Gary Neville believes there has been nothing golden about the generation that has played for England in the past decade.
Full-back feels lack of success shows tag was not right
Gary Neville believes the England squad have not lived up to the 'Golden Generation' tag which has hung round their necks for the past decade.
Former Football Association chief executive Adam Crozier used the term to describe an England squad which once contained Manchester United captain Neville.
The likes of Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have all played for the national team under the banner of the 'Golden Generation'.
However, since the phrase was coined England have failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals of a major tournament and even missed out on qualification for Euro 2008.
The term is still occasionally attached to the current squad seeking World Cup glory in South Africa, but Neville feels the lack of success achieved by the national team means the players are not worthy of the phrase.
Not very golden
"The 'Golden Generation' label has been used to death over the past 10 years," Neville told the
Sunday Times Malta.
"There are a lot of new players in the squad now added to the remnants of the so-called 'Golden Generation' players.
"But, to be honest, the 'Golden Generation' wasn't very golden from where I was sat in the England squad.
"We didn't win any tournaments or do ourselves justice. You get called a golden generation when you win things."
England started their current World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw with the United States on Saturday and Neville believes the team are capable of making significant progress.
"England have a decent draw and will probably be playing in favourable conditions," added Neville. "But penalty shoot-outs are definitely an issue England will have to deal with.
"In four of the five tournaments I was part of we were knocked out on penalties, so it tells you we have a problem.
"Now there is a different manager who has a great mentality and I hope the players will keep their nerve if a game goes to penalties.
"Sometimes it just comes down to having good, confident penalty takers."
