By Ian Herbert For Mailonline
Published: 22:52 BST, 22 June 2019 | Updated: 22:52 BST, 22 June 2019
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England manager Phil Neville is limiting his time in the dressing time to as little as two minutes at half time, to allow his women players optimum personal privacy in the dressing room at the World Cup.
Though FIFA has said that there are no rules limiting the time a male coach managing a women's team can spend in the dressing room, Neville has decided that it is inappropriate for him to be among the players at a time when they may wish to change or recover from their on-pitch exertions.
Instead, Neville is filling time before a game walking between the dressing room and the pitch, or confining himself to his own coaches' room, attached to the dressing room.
Phil Neville has been keeping half-time team talks to as little as two minutes at the World Cup
He also takes post-match debriefs on the pitch in the 'huddles' which have become a source of fascination to the millions tuning in to England's campaign at home. His determination to make the women feel secure in the company of a male coach also extends to him having a third person present in meetings with individual players.
Asked on Saturday by the Mail on Sunday about how he deals with the potential sensitivities of being a male managing women who may want to change at half-time, Neville said delaying his arrival in the half time dressing room also gave him room 'to breathe' and speak
