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21st Sep 2016

Valencia sack Gary Neville’s replacement after even worse record than Sky’s pundit-in-chief

We're starting to see G-Nev's tenure in a different light

Tom Victor

It’s fair to say Gary Neville’s managerial spell at Valencia was nothing short of a disaster.

The Englishman was relieved of his duties with the club flirting with relegation from La Liga, with some impressive European results not enough to save him.

Neville was replaced by Pako Ayestarán, who worked as Rafa Benitez’s assistant at the Mestalla before following him to Liverpool, but the Spaniard has fared even worse than his predecessor.

Ayestarán has been sacked by Valencia with the club bottom of La Liga, having failed to take a single point from games against Las Palmas, Eibar, Real Betis and Athletic Club.

‘The decision has been made after analysing the current sporting situation and results,’ Valencia’s official statement reads.

And if people thought Neville’s record in charge was poor, the man who took over from him in March did even worse.

Ayestarán’s 12 games in charge saw Valencia pick up three wins, one draw and eight defeats. 10 points from his first five games were enough for the club to stave off relegation last season, but the end of the last campaign and the start of this have seen Los Che suffer seven straight losses.

10 points from 12 games is the worst return from any manager in the club’s near-100-year history, though a couple failed to win as high a proportion of their matches in charge.

Compared to that, Neville’s 35% win rate almost looks impressive. Almost.

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