Gary Neville Valencia head coach

[King of Otters]

Neville as a pundit was always too good to last. Having read his article on Poch last week it was obvious that managing was his ambition. And why not? He excelled as a pundit because he has genuine expertise that make his opinion worth listening to, as opposed to the cliches and literal descriptions offered up as analysis by the likes of Redknapp, Shearer, Henry et al.

 

[King of Otters]

Would be amusing if they got Roy Keane in as he's the only other pundit who says it as it is. But he hasn't got the personality suited to Sky. Still, would love him to interview Rooney from the studio after a match.

I like Keane but he isn't in the same class as Neville as a pundit. Neville is genuinely insightful and clearly puts a lot of work into studying and thinking about the game. Keane is entertaining, very entertaining, but I don't think he's an especially incisive pundit. Keane is worth watching because he's psycho who apparently hates everyone and everything, especially football matches and footballers.

 

[Pimp_Spur]

Michael Owen should've taken the job, could've done with him off bt sport

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Never watching MNF again. Gutted.

 

[Misfit]

You can bet he already has Spanish lessons sorted out.

Might go all Pete Tong this time out but not for lack of trying or ability. Be the new Bobby Robson, Gary. Please.

 

[Misfit]

I think jenas could be decent given the chance/time.

He is great. Really fantastic now I think about it. He needs to be a pundit. Natural in front of the camera and an intelligent guy.

 

[Misfit]

What amuses me is that if this was a PL club, and a foreign owner appointed one of his mates who had no experience and didn't even speak the language, you just know Neville would have something to say about it on MNF

It may work, it may not. Cannot imagine Valencia fans are too impressed about this though.

Initial reaction a few hours back didn't seem too bad apparentky but it's not like the fans can do anything but it anyway. They'll no doubt get behind until it goes to shit, if it does, just like any fanbase. Except Pool.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/valencia-fans-show-support-gary-6941390

 

[mike_l]

I like Jenas a lot but a) I think he's now contracted to BBC (whereas as some of them just do freelance work) and b) I'm not sure Jenas yet speaks with the confidence required to pilot MNF and challenge Carragher from time to time. Higginbotham is impressively assured in how he speaks and challenges common perceptions about the game and individual players.

So Jenas has the potential to be a top class pundit however is likely to be stifled by a lack of confidence in his own ability? Well at least he is consistent across his pursuits...

 

[teok]

As some one that doesn't have sky I think he is wasted just as a pundit at his young age (not doubting his knowledge, I always enjoyed his paper column). I'm really glad he took the plunge. First job in spain just shows how ballsy he is.

We need young talented, hungry english managers for the future of the game in this country. Even if it goes badly it will be valuable experience.

Good luck gary, you are one of the good ones.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

On the plus side, at least we won't get 20 mins worth of analysis on Man Utd games now (as good as it is), on the downside, we could now get 45 mins worth of analysis on Liverpool games if they team up Redknapp with Carra, or a split between Liverpool and Arsenal if they draft Henry in.

In all seriousness I was very surprised to hear about this, can't really imagine a defender with no managerial experience at all from another country who can't speak English coming here and taking over at one of the top 6 clubs. It's the equivalent of us hiring someone like Dani Alves to be our manager a few years after he'd been retired.

Good luck to him though, really like Valencia as a club, proper football stadium too.

 

[tototoner]

Sky offered him a 5 year £15M contract to stay with them

 

[donny1013]

I think the fact that he is replacing a manager that was largely hated by the fans and not replacing a fan favorite that was randomly sacked, will obviously work in his favor. 4th spot is wide open in La Liga, so would be a great start for him if he can get them back into the CL. Will be interesting to see what he does in Jan and whether he looks to the EPL for players.

 

[nailsy]

Im shocked by this, it potentially could go terrible for him

He has gone there because of the Jorge Mendes/Peter Lim connection two dodgy basterds.

