Valencia’s 2-0 loss at home to Atletico Madrid at the weekend shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise to the locals who’ve become accustomed to such under-par fare for some while now.
Diego Alves is exonerated from any blame, the Los Che keeper saving two penalties which would’ve given the scoreline a fairer reflection of Atletico’s dominance.
New manager Cesare Prandelli, fresh from a meeting in Singapore with club owner Peter Lim, watched on with his assistants from an executive box and will have seen at first hand the size of the task that awaits him.
Brave is the man that is prepared to walk into a job that many now compare to a poisoned chalice — he is Valencia’s ninth manager since 2012!
Lim’s arrival at the club promised much but the reality is that he has delivered little. The celebrations that greeted his own first appearance at Mestalla are now drowned out by boos at the mere mention of his name.
Nuno Santo became tired of the owner’s close ties to super agent Jorge Mendes and his perceived influence on the team behind the scenes, so a decision to move on seemed a sensible one.
Unlike Lim’s hire of friend Gary Neville shortly after Nuno’s departure.
It’s wrong to suggest that it was an absolute disaster waiting to happen but given Neville’s lack of experience managerially in the top flight, coupled with an inability to learn the language quickly — well, it was probably never going to end well.
The 7-0 disgrace at the Camp Nou left the former Manchester United and England stalwart nowhere to go and he has even since admitted himself that his fingers have been badly burned by the experience.
Step forward Pako Ayestaran, a coach of some renown but whose managerial record also left much to be desired even before he was looked to as Valencia’s ‘saviour.’ Far from that, he took the title from Neville of statistically being the worst ever to hold the post.
Not entirely what the former assistant to Rafa Benitez might’ve expected.
How the supporters must wistfully look back at those halcyon days when the pair took Valencia to the very top, winning La Liga in 2003/04 along with a UEFA Cup final victory over Marseille.
Those days are now about as far removed as it’s possible to be, Prandelli inherits a fragile squad who have seen some of their best players depart in a ruinous close season.
He still has a handful of quality exponents to work with so this is the time that Lim and the supporters must have patience.
Success for Valencia this season will be staying in the league. Yes, it’s that bad.
The short-termist nature of the club has to be dispensed with. Now.
Prandelli is an intelligent, thoughtful and thought-provoking coach who, given the right backing, can get the club where it deserves to be.
Just let him rather than Lim get on with it….
