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Sport

03rd Dec 2015

Gary Neville admits he “could have said goodbye to credibility in football” if he rejected Valencia

Tom Victor

New Valencia head coach Gary Neville has said the top job at the “wonderful football club” was one he couldn’t afford to turn down.

He revealed in his first press conference that, while he has worked with owner Peter Lim at Salford FC, it was the size of the club that convinced him this was the moment for him to step into management.

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“The time has now come for me to stand up,” he said.

“I think this is a wonderful football club. I’m precious about what I associate with but if I had turned this job down I could have said goodbye to credibility in football.

“I’ve been offered jobs in football over this last 4-5 years but the timing has never felt tight. I wanted to give myself time to learn but when I received the call on Sunday even I thought what a football club, what a challenge.”