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La Liga: There’s a call for you, Mr Lim. Your club needs you.

It has been a very exiting year thus far. It’s a huge learning experience: the passion from the fans, the big club that Valencia is and everything around the club.” Those were the words Peter Lim uttered in his first official interview since taking over the club back in December 2015, almost one year after saving Valencia from near financial ruin. Flash forward another six months and you’d be hard pressed to find a fan around the city who believes Lim has learnt anything since arriving on these shores.

From that same interview he said he was proudest of restructuring the financial situation of the club, negotiating new deals with those owed money in order to elevate the immediate stress surrounding both Valencia’s short-term and long-term future. “I think the best thing we did was, to be able to, financially put the club in the position to compete at the highest level.” And while the restructuring of the debts has been, to this point, a success it hasn’t allowed Los Che to go up a level on the pitch.

A disastrous season last time out saw three men try their hand at stirring the club towards safety as a campaign that began with such promise nosedived to the point of Valencia flirting dangerously close to relegation. In amongst this crisis Peter Lim only emerged when a manager needed to be sacked as an overzealous opening 12 months left little wriggle room when it came to spending because of Financial Fair Play restrictions. Valencia were sinking with their hands tied behind their backs.

This summer brought a lot of alarming news as it became quite obvious from the beginning that the books were in a bad shape. Alvaro Negredo (on loan), Antonio Barragan, Pablo Piatti, Javi Fuego, Rodrigo de Paul and Andre Gomes departed Paterna this summer but even with that major cash injection Valencia were still in the red. How could this happen after just one bad season? Poor planning and a lack of attention from an owner more concerned with Salford City than Valencia Club de Futbol.

Looking back at that interview - his only one to date - Lim mentioned the welcome he received from the fans as his best moment. On the 25th of October 2014 the new owner was seen in the stands as Valencia beat Eibar 3-0. Since then he’s attended less than ten matches at the Mestalla in nearly two years. A couple of weeks ago Lim was spotted at the Camp Nou ‘on business’ but then failed to attend his own club’s official presentation match the following evening. He instead flew to England.

In his absence Lim originally left his close friends Nuno Espirito Santo and Jorge Mendes to the oversee the majority of the club’s business. The former a client of the latter and this caused conflicts in the boardroom as fan favourite Amadeo Salvo, then president of the club, as well as the director of football Francisco Rufete, handed in their resignations ahead of the 2015/16 season.

Peter Lim is obviously a very accomplished businessman but as the owner of a football club he’s failed so far. Handing Valencia a stable financial platform to rebuild was a great start but his blasé attitude to keeping on top of the figures since then has seen the club regress horribly. It resembles a toy thing for the billionaire and the fans are tired of being fed lies.

The fans at Valencia often get a lot of unwarranted stick from both the national and international press who label them as more demanding than most. They’re also extremely loyal as long as you show them the same in return. The club is a badge of honour for the majority here as, unlike in other cities where fans have already fallen to the curse of choosing between Real Madrid or Barcelona, they’re proud of where they come from.

However don’t misconstrue the current anger and discontent to simply call the fans ‘demanding’. The old adage of ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me’ springs to mind and sadly, Valencia fans have been fooled more than most in recent years. Those in the boardroom have walked away with millions in their suitcases but left a trail of destruction as they closed the door. Fans don’t have that luxury of being able to up sticks and leave so it’s natural they will voice their disproval when they sense a feeling of deja vu.

Amadeo Salvo said, “Now we don’t have to sell players” as Peter Lim’s takeover was on the verge of happening. Previous seasons had seen their star players leave and their academy prospects poached by direct rivals, but the Lim era was supposed to be different.

Most accepted the sale of Nicolas Otamendi as the player clearly wanted to leave and it was for his buyout clause, more or less. Yet this summer has seen Andre Gomes depart for Barcelona in a deal Peter Lim himself negotiated along with Jorge Mendes. Shkodran Mustafi is flying out to London to have a medical with Arsenal while Paco Alcacer is set to join Gomes at Barcelona. What happened to the mantra of not needing to sell your best players?

In amongst this disaster president Layhoon Chan has been putting out fires all over the place since taking over from Salvo. As the one non-footballing person in Lim’s group of friends, she’s often been the one to speak out and reassure fans in their moments of need. Layhoon is universally respected out here but recent events had made her look weak. She told the media and fans ‘we don’t want to sell Paco’ knowing all too well her boss had already okayed the deal.

Now is the time for Peter Lim to take his ownership of Valencia off auto-pilot and demonstrate exactly what he’s capable of. There’s a depleted squad and a demoralised fan base that want to see some kind of ambition. Don’t accept the cast-offs from elsewhere or sell your star players if a buyout clause isn’t met as football is hardly suffering from a recession. Valencia are a big club but it’s about time Mr Lim treated it as such.

The defence is in need of a serious overhaul and the money generated from the sales of Mustafi and Alcacer should provide enough to sort out both the problems at the back as well as a new striker - if Jesus Garcia Pitarch is trusted to spend it, not Mendes. Let the man in charge of the football side fulfil his role and provide what the manager Pako Ayestaran wishes. Football can be simple at times, don’t overcomplicate it.

After all, in amongst the gloom, there are some reasons to be hopeful this season. An attack of Luis Nani, Santi Mina and Rodrigo Moreno doesn’t look too bad on paper and if it clicks could be one of the best in the league. Alvaro Medran has slotted in perfectly alongside Dani Parejo and midfield engine Enzo Perez, although one might need to make way for Mario Suarez if they continue to leak goals. Jose Luis Gaya and Joao Cancelo are two full backs with huge potential, who could become the new stars of this side and in goal they’ve got Maty Ryan, Jaume Domenech and Diego Alves.

Don’t throw it all way, Mr Lim. Take control.