On This Day in 2016: Gary Neville sacked by Valencia after four months in charge

Gary Neville was sacked as Valencia manager on this day in 2016.

It was a short but eventful stay at the Mestalla for the former Manchester United and England defender.

Here, the PA news agency takes a looks back at Neville’s spell in Spain.

A surprise appointment

Neville, with no management experience, was surprisingly named as the replacement for Nuno Espirito Santo following his resignation in early December 2015. The former defender was on England’s coaching staff but – working with Sky Sports – had no desire to go into management and took the job as a favour to Peter Lim – a key investor in Salford City. Despite his reluctance, Neville said on his appointment: “If I’d turned down this job I’d have said goodbye to my credibility.” He inherited a side who were ninth in LaLiga and heading out of the Champions League at the group stage.

A tough four months

Seven hell

There was no lower moment than a humiliation at the Nou Camp. At that point all of Neville’s wins had come in the Copa del Rey, earning them a semi-final tie with Barcelona. The first leg was a chastening 90 minutes that has gone down as one of the darkest days in Valencia’s history. They were beaten 7-0, playing with 10 men for 45 minutes, as Luis Suarez scored four and Lionel Messi three. There were calls for Neville, who admitted he felt “helpless” watching the rout, to resign, with former Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares the loudest voice. Neville stuck it out, though, and saw his side draw the return leg 1-1.

The inevitable sacking

Back to the day job