AND WE HAD JUST STARTED GETTING ON...
SO Mondays will not be the same for the next six months. I knew Gary Neville would become a manager one day but the timing has come as a shock. And to think we had just started getting along! As a player, Gary was someone I loved to hate. For Liverpool fans, he was Public Enemy No 1, the embodiment of Manchester United. But, privately, I have always had nothing but the utmost respect for him. His passion, his will to win and determination were traits I recognised in myself. During the past two-and-a-half years, we have become firm friends thanks to our roles with Sky and, in particular, our Monday
Night Football show. He had been a roaring success in the two years before I arrived at Sky and he played a big role in helping me settle. There is no question I will miss him and I’ll particularly miss the heated debates of a Monday morning when we are making decisions about which clips to show, not to mention the frequent jibes that fly around when the cameras are rolling. We have often talked about management and coaching outside of rehearsals, discussing when is the right time to take the plunge, what job you should go for and whether you need the hassle of the modern game. Gary has never hidden his ambition — he relishes working alongside Roy Hodgson with England — and I don’t blame him for taking this opportunity. It will be a tremendous education. What’s more, I’m sure he will be a success. 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.me 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 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. In many ways, taking his first job in management at Valencia is typical of him. 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. But the key to good management is making decisions and Gary will have no problem in that area. He has been brave to accept the challenge in Spain but it will help that he knows the owner, Peter Lim, and his brother, Phil, has been working there for the last four months. Valencia are a big club with a terrific, historic stadium. Results have not been good but they have some good players and they will reach the last 16 of the Champions League next week if they beat Lyon at home and Gent fail to beat Zenit St Petersburg. One thing you can be assured is that he will leave no stone unturned to make a success of his role. He’s already proven himself to be wise — it makes sense to start the job on Sunday after Barcelona have visited the Mestalla on Saturday! — but, more than anything, I believe he will be a success.