Gary Neville urged to return to management despite suffering Valencia nightmare

Gary Neville has been encouraged by former Premier League manager Ian Holloway to return to the dugout, despite struggling at Valencia in his one and only managerial job.

Neville took over at the Mestalla midway through the 2015-16 season, after an early Champions League elimination had seen Nuno Espirito Santo given the boot. However, after a run of defeats in March saw Los Che hovering perilously above the relegation spots, Neville's time in charge was also brought to an early end.

Holloway, who took charge of Blackpool and Crystal Palace in the top flight, remains keen to see his compatriot back in management, especially when, over the course of just a few months, Neville's former England team-mates Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have found themselves out of work.

"Really, I'd love Gary Neville to have another go at management, I honestly would," Holloway told Ladbrokes Fanzone. "Maybe not as England manager but I think he'd be incredible, with a group of English-speaking players, I think he'd be brilliant at it. He makes total sense to me sometimes and I'd love him to give it another go because he talks like a coach.

"I don't want Frank, Stevie G or Gary Neville to be thrown under the bus because I think they've got so much to offer the game as coaches, rather than pundits. These guys need to be there in the dugout. Imagine what Rio Ferdinand could do with a team?

"They probably earn too much doing what they're doing now, so I suppose you'd ask why they'd want to put themselves through the stresses of management. But I don't understand the game sometimes; we need the brains of these young lads to help the next generation of players coming through."

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Back in 2019, Neville reflected on the mistakes he made while in charge of Valencia. In the years since, he has returned to punditry but has yet to give management another shot.

"What I tried to do was pick up a rocky ship and just drift into shore rather than really grab the reins, have a strong leadership with me and also make sure that I got rid of what would be people who were making it choppy," the former England defender told the Blank Podcast. "I made some mistakes and they were all mine.

"I couldn't communicate with the players and the club was difficult but they were excuses. I knew I couldn't communicate with the players and I knew the club was difficult, I knew the dressing room was divided, I knew it was a difficult time in the club, I knew they'd sacked 15 managers in 13 years. I knew I was going to get criticised."

Neville took charge of 28 matches for Valencia in all competitions, winning nine. However, the majority of those victories came in cup games, with just three wins from 16 league outings.