Aleksander Ceferin was the pantomime villain when speaking at the National Football Museum in Manchester earlier this week.
The UEFA president opened his speech by saying he would 'understand if he got a cold reception', following another shambolic, unorganised and borderline dangerous Champions League final where supporters felt like cattle again.
It was Gary Neville's turn to speak as part of the Football Supporters' Congress on Friday afternoon. Although the reception for Ceferin was frosty, the applause for the Manchester United legend as he took to the stage was generous.
Neville was introduced as 'having one or two opinions' and he was in personable form over the next 30 minutes on a range of issues, from the need for an independent regulator to his thoughts on state-owned clubs and the Glazers.
ALSO READ: Eric Ramsay has become Manchester United's secret weapon
He spoke at Manchester Metropolitan University and the conversation started by discussing the 'bomb' Neville had just dropped on social media. "I've tried to come off Twitter for the summer to try to stay away from the cesspit," he said to laughter.
"I ended up posting on Instagram about Chelsea and their five experienced players, Koulibaly, Mendy, Ziyech, Lukaku and Kante, who have been heavily linked with Saudi Arabia because their club needs to raise funds for financial fair play reasons.
"I asked for an embargo on those transfers, for a quick investigation, a look under the bonnet, to see if there's anything inappropriate going on. That's been construed as me saying I don't want Saudi Arabia ownership.
"There's investment from Saudi in Clearlake who own Chelsea and it definitely suits them to have their players to have off their books. They have 32 players in the first-team squad and there's a potential conflict of interest there, which should be looked at.
"If we had a regulator in place, they could say you have a short-term embargo and we want to see all communications."
Neville continued: "When the Saudis took over at Newcastle, I spoke openly that I didn't have a problem with the ownership coming in. That will be unpopular with a few people in this room but I haven't had a problem with Abu Dhabi over the last 10 years.
"What I do have a problem with is improper transactions [transfers]. I would also like to know how the Saudis have got into the Premier League, so I'd like to have transparency. I'd like to know the set criteria for how an owner gets into a football club.
"The word on the street was Boris Johnson said 'in they come' and whether that's true or not, will probably be revealed in the future."
Newcastle were subject to a Saudi takeover in October 2021 when the country's sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), purchased an 80 per cent stake to become majority shareholders at St. James' Park.
The takeover was celebrated by Newcastle fans, but the sale faced scrutiny and accusations of sportswashing due to Saudi Arabia's human rights record, leading to calls for the Premier League to change their owners’ and directors’ test.
Just under two years later and fans of Manchester United are facing their own moral dilemma. The Glazers finally have the club up for sale and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are vying for the keys to Old Trafford.
A Qatari-led takeover of United would be controversial, as there are no signs their nation will decriminalise same-sex relationships and concerns remain about the treatment of migrant workers in horrendous conditions.
Amnesty International, the world's leading human rights organisation, has criticised a potential Qatari-led takeover of United and they have claimed it would be a 'sportswashing protect' and a 'wake-up call' to the Premier League.
Neville was asked for his preference between Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe and said: "I don't mind, I genuinely don't. I'd like the Glazers to leave in full, even now with how they're dealing with the sale process, which means it's ultimately dragged out.
"They can't make a decision and there are other examples of that. They can't deal with things that are difficult. Hopefully we can have a full exit, but with the Ratcliffe bid, it looks like a part exit with two of them staying [Joel and Avram]. I don't like the idea of that.
"If that bid comes forward and is successful, which is the talk, I'd like to think there's a fixed exit for the Glazer brothers organised in let's say, two years, so we know they're leaving. Ratcliffe comes in and brings in another investor to take them out."
Neville has been outspoken in his criticism of the Glazers and he was passionate when speaking about the club's decline: "When the Glazers came into the club, Manchester United had the best team, the best stadium and the best training ground.
"We're now second-rate in all of those categories and we're nowhere near it. People used to say I took their money - I never took a penny from them. I played for United from 1986 as a kid joining the academy.
"They came in 2005 and they never put money into the club. I was focused on playing football and Sir Alex Ferguson, to be fair, would have probably got rid of any footballer if they started talking about the owners.
"We didn't do that, we were employees and we got on with it. They came to the training ground once and a few times after winning the league title they might pop in the dressing room. I never had a long conversation with any of them."
Although the Glazers could hand over a club they view merely as an asset in the coming months, the summer transfer window has opened and Erik ten Hag is pushing on in the market, despite uncertainty over the ownership.
United are in talks with Chelsea to sign Mason Mount, but signing a world-class striker like Harry Kane feels unattainable with the American family in charge. That is a gripe of supporters who want their team to win the Premier League.
"If new owners get in and they get Kane and another few quality signings, they could push up," Neville added. "But at the moment, they're scrambling with Chelsea for Mount. I think he's a fine player, although that's not really a compliment.
"He's just a 'good' player. If I'm looking at getting to the next level, we've been here before with Mourinho, Solskjaer, with Van Gaal, they've all been up to levels that are high, but they've never been able to jump to that next step.
"Paying £55million for Mount when Jude Bellingham is going to Madrid, someone is signing Declan Rice, I just feel we're going to be scrambling around again to get top four, which is my fear. We need another three top players.
"Kane would make a massive difference at United. He's a guarantee of goals and assists, so you've got that point of contact up front, then we have to deal with the goalkeeping situation, bring in a midfield player and maybe a full-back."
There was even room for 'Fergie time' when the discussion came to an end. Neville's appearance was voluntary, but he happily agreed to a spontaneous Q&A session, in which this reporter asked him what any new owners' priorities would be.
"We talk about priorities, they'd have to straight away look at the footballing side because clubs should be about on-pitch performance," he responded. "If the team are playing well in any club, the fans are happy, the spirit is good and it brings success.
"That's the first thing they'll have to look at, but you can look at things simultaneously. At the same time, get the stadium sorted, address the training ground and the regeneration of the area, just as Man City have done.
"You have to look at it all at once - we're falling behind. I don't think Jim Ratcliffe would look at that straight away, he'd look at the footballing side and getting the fans onboard, but I think the Qataris would because of the vast wealth they have."
Neville left the stage to an even bigger round of applause - he's certainly good value when he speaks.
