The Neville-Valencia experiment has come to a merciful end.
In a statement released earlier today, Valencia announced that Gary Neville’s position as manager has been terminated after just four months.
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.
Unless you’ve been well and truly under a rock since December, none of this comes as a surprise. Under Neville’s guidance Valencia have won just three games of their past 16 league matches and crashed out of the Champions League, Europa League, and the Copa del Rey. They’re currently 14th in La Liga, six points above the relegation zone with eight games remaining. This is, to put it mildly, not the season Valencia fans and club officials were expecting.
As we noted last week, Neville had all but resigned himself to the inevitable. He had stopped short of quitting, but he acknowledged that he probably wouldn’t retained after this season. There was also a strong implication that he knew the axe could fall sooner rather than later. The fans had turned on him, the media had turned on him, and it’s not a huge stretch to think the dressing room had lost faith in him too.
Valencia will try to pick up the pieces this Saturday in a relegation six-pointer against Las Palmas. Neville, presumably, will be trying to get his old job back.