Gary Neville has cast serious doubts over whether he will ever return to coaching, after his tough experiences over the past year.
The former Manchester United defender became head coach of Valencia last December, but won just three of his 16 league games and was sacked after four months.
Neville didn’t fare much better in his role as England coach, as the team crashed out of Euro 2016 following a humiliating victory to Iceland in the last-16. The 41-year-old resigned along with manager Roy Hodgson immediately after the defeat.
Such chastening experiences would be enough to make any coach question whether they’ve a future in the game, and Neville has told Sky Sports that he has no intention of returning to the dugout in the immediate future.
The 41-year-old has also been reflecting on went wrong in Spain. Neville says it was his fault alone for the poor spell at Valencia. However, he also highlights the problems he faced – such as the squad’s reputation for being “difficult”, the language barrier and some poor luck.
“There is nothing worse than hearing someone give reasons for why they’ve failed – of course sometimes there are reasons – but you have to take the blame yourself,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“I cannot open that hotel and blame the general manager for it failing. Why? I appointed the general manager.
“I can’t go to Spain for four months, be coach of Valencia, and blame the fact there was a difficult dressing room, I didn’t speak the language, we had bad luck and we missed some chances.
“Why? Because I knew I didn’t speak the language before I went, I knew it was a difficult dressing room, I knew they had sacked lots of managers and I didn’t deal with it.
“People will always look at that externally and think it was a negative experience. For me personally, I lost football matches but what I gained was general experience of life, culture and appreciation for a different country.”
Neville’s coaching career now appears to be put on hold. The former England defender has returned to his role as a Sky Sports pundit, and says he intends to focus on his business ventures.
“I always say ‘never say never’ because my love of football is too great, but I genuinely believe it will be very difficult for me to go back into coaching because of my commitment now to so many different things,” Neville said.
“It’s my obligation to deliver Salford City to the Football League. It’s my obligation to roll out Hotel Football internationally.
“It’s my obligation to deliver high-end restaurants with Michael O’Hare. It’s my obligation to deliver St Michael’s, which I believe is the best development in Manchester.
“I can’t go back into coaching now in the short term – the next five years – and the reality of it is I don’t want to.
“It could be that I’m no longer ever a coach in football but that’s not a loss. Some people might think it is, but the fact of the matter is it’s not to me.”
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