Jaap Stam once called Gary Neville a busy c**t.
According to the former Holland defender, however, he meant it as a compliment.
Whatever about meaning it or not, there’s no doubt the former Manchester United full-back has been a very busy man in his first few days as the new Valencia manager.
The ex-England player lost his opening game in charge to Lyon midweek and today revealed the various changes he is trying to implement at the club.
Neville faces his first La Liga game against Eibar this evening and ahead of the match he told the Sunday Mirror that when he arrived at the club, he was stunned how poorly the club were preparing for games.
“I came here and there was nothing in place for me to be able to say ‘we’re ready to go’ in terms of preparations.
“The analysts that were working with me towards Lyon moved onto Eibar [on Tuesday] so we’ve started preparation for that now.”
“We’re playing catch-up from that point of view. The amount of preparation that I would do normally would be three or four weeks in advance. I’d be thinking about the games against Villarreal and Real Madrid right now, but we aren’t.
“That’s not what we’ve inherited here.”
Neville has committed to the club until the end of the season, and is hoping that his short-term stint in Spain could extend into a longer spell in La Liga.
And as part of his plan to immerse himself in Spanish culture, and share some experiences of life in the Mediterranean, he’s taken to eating some local cuisine.
“I’ve had paella every day. On Friday I had one in the centre of Valencia with rabbit!”
“For me, having a paella with rabbit is a bit weird. I’ve eaten octopus too, which is also weird for me but the food is really good.”
UPDATE:
Things at least have turned out ok this afternoon for Neville as his side claimed a point in a 1-1 draw.
