Valencia owner Peter Lim has explained the decision to replace Nuno Espirito Santo with Gary Neville. ‘It’s not because he’s a good friend…’
Lim conducted an interview with the official Valencia site in which he discussed the club’s economic position before addressing the technical side of the club, his comments picked up by AS.
“The decision to change Coach is never a happy one. It’s a necessity,” Lim said of the November change in the dugout.
“Given the situation I didn’t choose Gary because he’s a good friend but because he’s a good Coach who happens to be a friend.
“I’ve known him for a long time and his knowledge of football is tremendous. I chose him for that. I think he fits with me and the club will like having him in charge [for the rest of the season] and we’ll see from there.
“I have great confidence in him and the only problem may be the language. But I think he can overcome it, because he’s a very determined person. His experience as a player is the most important thing.
“I think he can keep this team together. We have a very young team. They are young, so need someone with experience. I know many people say he hasn’t been coaching but he has the qualities to be good.
“He’s not only been an assistant with England – when he was at Manchester United he had a very important role as captain. He’s learned a lot from Sir Alex Ferguson about managing players.”
