Friday 25 December 2015 19:08, UK
Gary Neville's "tremendous" football knowledge made him a natural choice to become Valencia head coach, according to the club's owner Peter Lim.
Neville and Singaporean businessman Lim were already very well acquainted with one another prior to the England coach's arrival at the Mestalla, with the pair both co-owners of Evo-Stik Northern Premier League side Salford City.
But Lim was keen to emphasise that his friendship with Neville is incidental and that the former Manchester United captain's appointment at Valencia was based purely on merit.
"I picked Gary not because he is a good friend," Lim said
"Gary is a good coach and he happened to be a good friend so I think that has to be very clear to everybody that I look at him as somebody who has got the potential.
"I knew him for a while. His football knowledge is tremendous. He was a top pundit in the UK. I chose him because of his knowledge of football.
"I am very confident about him. The only shortfall is maybe the language but I believe he can overcome it, because he is a very determined person.
"I think it suited me and it suits the club very well [having Gary as interim head coach for the rest of the season]. He will see us through this period and we will take it from there.
"I know a lot of people say he has never been a [head] coach but I believe he has got the ability to be a good coach."
