A 12th place finish represents an unacceptable season for a club the size of Valencia CF.
When Gary Neville was announced as a surprise appointment, the club were sitting in ninth place, but just five points off of the Champions League places. It was news that was very exciting to many fans in the UK and Ireland who had seen Neville's tactical nouse in full flow on Sky Sports' MNF, but in Spain it was not a decision that was met with enthusiasm.
Eventually, Neville's La Liga adventure was ended after four months in charge and Valencia in 14th place in the table after some wild defensive performances, and after his sacking things began to look up with petter performances yielding better results. So why did it go so wrong for the former Manchester United man?
Australian international Matt Ryan was Neville's #1 goalkeeper during his reign, and he has spoken about his former manager's struggles as he gets set to play against England at Wembley on Friday.
Ryan believes that the culture that surrounds Valencia, and their reluctance to accept outsiders, played a big part.
It was a tough job going into a foreign country and trying to change a club like Valencia. It is a club that is a close knit family. The fans are Valencia people and it is a hard culture to break in to.
His back was up against the wall from the moment he took charge and unfortunately for him we were not able to get the results we needed. It was unfortunate it ended the way it did. I still have the utmost respect for him and what he has achieved as a coach and what he will achieve in the future.
The biggest thing was results. When they are not there the pressure grows. Coaches are the most cut-throat victims of this game.
Ryan then added that he feels Gary Neville can go on to become a successful manager having worked with him and getting an idea for his knowledge of the game.
He can definitely be a good manager in the future. It is like a player who makes a mistake. It doesn’t mean he can’t learn and move on and become better.
You just have to go and keep doing it. He has enough coaching qualities and knowledge to make it happen.
For the time being, those qualities will be put to use in his coaching role with England, although we are hoping that a return to MNF to reunite him with Jamie Carragher is on the cards should he not be offered another managerial job this summer.
It's clear that Neville has potential as a manager, but the Valencia job was too much too soon.
