Jamie Carragher has backed Gary Neville to succeed as manager at Valencia by sharing a story from the pair’s England days.
Carragher states that his his former colleague’s remarkable attention to detail have made him successful as a player and a pundit – and will also help him as a manager.
‘He is a man who has always wanted things to be right and I learnt that one day when I was away with England, when he marched into the treatment room to see me,’ Carragher writes in his column for The Daily Mail,
‘When you play for England, the squad sometimes get presents off sponsors and on this particular day, Gary was trying to find out who had received the gifts they had promised. I’d been given mine but others — Gary included — had been missed out.
‘Forever the shop steward, he stormed off to have it out with the FA to find out what had gone wrong and soon the issue was resolved.
‘You couldn’t fault his attention to detail and that has been the cornerstone of his career as a player and pundit — and why he has achieved so much.’
Carragher also praises Neville for the bold move to Valencia, claiming that his refusal to take an easier move is typical of him.
‘In many ways, taking his first job in management at Valencia is typical of him,” he continues.
‘The ‘easy’ thing to do would have been working in the lower leagues or with Manchester United’s Under 21s yet, always one to embrace a challenge, he has gone for something out of left field.’
Neville has left his pundit role alongside Carragher on Sky’s Monday Night Football.
His first game in charge of Valencia will be the Champions League meeting with Lyon.
