Gary Neville’s reign in Spain over after less than four months as Valencia sack England coach
England assistant Gary Neville admits that his results at Valencia were not good enough after the Spanish club brought a premature end to his first foray into management.
The decision came less than four months after the former Manchester United defender’s shock appointment and just days after some Valencia supporters burnt an effigy of him in protest at poor results.
Neville won just three La Liga games, presided over a slide down the table to 14th and exited the Champions League, Europa League and Copa Del Rey, the latter following a 7-0 drubbing by Barcelona.
“I want to thank Valencia, the fans, the coaching staff and players,” said Neville. “I would have liked to continue the work I started, but I understand that we are in a business based on results and in 28 games we have seen 10 wins, seven draws and 11 defeats, which is not the level demanded by me or by this club.”
Neville last week delayed joining up with England, where he has coached under Roy Hodgson since 2012, for the double-header that culminated with defeat to Holland on Tuesday, in a bid to mend his Valencia woes.
But the club, who sit six points above the relegation zone with eight games left, acted on Wednesday and placed Neville’s assistant, former Liverpool No2 Pako Ayesteran, in temporary charge.
“Valencia have today terminated the contractual relationship with first-team coach Gary Neville,” they said.
“After carefully analysing the situation, the club have decided to make this change in the best interests of Valencia when looking toward the rest of the season. The club thank Gary Neville for his work and wish him the best of luck for the future.”
Neville is a business partner of Valencia’s Singaporean owner Peter Lim, who co-owns Salford City with the 41-year-old and other fellow United greats including Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
His younger brother Phil Neville joined Valencia as a coach last summer. The club has not made an announcement on his future.