Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has revealed that he has rejected overtures from three English clubs over the past few years after his ill-fated spell as Valencia gaffer taught him a valuable lesson about where his skills can best be used.
The former Manchester United and England full-back had a four-month spell as Valencia head coach midway through the 2015/16 season but led Los Ches to just ten wins over his 28 games in charge.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville revealed that he has had other high-profile offers to return to coaching, but consistently refused to even discuss them because he has no desire to follow that career path.
Gary Neville: "I've said no to Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Derby coaching offers"
Neville explained: “I took the Valencia job purely because I knew the owner and I felt like I owed him something and I was loyal to him, he believed in me in terms of the business.
"I’ve been asked by Middlesbrough for an interview, Newcastle and Derby asked to speak to me, all in the previous three years I had been on Sky, and I said no to every offer because it wasn’t what I wanted to be.
“I had started my businesses and my media career, so I didn’t want to be a coach and I had said no to Newcastle, which came from someone at Sky who had a contact at Newcastle as they wanted to speak to me, which was the same with Middlesbrough, and I’m not saying that would have got me the job but it could have.
“When I first came out of football, in those first two years on television, I knew every player, I knew football inside and out and I felt like I could communicate the game well, which is different now 10 years later as I’ve distanced myself from the game.
"But I didn’t want to be a manager and I didn’t want to be a coach, and I said no to Peter Lim [Valencia CF owner] the first time, but he said that he really wanted me to do it.
"I signed on a five-month contract, and I didn’t last that time because it became impossible for Peter, for me and for everyone.”
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