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"The reality is the results were shocking" - Gary Neville discusses his time at Valencia on Sky Sports return

Gary Neville made his much anticipated return to Sky Sports last night and the pundit rekind...



"The reality is the result...
Soccer

"The reality is the results were shocking" - Gary Neville discusses his time at Valencia on Sky Sports return

Gary Neville made his much anticipated return to Sky Sports last night and the pundit rekindled his friendship/rivalry with fellow pundit Jamie Carragher.

He brought his usual level of highly astute observations to the pre- and post-match analysis on Monday Night Football, as well as fielding questions from viewers at the end of the night. 

One of the questions that came up asked what he learned during his short-lived spell at Spanish club Valencia.

The 41-year-old took charge of Valencia in December of last year on an interim basis, but was dismissed at the end of March this year.

The club won only three of 16 league matches under his stewardship and exited the Champions League, Europa League and Copa del Rey during his time in charge.

Neville stepped down from his role as a pundit with Sky to take his first managerial job there.

On last night's show, he shared some insight on what he learned during his time in charge.

"To be honest with you, you learn a lot," he said. "You learn a lot in terms of decision making, responsibility for the fact that there seems to be a problem every single day.

"You get a problem every single day. It appears from somewhere, an injury or a problem with a player or something in the crowd. Whatever it might be.

"The decision making for being a head coach... Obviously I've been a coach with England for three years under Roy [Hodgson], so I understood the decision making process that was going on, but when you're actually there yourself."

He added: "I learned a lot living in a foreign country for the first time in my life, moving away from where I lived. That was a massive challenge for me but I enjoyed it. 

"I wish I could have stayed there because the idea of coming back and not completing what I wanted to do - which was to do well for the club first and foremost... To come back after four months without the language under wraps and having the experience of wanting to be there. Being at a time where I could have a summer with the players and get my own players in and things like that. 

"But the reality is, the results were shocking and when you go to that club, you're told very early on that when the white handkerchiefs come out, you're off."

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