wisecrack did not go unnoticed back home and a number of newspapers in the UK reprinted it, attributing the quote to Neville. However, it seems that the jibe had nothing to do with the veteran defender, and was added by a journalist in Malta who couldn't resist the opportunity to have a pop at City.
In a statement on Monday, the Sunday Times of Malta editor Steve Mallia admitted: "At no point did Gary Neville state the phrase, 'Except perhaps Manchester City'.
"These words were added by the journalist who worked on the column with Mr Neville and were never intended to appear in the printed version of the article. Mr Neville did not utter these words, nor did he allude to Manchester City in any way.
"We apologise unreservedly to Mr Neville for the error and regret the considerable inconvenience it has caused him."
While his apparent remark may have raised a few eyebrows among sportswriters, few would have been shocked by it. Neville is well known for getting under the skin of his opponents and on more than one occasion has found himself in trouble after overstepping the mark during games between United and their biggest rivals.
Earlier this year, during Manchester United's Carling Cup semi-final with City, he was caught up in a touchline spat with former team mate Carlos Tevez and in September last year he was accused of goading City fans after United scored a late winner.
Quite what the City fans make of the latest episode remains to be seen. Neville is already public enemy number one at Manchester City, and despite being the wronged party on this occasion the incident will not soothe relations between the two clubs when they meet on the pitch in two-and-a-half weeks (thefirstpost)