Gary Neville admits he regrets not speaking out against the Glazers' ownership of Manchester United sooner as the family considers selling the club.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that United's controversial American owners were finally open to outside investment in the club, including the possibility of a full sale.
Neville, who was still a key member of the playing squad when the Glazers bought United in 2005, admits he had plenty of opportunities to criticise those in charge, though he admits the failings off the field were masked by their success on it under Sir Alex Ferguson.
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The 47-year-old is welcoming a possible change in ownership at Old Trafford but has reiterated that it must only be for the right reasons.
"I don't want to come up with excuses [for not speaking out as a player]," he told Sky Sports. "It was probably because we were successful and we were managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, who stuck to football.
"No player or member of staff ever spoke out against the leveraged takeover. When it happened we got on with winning trophies, winning the Champions League and winning Premier Leagues. And the club, to be fair, carried on being successful. I worked on the theory at the time that we could have worse owners. They were quite passive. I never saw any interference while I was at the club as a player.
"But when Sir Alex Ferguson left, it's then I started to realise they were only successful because of Sir Alex Ferguson. They haven't been able to develop a successful sporting project without him.
"So the fact of the matter is, they've taken dividends out, they've not developed the stadium, they've let the training ground go to ruin. They really are second-class when it comes to the status of infrastructure at the club and the facilities. That can't happen when you're not successful on the pitch. So you put all that together and you get to a point whereby enough is enough.
"I started to speak out about two or three years ago. Many fans will say I should have done it earlier and I can't disagree with them. I can have regrets about it all my life, but the reality is I have spoken out in the last two or three years quite a lot. I haven't enjoyed what I've seen. The signs were obviously there 15 years ago and most fans were right. But let's make sure we don't jump out of the frying pan into the fire.
"I've expressed my concern about state ownership. I've expressed my concern about US investment. But whoever comes in, we need to know what the manifesto is. We need to understand what they're going to do in that first five to seven years."
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