Palmer responds to Neville's infamous Chelsea jibe after Conference League win

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Cole Palmer starred as Chelsea buried the demons of last year's Carabao Cup final defeat against Liverpool to win the Europa Conference League on Wednesday night
Cole Palmer has insisted he paid no attention to Gary Neville's infamous jibe at Chelsea following last year's Carabao Cup final. The Blues took on a depleted Liverpool at Wembley last February.
They had infamously spent huge amounts of money in the transfer market under owner Todd Boehly. But they stumbled on the big stage, falling to a 1-0 defeat after Virgil van Dijk's extra-time goal.
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Neville was working as a pundit for Sky Sports on that game and was commentating alongside Jamie Carragher. The legendary Manchester United skipper branded the Chelsea squad 'blue billion-pound bottle jobs'.
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The comment prompted a furious response from then Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino. Palmer played all 120 minutes at Wembley that day and also featured for the Blues on Wednesday as they won the Europa Conference League.
He played a key role in the come-from-behind thrashing of Real Betis, laying on two assists. But he has rejected suggestions that the Blues squad were using Neville's comments as fuel to inspire a win.
"I wouldn't say I was hurt, I didn't really pay attention to be honest. But I think we shown on Sunday that we can go to a tough place and win. Tonight, even when we was losing I feel like we shown good character again and come back," he said.
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"It's a good feeling for us and the fans. We picked up the intensity in the second half and put on a good performance. I was sick of getting the ball and going backwards and sideways.
"I remember there was a bit of space, always chopping and changing and I saw Enzo run so I put the ball over the top. Same again [for the second assist]."
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The Blues were 25 minutes away from losing to Betis after Abde Ezzalzouli fired home. But Palmer turned on the class, first setting up Enzo Fernandez to brilliant head in an equaliser before crossing in for Nicolas Jackson to bundle home.
Jadon Sancho made it comfortable with a lovely curling finish before Moises Caicedo added gloss to the scoreline with a deflected effort from 20 yards. Back in December, Neville admitted he regreted his jibe at the Blues.
"I wish I had not said 'billion-dollar bottle jobs'. They're harsh lines that stain a group of players or a manager. It's a cheap shot really. It's that line of humour meets cheap shot," Neville told The Stick to Football podcast.
"I was actually going to do a roll back on my podcast, the day after, and say that I shouldn't have probably used that word 'bottle,' but when I heard that Mauricio thought the team were playing for penalties, I thought that it was the epitome of freezing."
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