Well, when Peter Lim took over he promised that he would keep the people that were running the club... 6 months later they were all forced to leave because they were relegated from most of their duties and Lim kept letting his fellow business men into the board and prefered to follow the advices of people like Jorge Mendes. Now the club has become Mendes' playground. Dispite him not having any official role at the club, he keeps advising the board and bringing his people in.

It's significant that Valencia's fans still support Neville after all these poor results, because Valencia's fanbase is infamous for asking for their manager's head. It's a running joke here that their club anthem is "*insert manager name* vete ya" (with "vete ya" meaning "leave already", which basicly translates to "*insert manager name* out"). Even managers like Benítez (won 2 leagues with them) and Cúper (took the team to 2 CL finals) only had a wide support, never a unanimous one. Valencia fans generally support their players, attend the stadium, etc, but they are too demanding of their managers. Managers like Emery and QSF did a good job, but ended up being sacked because the fans demand more and more after every season. Unless the results keep improving or the team plays wonderfully well, it's very hard for a manger to remain there for more than 3 seasons.

So, it really is significant that they still support Neville. It shows that they realize he's not the one to blame. If they get ko'd by Las Palmas in the 2nd leg of the Copa that might change though, as there really wouldn't be any excuse for this team to not make it through. But for now, the fans are willing to accept bad results because they are blaming those that run the club. It's actually a great chance for Gary... he doesn't have any pressure from the fans. For once, all a Valencia manager has to do to please the fans is to not fuck up and achieve minimum expectations.

As for finishing in the EL spots... yes, it's possible, but it's not going to be easy. Madrid, Barça, Atlético and Sevilla have much better teams, and Villarreal is at least as good as them and already 16 points ahead. Realisticly their best possible league postion is 6th-7th, but with they will struggle because Celta is 9 points ahead (I expect to drop points though) and Athletic is 6 points ahead (they've been actually underperforming and are now improving).

Right now they need to focus on trying to reach the Copa final, because that's quickest way of saving their season. After that they can either focus on either having a deep run in the EL or trying to finish 6th-7th.

just did some google and the remaining teams in the copa include barca, sevilla and a.madrid. assuming both a.madrid and sevilla arent exactly farmer teams fed to real or barca, then valencia with their current form will not be able to win the copa.
also took a look at their league and el fixtures. it might be a good time to go out of el and just concentrate on the league.
as far as that mendes goes, if gary survives and signs a contract extension, pretty sure gary will clash with mendes over transfers. Gary just isnt the silent obedient type and accept the players mendes throws at him.

As always, thanks for this insightful post zark.

My man gary. always full of heart and passion. which is sorely lacking right now at his beloved club. but hope you succeed

Was in the utd lineup due to his friendship with beckham.
No further remarks needed.

Well it's true that with Barça, Sevilla and Atlético in the Copa they have very little chance of winning it, but they need to try.

This week the 2nd leg of the quarter finals will be played, and the semis will take place over the next 2 weeks. So I think it's worth trying reach the final because, even if they have a weaker team than their opponents, they are strong enough to beat anyone if they play at their best level (look at how both Madrid and Barça dropped points against them). They just need to focus on this for the next 3 weeks. They might be wasting thier time, but it would only be a couple of weeks for the chance of winning a huge prize (given the current circumstances, reaching the final would be a huge success). So it's worth taking a shot at it imo, even if odds are against them.

After the semifinals, they'll have to choose between a deep EL run or trying to finish in the top 7, perhaps depending on what their league position is and if they reached the Copa final or not. The final is played at the end of season btw.

Their biggest mistake was lettin emery go.

Regardless of who they meet in copa they're out, imo they wont even proceed with the current tie.

Probably, but with just 3 weeks to waste it's worth trying to reach the final. Nobody will blame them if they don't make it, but if they do then it will make things much easier for Neville as the atmosphere of pessimism and negativity will fade.

Sacking Emery was definetely a mistake though. Just like with QSF. They were the 3rd best team in Spain... I cant understand how the fans could demand for more; it's retarded, really.

Lost home against arguably the weakest team in Primera

They have to play Barça in the Copa semis... sounds impossible but they have to try and pull it off.

poor gary? more like poor valencia...

Good thing la liga is a bit of a joke anyway, a good laugh if anything.