When Gary Neville took over from Portuguese Nuno Espírito Santo in November, Valencia were in mid-table , Copa del Rey and on course to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League in a group
comprising Champions League lightweight's Lyon, Genk and Zenith St.Petersburg.
Fast-forward to just four months, and Valencia are out of the Copa del Rey after losing 0-7 to Barcelona in Camp Nou, out of the Champions League after losing to Genk and drawing with Lyon, out of the Europa League after losing to Athletic Bilbao in the round of 16 and on the same point with 18th placed Getafe (14 points), but three places above the capital club due to a superior goal difference . The former Sky Sports football analyst was sacked on Wednesday, after he was only able to garner 18.8 percent La Liga win ratio which is the lowest for any Valencia manager in history. Things did not start well for Neville, as it took him three months (nine games) and until February to record his first La Liga win after his appointment by Singaporean businessman Peter Lim (Valencia's owner ) in November.
Lack of Experience could have played a role in Neville's failure, as this was his first experience in management. Although Neville is currently the Three Lions assistant coach (Roy Hodgson is the main coach), he still lacked the experience needed to succeed in Valencia. While Neville's punditry ability is not in doubt, the same cannot be said of his real life team management as his failure in Valencia shows. Also not to be exempted, was his inability to commuicate property with his players, as he could not speak the Spanish language required in La Liga. Neville therefore, sought the help of an interpreter and this did not deliver the needed result and took several time for the message to be relayed to the players. Also under Neville, Valencia conceded goals in their last 20 La Liga games, which is their longest run since 1986. This resulted in Valencia losing their last three La Liga games, which is their worst run since October 2013 which was under former club legend and former Serbian coach Miroslav Djukic.
Neville was not spared in attack, as he got it all wrong by continuously fielding misfiring Alvaro Negredo as his main striker immediately after taking charge. Negredo had long been relegated to the reserves by the former coach (Nuno Espirito), yet that did not deter Neville as he persisted with the out of form former Sevilla striker to his own undoing . Negredo showed exactly why Manchester City shipped him out to Valencia after a season, by missing nine 'big' chances which is the most for any Valencia player this season. This explains why Valencia under Neville, missed 70.2 per cent of the 37 'big' chances they created and which is the most miss in La Liga over that period.
In total, Neville was in charge for 28 La Liga games, winning 10 and losing 11, which was not good enough for a big club like Valencia. While this is not the end of the road for the former Manchester United right back, it cleanly showed why real football management is much more difficult than punditry.
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