Gary Neville unveiled as Valencia manager: ‘Opportunity too good to pass up’

“If I turned down this job I could have kissed goodbye to my credibility”, he said.

Is it a “risky appointment”? The new boss will not be in charge of the forthcoming league clash with Barcelona, instead taking the reins officially on 6 December in the build-up to a crunch Champions League tie at home to Lyon.

“I have to prove myself, I have to show that people should not think I am a risky appointment”.

The rest of Neville’s first Valencia Press conference can be found here, here, here and here. “I did that with myself and with my family”, he added.

“I accept I have got to prove myself, turn the doubters around”.

Neville has been appointed as coach of Spanish league club Valencia for the rest of this season after Nuno Espirito Santo left by mutual agreement.

The club finished fourth last season, but have won only five of their 13 league matches this term.

“The only way to approach a football job will be as if it’s a permanent job, I don’t believe you can make short-term decisions, I don’t believe in working that way”.

“I’ve been sitting in a TV studio for the last years talking about coaches, now I have to stand up”, he said explaining his decision to swap a studio for the stadium.

“I’m not going to insult a club like Valencia by telling them that I’m coming over to play football like Manchester United”. There will be no holding back and Valencia will get every ounce of enthusiasm I can give and I hope that will lead them to success. “I want to bring stability”.

Neville laughed: “I don’t appoint the next coach”.

Valencia president Layhoon Chan said: “We are delighted to have secured Gary so quickly”.

“It’s a shock and an unusual challenge”, Allardyce said.

He has been credited with boosting the standard of analysis of English football in his television role with Sky Sports while being involved in running football-linked businesses with former Manchester United colleagues Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and, his brother, Phil. He has also served as assistant coach to England manager Hodgson.

“I am really looking forward to working with the club’s talented group of players and am excited about the challenge ahead”.

“There is no element of negativity at all”.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the thought of Richard Keys welcoming an iconic player, award-winning pundit and (lest we forget) much-lauded young coach to “the big time” has sent Twitter into absolute meltdown.

Writing in his column for the Mail, the former Liverpool defender admitted that he saw that Neville had the qualities to take on such a role while the two were still playing, even while Neville represented Manchester United.