Yahoo Sport 
Why Gary Neville’s Valencia dream has quickly turned into a nightmare
As Gary Neville was tucking into his potato smiles on the 1st of December, little did he know he’d receive a phone call that would cause such a radical change in his life. Peter Lim, his friend and fellow Salford City shareholder, offered him the chance to succeed Nuno Espirito Santos. The Portuguese coach was also a friend of Lim, as well as super agent Jorge Mendes, but he had been unable to plug the holes of his sinking Valencia ship. “Gary, can you help me?” was the cry. After talking it over with his family – including brother Phil – and sleeping on it, he decided it was worth a shot. This turned out to be the first error Neville has made since retiring from the game.
You see, Gary Neville didn’t want to go down the conventional route of jumping straight into management once his playing career was over. Gary has an eye for business and wanted to remain associated with football, but invest in projects that he felt he could improve. With fellow ‘Class of 92’ members he invested in local side Salford City, as well as forming Hotel Football and Café Football. Once Peter Lim became involved and cleared all the debts, both of the companies and personal loans, Neville’s decision to move into business appeared to be a smart one.
While continuing to work on other ventures he was approached about doing Monday Night Football alongside Jamie Carragher. Gary and his former rival had instant chemistry and their articulated, well thought-out discussions were a welcome relief to fans who had grown accustomed to ex-pros stating the bleedin’ obvious and littering coverage with bog-standard clichés. That old guard of pundits, who when challenged, would drop the “When you’ve played professional football, I’ll listen to what you’ve got to say.” While Jamie and Gary were ex-pros, they didn’t come across as arrogant but gave crucial insight to things most fans were unaware of. They treated their audience as an equal and it didn’t feel like they were being condescending, but instead they were helping us all learn a bit more. Once again, it was a wise decision from Mr Neville.
Going back to that cold night at the beginning of December, Gary made his first mistake since hanging up his boots. Now, I know what you’re going to say, “But weren’t you happy about him taking over a La Liga side, especially one as reputable as Valencia?” Of course I was. And I’m not trying to say taking over Valencia was a mistake, per se, but more the speed in which he accepted the job and perhaps how he may have underestimated the task on his hands. Is one night, seeing as the call came late in the afternoon, long enough to consider all the relevant factors? Or was Gary having a romantic moment, led by his heart instead of his head, and felt like the chance to ‘save’ Valencia was too good an opportunity to turn down?
Valencia, after a nervy aggregate victory over French side Monaco in the Champions League play-off round, had started the season poorly. The loss of key personnel to injury - Diego Alves and Andre Gomes – and having sold defensive lynchpin Nicolas Otamendi to Manchester City, it was perhaps to be expected. Then again, this was largely the same squad that had only lost five matches in the previous campaign – just one of those five coming at home. It held off a relentless Sevilla side to secure fourth-place. Yet the results and performances weren’t good enough, especially in the Champions League – they couldn’t have asked for a better group considering the ‘Group of Death’ possibilities.
The problem was that those three missing players, alongside Javi Fuego and then club captain Dani Parejo, were the glue that held the side together. Fuego and Parejo are experienced midfielders but neither of whom you’d consider leaders. Jaume Domenech had come in after Maty Ryan, signed after the injury to first choice Alves, succumbed to the treatment table himself and performed better than most believed – at one point he was the number one shot-stopper in the country! But he wasn’t a leader. Aymen Abdennour and Aderlan Santos were brought in to replace Otamendi but it’s like sellotaping two halves of a note together – it looks okay but on closer inspection, something’s wrong with it. The transfer window, Ryan apart, was a total waste after overspending on loan deals agreed the previous summer.
When January approached the initial word from Gary & co was they’d stick with what they’ve got as it and try to extract more from the underperforming members of the squad. This changed dramatically towards the end of the transfer window as Neville acknowledged his side lacked control in the middle of the pitch, even with the returning – but poor – Andre Gomes. A move for Deportivo’s Pedro Mosquera broke down as the player chose to stay at Riazor. A last-minute bid for Getafe forward Pablo Sarabia also fell through, as Valencia’s attacking options struggled. An issue from last season, too,
No doubt Gary asked his brother Phil about his lack of Spanish and whether that would be a major factor before taking the job. Perhaps encouraged by Phil’s own swift adaptability, it was considered something which could be worked around until Gary was ready. Again, naïve after what we saw happen to David Moyes at Real Sociedad. The misconception of Brits who travel to Spain on holiday – usually to one of the islands - is that most Spaniards can speak basic English but that isn’t the case. At Valencia very few players speak English well. There’s a real problem with the educational system over here when it comes to teaching English and more so in areas that aren’t considered tourist hotspots. You should factor in that Valencia, like Barcelona, has it’s own dialect apart from traditional Castellano Spanish.
It was of no surprise to see an influx of coaching changes happen, all of whom had much better levels of English, to help those crucial lines of communication. I was told players like and respect Gary but found his methods usual. There’s a perception in Spain that English coaches aren’t as tactically savvy as their Spanish counterparts and focus on physical aspects of the game as opposed to strategic ones. Confusion reigned for a while as players struggled to understand and later implement the Englishman’s ideas. Pako Ayestarán has made a significant difference since coming in.
Let’s get some misconceptions out of the way from the beginning. Neville was offered and signed a six-month deal at Valencia but the idea – from both Lim and Gary – was that his appointment would be a long-term one. Management wasn’t originally on the agenda as Neville is a meticulous planner but the opportunity to expand his knowledge and experience abroad at a major European side was something too good to turn down, whilst knowing he had the full backing of the owner.
Gary was heavily involved in not only the January transfer window but also the post-season friendlies and a pre-season schedule. Neville made it clear a long-distance trip in the summer should be avoided and, if they had to go abroad, it would be preferable to do so at the end of the current campaign instead.
All of the new coaching appointments have been on the recommendation of Neville. The only staff member he didn’t decide on was the new sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch, although the two have a good working relationship. There was concern when Pitarch failed to back Neville after the hammering against Barcelona but internally it changed nothing. Press speculation and fed up fans can ask for Neville to leave but that has never been on the cards or even mentioned as a serious possibility.
The one thing that has changed, and admittedly from all parties, is that six months is probably about right. Peter Lim would continue to back Gary if he decided to stay on, take control of pre-season and plan for the 2016/17 season. However I think the size of the task at hand and the resistance he has felt, notably on the training pitch, has made Neville change his mind about staying beyond the summer. If he does leave at the end of his current deal he can say that he did what was asked of him, it was a great experience, etc.
It’s been a real baptism of fire for the former England right-back, even with Phil alongside him. Taking over in the middle of the season is never easy and less so at a club where egos ran riot after overachieving last year. Plus another of Peter Lim’s close allies, Jorge Mendes, is a dab hand at moving players on, especially unhappy and/or ambitious ones.
So, it isn’t working out as those at Valencia had intended it. Those who predicted a car crash of a season for Neville will be linking furiously to tweets they made to that effect on the day he was appointed. Everyone loves the smugness of social media, don’t they? You’d be forgiven for thinking that no one has ever been wrong and that a player who was pretty crap three years ago, shouldn’t have been slated at the time of being crap because they’re enjoying a good season now. “You mean, you didn’t know the player who couldn’t pass a ball for three years and played in Norway’s second division would be leading the Golden Boot standings this season? Call yourself an expert? Ha!”
Gary Neville will leave Valencia after the match against Celta at the weekend to join up with England but he’ll be back afterwards to help with the preparation for Las Palmas. Come the summer he’ll leave the club to join up with the national side for Euro 2016 but right now, there’s no return flight planned.
