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Gary Neville's rollercoaster

Gary Neville's rollercoaster

For players, coaches, fans and everyone involved, football can be a rollercoaster. That’s one of the reasons why we love it so much. A beleaguered, Gary Neville who has enjoyed a lifetime of success as a player now finds himself enduring the flip side of the game in his first taste of club management.

Without a win in nine league games and just five points from a possible 27, these are the bad times, but the truth is, despite constant calls for his head, it is not all his fault although he should take his share of the blame.


He may well have ‘fluffed his lines’ on more than one occasion since he arrived in Valencia and it’s very unlikely that he will be the star of the show next season, but for the time being he is still the man in charge and far from being the only culpable person in what has been a sorry scenario lately.

In fact, no one really emerges from this latest saga to come out of the Mestalla with glowing reviews.

Peter Lim is also being cast as the ‘pantomime villain’ with fans jeering him and telling him to go home, which ironically is precisely where he is at the moment – in Singapore – and no decision is likely to be made about Neville’s future until he returns to Spain.

Despite the views of many, there is still chance that he will remain at the club at least until the end of the season (so far the club is saying he will be on the bench this week in the games against Barcelona and Espanyol), although it’s fair to assume that when Peter Lim took it upon himself to hire Gary Neville the last thing he envisaged was a relegation battle.

But make no bones about it; that’s what he’s got.

He needs 15 points in 15 games. Peter Lim feel he can do the job. But knowing Gary, he is the kind of guy that would decide to move aside if he thought he could not reach the latest target.

And before all the Valencia fans start to call for Lim’s departure as some have started it should be pointed out that these are the self same fans that welcomed him, almost unanimously, with open arms as the club’s saviour from the abyss of bankruptcy and the almost unthinkable possibility of extinction.

But while the club’s owner will probably decide against a change of manager, it does beg the question, why has he appointed a director of football who is suggesting precisely that, only to then totally ignore his advise?

The fact is that Jesus Garcia Pitarch has already started conversations with a number of well-known names with a view to succeed Neville sooner rather than later. But also with others that could take over next season, including Rafa Benitez who in fact is thinking of staying in England.

The problem is Suso has no full authority and I have been told Gary will probably be part of the committee that will choose the next manager anyway.

Nuno Espirito Santo was shown the door after he fell out with the players, the fans and the press. Nine league games since he arrived Gary Neville’s job is on a knife edge after he has fallen out with the fans and the press.

The difference is that under Nuno, Valencia earned themselves a place in the Champions League and an average of 1.8 points per game. Under Gary Neville they still haven’t registered a league win and boast an average of 0.5 points per game.

Had the league began on the day of his appointment Valencia would now be bottom of the table.

The media of course is an ever-present thorn in the side of just about every single Valencia manager. Gary Neville’s inability to speak the language fluently plus the ever-present possibility of words, phrases and body language being ‘lost in translation’ hasn’t helped his cause.

Lack of detailed explanation of his tactical plans (something Spanish press and fans revel in) plus certain level of defensiveness when not unnaturally asked about his future have not endeared him to the members of the fourth estate who sense that Gary thinks he is dealing with an English press constantly looking for a headline or a sound bite.

They are not; or that is what they are saying -all they want is an explanation of why the team is poorer than the sum of its parts. When asked if this was a Valencia team fighting for relegation, he brushed away the suggestion with a laugh verging on the dismissive. It did not go down well.

And what of the main cast members; the players, the team.

Well, the kindest thing I can say about the players is that they do not seem to be performing with the kind of intensity commensurate with the position they find themselves in, but once again it isn’t just their fault.

Some are being played out of position; Andre Gomes should be more a part of the build up than he is at present. Parejo looks to be lacking confidence, alternating between being the focal point of where the attack goes through, to warming the bench.

New loan signings, left back and left winger Siqueira and Cheryshev walked into the club and straight into the first team much to the chagrin of players like Bakkali, Piatti and Gaya who normally occupy those positions. But confusingly the players Gary tried to sign in the transfer window originally were centre midfielders.

That said what is conspicuous by its absence is a lack of attitude, the very minimum that is expected by Valencia fans from any player they feel should be proud to wear their beloved club’s shirt.

It remains to be seen just how many of those fans are this going to show up for the irrelevant second leg of the Copa del Rey semi final against Barcelona where all Valencia have to do to secure a place in the final is score eight times against the league leaders while simultaneously ensuring that the Catalan fail to score an away goal.

It’s safe to assume that it probably won’t be the hottest ticket in town.

Following on from that will be your classic six pointer against Espanyol at the Mestalla on Saturday night. Gary Neville is convinced that it is only a matter of time before his ideas begin to bear fruit and the club turn the corner. Saturday’s game will be the perfect time to demonstrate whether this is true or not.

Following that come the visit of Rapid Vienna in the last 32 of the Europa League, which bearing in mind the club’s present predicament seems something like an unwelcome diversion. Their minds will then focus very much on another wrong end of the table clash at Granada, who showed enough against Real Madrid to suggest that they can be more trouble than enough for this current Valencia side.

Any medium and long term plans that Gary, and also his brother, Phil Neville had in mind are going to be well and truly placed on the back burner.

What they need now is points, and pronto, which is probably about the only thing that all interested parties surrounding Valencia football club would actually all agree with.