Gary Neville’s Valencia fell to yet another defeat as they lost 1-0 to Real Betis yesterday afternoon.
The defeat leaves Valencia just four points clear of the relegation zone and makes Neville’s original ambition of a top four finish look all but impossible.
From the perspective of a British football fan it is desperately disappointing to see another of our managers struggling to make an impact in a foreign league.
Since being named as manager in December Neville has lost four of his nine league games in charge and drawn five. Unsurprisingly this has led to a more than hostile reaction from Valencia fans.
After yesterday’s match Neville said that he believed his side’s performances in the last two league games deserved more than the results would suggest.
After watching these games (1-0 defeats to Sporting Gijon and Real Betis) I would have to agree with him. I felt that on both occasions Valenica played some promising football and were very unlucky not to have scored.
However as we all know, football is a results business and Neville’s league record is no where near good enough for a proud club like Valencia.
I am sure that many Valenica fans have contrasting opinions but I really hope that Peter Lim gives Nevile an opportunity to turn this mess around.
He undoubtedly has a brilliant footballing brain and we must remember that this is his first ever managerial job. He has also been temporally hindered by aspects such as an unfamiliarity with the league and the language barrier.
Let’s remember, Sir Alex Ferguson had a testing start at Manchester United and that turned out alright…