Moyes failed because he struggled to integrate in to the culture, at least for Neville he doesn't have to go to a place like San Sebastian where there are other issues like the basque problem

Now he has gone to Valencia, but they haven't spent that much REAL money since Lim brought the club instead they have transferred ownership of their own players they had owned via third party ownership

He is replacing a good manager as well in Nuno, who is very highly rated.

This job wont be easy and imo its a mistake to go spain. It may bite him on the arse and valencia fans aren't known for being forgiving so if he does play some boring stuff he may get a lot of stick for it. It wont help that he doesn't know spanish.

I don't think the language will be much of an issue. His brothers been there a while and has thrown himself into learning the language and can already converse in Spanish. Gary will do the same, especially with the extra support from Phil.

By the way did anyone listen to Mondays Football weekly where they were joking about Valencia getting the wrong Neville?

 

[Phill Barrs]

Good luck to Gary, its obviously the right job for him and with very little pressure. Its obvious he understands the game very well.

 

[tototoner]

http://www.london24.com/sport/footb...oss_will_be_his_valencia_role_model_1_4335575

Neville was working as an England coach and popular pundit until Wednesday lunchtime when he was appointed manager of Valencia until the end of the La Liga campaign.
And speaking just days before his move to Spain Neville revealed why the playing style and approach Pochettino has adopted at Southampon and now Tottenham will be his inspiration in management.
“Ask me who is the best coach in the English league and I would say Jose Mourinho. But ask me who I would model myself on as an aspiring coach right now and in a flash I would give you the name of Mauricio Pochettino,” he explained to The Telegraph.
“I loved what Pochettino did at Southampton because he affected the mentality of how they played, with the high-pressure, high-energy approach. He caused those Southampton players to play differently. At the same time, he was handed one of the best academies and recruiting systems in the country.
“He was given Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez, James Ward-Prowse, Nathaniel Clyne, Luke Shaw.
“It was no surprise, then, that his belief in English players was forged at Southampton, where he mixed the best foreign players they could afford with the best from the academy in a highly effective style of play – high-energy, passionate, good to watch, defending high up the pitch (all the things I would love to instil myself, as a coach).”
Neville has worked with Tottenham’s England internationals Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Ryan Mason and Dele Alli during their spells with the national team but he has also been given the chance to spend a day behind the scenes at Spurs.
And Neville revealed he liked what he saw.
“I’m sure Pochettino won’t mind me sharing some experiences from a day I spent at Spurs last season, when I shared time with him and watched them train,” he added. “I met the head of coaching and player development, John McDermott, as well as Mitchell. I liked everything I heard and saw. The way they were progressing was absolutely on point.
“On the training pitch the manager had them really running at the end of the session to improve their fitness. The result is that Spurs are now one of the fittest teams in the league.
“I was there for six hours and was so impressed. Watching some of his analysis and training gave me a further understanding of the quality of work going on. The communication lines between academy and first team are also now in place.”
Neville will watch from the stands on Saturday night as Valencia take on Barcelona.

 

[TaoistMonkey]

I reckon his visit to our training ground was to get advice from Poch on whether to take to job etc.

 

[teok]

http://www.football365.com/news/nevilles-first-press-conference-the-highlights

Good press conference from gary.

 

[fridgemagnet]

How can Phil have been on the staff at Man U and at Valencia and not have all his badges yet Gary has a part time job with Roy for England and sit in a studio mostly surrounded by twats wanking over Liverfuckingfool and have all his badges?

 

[Hazelton]

Well impressed by his press conference.

He's earned so much respect from me since he retired, which is saying something considering how highly I respected him as a player. Great pundit and he has all the makings of a top manager. I hope he does well for England's sake.

 

[Hoops]

Am reading a Valencia forum. Its fair to say when Neville was officially announced they were not impressed.

First comment was "Madre Mia", kind of summed it all up. Lots of facepalming followed. Not got to response after his press conference
,maybe it had a positive effect.

I suppose its the equivalent of Michel Salgado coming to manage Spurs.