Gary Neville has dampened down the excitement at Old Trafford following the arrival of Rio Ferdinand by warning his team-mates that their jobs are "on the line" if Manchester United have another "shambolic" trophyless season.
Neville, who will miss the start of the season after suffering a setback in his rehabilitation from a foot injury, feels Sir Alex Ferguson will not stand for another barren campaign from his players.
"We can't afford to go trophyless this season," he warned. "People talk about hunger and we've got to go out and prove we've still got it. All our jobs are on the line because we have to go and win a trophy.
"To finish outside the top two was devastating, but we got what we deserved. At times we were shambolic, but if you lose nine games you don't deserve to win anything."
"We know what we have to do and the manager will not tolerate anything less than us winning a big trophy this season," he added. "We know that from the start of the season and we knew that from the end of last season."
Neville has also warned United supporters that the signing of Ferdinand will not guarantee success in the new season.
"I think when we signed Juan Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy last year everyone said this is it, we're going to win the European Cup because we've spent £50m," he said.
"This year we've spent a lot of money on one defender, but Rio Ferdinand is not going to make us into the best defence in the Premier League.
"We all have to work hard on the training pitch and work hard in games because there will be a settling-in period.
"We should not expect too much too soon. It's a big price tag and everybody takes time to settle in at this club. It's not an easy place to play football."
Neville reckons he could miss the first two or three games of the new season because using crutches has caused problems in other parts of his foot.
He has only just started jogging after he broke a metatarsal bone in his foot towards the end of last season.
"I started jogging slowly last week," he said on MUTV. "The fracture seems okay, but I'm having problems because of the fact that I've been walking strangely for the last three or four months on the crutches and the other part has stiffened up.
"I have been lucky that I did it over the summer months and I've only missed four or five United games at the end of last season and hopefully only two or three at the start of this season.
"It could have been a lot worse. I could have done it in September and missed 20 or 30 games, which would have disappointed me a lot more.
"I'd love to be fit for the start of the season, but I don't think I will be. It's not a serious problem and we just need to get rid of it and I think August 17 might just be a little bit too quick for me."
<a href="http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,762364,00.html" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>
I love to see players who are so committed to our club. <img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" />
Neville, who will miss the start of the season after suffering a setback in his rehabilitation from a foot injury, feels Sir Alex Ferguson will not stand for another barren campaign from his players.
"We can't afford to go trophyless this season," he warned. "People talk about hunger and we've got to go out and prove we've still got it. All our jobs are on the line because we have to go and win a trophy.
"To finish outside the top two was devastating, but we got what we deserved. At times we were shambolic, but if you lose nine games you don't deserve to win anything."
"We know what we have to do and the manager will not tolerate anything less than us winning a big trophy this season," he added. "We know that from the start of the season and we knew that from the end of last season."
Neville has also warned United supporters that the signing of Ferdinand will not guarantee success in the new season.
"I think when we signed Juan Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy last year everyone said this is it, we're going to win the European Cup because we've spent £50m," he said.
"This year we've spent a lot of money on one defender, but Rio Ferdinand is not going to make us into the best defence in the Premier League.
"We all have to work hard on the training pitch and work hard in games because there will be a settling-in period.
"We should not expect too much too soon. It's a big price tag and everybody takes time to settle in at this club. It's not an easy place to play football."
Neville reckons he could miss the first two or three games of the new season because using crutches has caused problems in other parts of his foot.
He has only just started jogging after he broke a metatarsal bone in his foot towards the end of last season.
"I started jogging slowly last week," he said on MUTV. "The fracture seems okay, but I'm having problems because of the fact that I've been walking strangely for the last three or four months on the crutches and the other part has stiffened up.
"I have been lucky that I did it over the summer months and I've only missed four or five United games at the end of last season and hopefully only two or three at the start of this season.
"It could have been a lot worse. I could have done it in September and missed 20 or 30 games, which would have disappointed me a lot more.
"I'd love to be fit for the start of the season, but I don't think I will be. It's not a serious problem and we just need to get rid of it and I think August 17 might just be a little bit too quick for me."
<a href="http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,762364,00.html" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>
I love to see players who are so committed to our club. <img src="graemlins/keano.gif" border="0" alt="[Keano]" />