Gary Neville fumes at ‘absolute nonsense’ SIX-MINUTE delay in north London derby after farcical tech breakdown

Gary Neville was left fuming by a six-minute delay to the north London derby due to a technical error surrounding the officials’ communication system.

The game on Sunday afternoon was stopped after just seven minutes, with referee Peter Bankes making it clear to the players what was going on. A lengthy delay followed.

Assistant referee Blake Antrobus appeared to have an issue with his radio, used to communicate with the other officials during the game. It took six minutes for the issue to be fixed, and Neville was not amused.

‘The game can’t be stopped for two minutes because a linesman can’t communicate with a referee,’ he said on Sky Sports commentary during the stoppage. ‘We did 100 years without it so we can play here. The whole crowd is now waiting because of an IT issue.’

After a few more minutes, he continued: ‘This is absolute nonsense. one of the most important games of the season, fantastic start to it, quick, and we are now two or three minutes stopped and they will have to warm up again, reset, an absolute shambles.

‘If they haven’t got the common sense or authority or leadership to read the room here… 62,000 in the stadium, millions watching at home – do they really think it’s that important? Put your flag up. If you need to make a decision, go and speak to him.’

Referee Peter Bankes was forced to explain the situation to the players, with a six-minute delay coming as a result

Gary Neville urged the game to continue, branding the incident ‘absolute nonsense’ on Sky

Officials started using radios for communication in the 1999-2000 season following a successful pilot scheme. All four officials at the ground, as well as the VAR official and their assistant, use them to communicate.

When the game eventually got underway again, Arsenal soon took the lead thanks to Eberechi Eze, who came close to joining Tottenham in the summer. He also scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture.

But it didn’t take long for Spurs to hit back. Following errors from Declan Rice and William Saliba, Randal Kolo Muani netted just two minutes later.

There was then another delay at the start of the second period, with Neville saying: ‘No, no’ as commentator Peter Drury took the conversation in the direction of the football.

Boos soon arrived from those in attendance, with the players warming up on the field by carrying out some stretches and kicking a ball around. It became apparent it was the other assistant, Eddie Smart, with the issue the second time around.

Neville eventually said: ‘This is a disgrace. We have technical errors up and down the country. The game has to carry on. This is ridiculous. It looks pathetic from everyone involved.’

Eventually, the second-half got underway following a four-minute pause this time around, and Viktor Gyokeres struck to give the away side the lead again.