Valencia's president: Gary Neville's position as manager was never under threat

Gary Neville, despite requiring 10 fixtures to earn his first La Liga victory as Valencia's manager, was never in danger of losing his job.

In conversation with Conrado Valle of AS, Valencia president Lay Hoon Chan preached about the need for stability, and defended Los Che's appointment of Neville, saying that the club is "not in favour of constantly changing the coach" even if such an approach is part of Spanish culture.

"You cannot dismiss a coach for a poor run when the players believe in him - they believe in Gary Neville," Chan said. "I do understand the football culture in Spain, but we have belief in what we are doing and we will continue in the direction which we believe is the right one.

"And with Gary we have been doing well; now the victories are coming. We are looking to secure a project. The first year went better than we expected, this year hasn't but we will continue to keep investing."

Chan also gave a clear answer upon being asked whether Jorge Mendes, the Portuguese superagent who is arguably the most powerful man in football, or Jesus Garcia Pitarch, recently appointed as the club's sporting director, will be Los Che's architect next season.

"Suso (Garcia Pitarch)," Chan said. "If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't have brought him in in the first place. (Francisco) Rufete's departure left a vacancy within the club's structure and we have started to rebuild it. Why not? It's a very important decision to make. It entails putting the confidence that goes with an investment of hundreds of thousands of Euros in one person and that requires a great deal of thought."