Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has offered a frank response over questions on his disastrous spell in charge at Valencia.
Neville enjoyed huge success as a player at United, winning eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups and two Champions Leagues, before retiring at 36, in 2011.
However, despite appearing set to take on a coaching role at United, he opted for an assistant manager position with the England national side, before making the move to Spain in 2015.
Los Che’s move for Neville was heavily criticised, due to his lack of experience, and his links to club owner Peter Lim.
His time in Spain was marked by a dreadful run of form, starting out with nine successive La Liga losses, and he was eventually sacked after three months in charge.
Neville’s league record ended with three wins from 16, with no clean sheets, and he has opted against any coaching jobs since.
The 48-year-old has offered tongue-in-cheek responses when questioned about his poor performance in Spain and he admitted he should not have accepted the position from Lim.
“I learnt a lot on a personal level. I’ve always spoken openly and frankly about my time in Valencia”, as per quotes from Marca.
“I feel I let Peter (Lim) and the fans down. The Valencia fans are one of the most passionate you can meet. When I walked around the city, they supported me and wished me well.
“Obviously, I lost too many matches, but I really enjoyed my time there. I loved the people and the city. Peter trusted me a lot and invested a lot of money in the club, and I wanted to do well for him, but also for the club.
“I wanted to succeed in the five months I was supposed to be there, but I just couldn’t get the results for the team, and in the end it was too much for me.
“I was a young English coach, I didn’t speak the language, and I arrived at a difficult time.
“I’m very sorry for not being able to offer them the results they wanted.”
Since Neville’s exit, 13 different coaches have taken charge of Valencia, either on a interim of permanent basis, with an average tenure span of 26 games.
