Neville is on the executive committee of the Professional Footballers' Association who helped draft the players' statement. His Old Trafford team-mate Paul Scholes stayed largely silent despite claims that he was one of the leading "rebels".
West Ham goalkeeper David James stood up at one stage and attempted to analyse the whole issue and in the midst of the meeting one player started giggling.
David Beckham, clearly uneasy with the situation, warned the players that the FA were unlikely to change their stance on Ferdinand but the England squad are a reasonably young, inexperienced group without an obvious leader in the mould of an Alan Shearer or a Tony Adams and there was no one willing to even suggest that the strike threat was an ill-advised idea.
Privately, FA officials were exasperated by the players' lack of understanding of the Ferdinand situation. Some repeatedly said: "But Rio passed the drug test he took" without grasping the central issue of the player failing in his responsibility to take a test in the first place.
Once the players realised that the FA were not going to backtrack over their refusal to allow Ferdinand into the squad, they realised they had to find a way out.
They even went back on their strike threats in the statement claiming: "In our minds, there has never been any question as to whether we would play in this game."
The players attacked the FA in their statement, adding: "It is our opinion that the organisation we represent has not only let down one of our team-mates, but the England squad and its manager. We feel that they have failed us very badly.
"One of our team-mates was penalised without being given the rights he is entitled to and without any charges being brought against him by the governing body of the game. We believe the people responsible for making the decision did not give Rio Ferdinand that due process and (that) has disrupted and made the team weaker against the wishes of the manager and the players."
After training this morning the players are due to fly to Istanbul from Luton but the issues will resurface on Monday when Ferdinand is due to appear at an FA interview, about his non-appearance at the drug test.
