Gary Neville has been sacked as
Valencia’s head coach after less than
four months. The club announced on
Wednesday that the former Manchester
United defender was leaving with
immediate effect.
Neville was appointed in early
December on a contract until the end of
this season, with a view to reassessing
his position in the summer, but results
have failed to match expectations and
the fans have turned against him in
growing numbers.
Mestalla crowd turn on Gary Neville
after Valencia lose to Celta Vigo
Valencia are 14th in La Liga, six points
above the relegation zone, having won
only three of 16 league matches under
Neville. The club went out of the
Champions League, Europa League and
Copa del Rey on his watch.
“Valencia Football Club have today
parted company with Gary Neville as
Head Coach,” the club said in a
statement. “After careful consideration,
the Club have decided to make a change
with the best interests of the Valencia CF
moving forward this season. We thank
Gary for his work at Valencia and wish
him the best in the future. The Club
have, today, appointed Pako Ayestaran
as Head Coach until the end of the
season.”
The most recent defeat, by Celta Vigo,
prompted chants of “Gary, vete
ya!” (Gary, go now!) in significant
numbers for the first time. Neville said
he would not resign but delayed his
departure to join the England coaching
team for the friendlies against Germany
and Holland.
He was due to resume club duties with a
match against Las Palmas, the team
immediately below Valencia, on
Saturday.
Neville was a shock appointment by
Valencia, whose owner, Peter Lim, is a
friend and business partner of the
former England international. Neville
stepped down from his role as a pundit
to take his first job as a No1 there.
Neville had privately accepted recently
that he would not continue as Valencia
coach next season, aware that he had not done enough to merit a new contract, but had expected to see out this campaign. Valencia have eight
games remaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment