Chapter Eleven: Lessons Being Learned, Part II

Back in late October, I dedicated a blog post to the experience of a certain David Moyes as manager of San Sebastian's Real Sociedad CF, and the lessons that we, as ERASMUS students living and working abroad, could take from this particular episode. I extensively quoted Guillem Balague, Sky's Spanish football expert, who was critical of Moyes' failure to fully adapt to the unique culture of the city, and also that he didn't help himself by failing to learn the language sufficiently. In the same piece, Balague also commended another Brit working in La Liga- Philip Neville at Valencia- for stepping out of his comfort zone and being willing to learn. Despite some linguistic teething-problems, -he meant to say he was 'running on the beach', google the rest- Neville had impressed throughout the August 2015 pre-season as Valencia's assistant coach.

By the time December rolled around, Los Che were in crisis. Valencia's brilliantly named head coach Nuno Espirito Santo had been sacked, with the team in serious danger of missing out on the lucrative riches of the Champions League. Valencia supporters could be forgiven for thinking it couldn't get any worse. Little did they know...

Upon leaving the gym one Wednesday afternoon, I checked my phone only to nearly drop it in shock- the headline read 'Gary Neville leaves punditry role at Sky Sports to become Valencia head coach alongside younger brother Phil.' I had to read it multiple times for it to sink in. Gary Neville? Managing his first club? In Spain? AT VALENCIA? Needless to say, the reaction among the Spanish press was almost as universally negative as the recent reviews for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.  'A huge gamble', screamed  Marca, a far cry from Super Deporte's 'Neville, yes we can' (written like that). One paper even referred to the new gaffer as Scottish.

Supporters were incredulous. How, they said, could a famous ex-player with no top level coaching experience, who worked as a TV analyst and who doesn't speak the language walk into the fourth biggest club in Spain as if it were the easiest thing in the world? Moreover, Neville didn't make a great start when he said 'I'm here to learn and make the best I can of this experience.' Sounds fine, but when put through the mouth of an interpreter, Valencia's notoriously fickle fans believed that their new gaffer saw their club as simply a stepping stone to greater things. Needless to say, they were less than impressed- was he just coming in to test the water? Had he just got the job for being chummy with the owner, Peter Lim? (The answer to that second question being emphatically yes, by the way.)

After three months it's all over, following a terrible run of just three wins from his 16 league matches in charge. Neville's relationship with the fans had deteriorated dramatically, something not helped by his struggling to get to grips with the language, (outside of him being heard screaming 'pasa la puta pelota' at his players) and an almost scatter-gun policy of team selection. He admittedly wasn't helped by poor performances from key players at key moments (I'm looking at you, Alvaro Negredo) and a 7-0 thrashing at the Camp Nou at the hands of my beloved team, but three wins in three months is not good enough for a club the size of Valencia. When he took over, Los Che were 5 points off the coveted fourth Champions League spot. He has left with them 20 points adrift. In the cold light of day, it's easy to see how this experiment failed.

As the Telegraph's Sam Wallace puts it: 'It's been a good experience for him, but not necessarily for the Valencia fans. For all the bravery he's shown in taking on a club of that size, if we were to reverse the situation, with a rookie Spanish manager coming over to England, who didn't speak English and was effectively parachuted in ahead of other English managers, then Gary Neville would probably be one of the first in line to say "What's going on?" He didn't give himself enough of a chance to succeed. Sometimes you need to do more than just back yourself. There's being brave, and then there's overstretching yourself.'

Me when I set my students homework...

However, Henry Winter of The Times commends Neville on his approach: 'Anyone who has met Gary Neville will know that this is a tough character. He will bounce back. He'll use this experience in the right way, however painful it has been, and I wish this current generation of young English coaches would go out, gamble and take these chances. At least he took a risk in a professional capacity. It hasn't worked out but he will use the experience. We should celebrate that rather than dancing on his managerial grave. Had he not taken the job, he said he would never have been able to look his colleagues in the eye again.'

The words of the both of them serve to teach me a lesson, and also to remind me why I'm here. Firstly, had I not decided to take the plunge and head off to Granada, then I feel my credibility as a motivated and driven Modern Languages student would have been irreparably damaged. I feel that I wouldn't have been able to look my tutors in the eye throughout my final year, and this was a huge factor in pushing me towards Spain. It was absolutely crucial, in hindsight, that I was prepared to take the risk and learn what I can from the experience, when it came to linguistic practice, cultural competence and my own understanding of what I was capable of achieving.

Also, much like Neville, I realised that the opportunity to gain work experience in a foreign country was truly unmissable, and it's given me plenty of food for thought. What I'm trying to say is that when we look closer at the reasons why Neville took the job at Valencia, there are myriad parallels that we, as language students, can draw that will help us to better articulate why we are here, doing what we're doing. At the outset I was scared, I'll admit. But now, with only two months remaining of this adventure, I for once feel prepared. Hopefully I won't jynx anything but I finally feel as if my Spanish has come on in leaps and bounds, although in true granadino style, I've stopped saying the letter 's'. I've also drafted something that looks vaguely like a dissertation title over the easter break, beginning to look ahead to returning at the end of September.

'How many was it, Gary?'

Ultimately, when I consider all of the above, it becomes clear that this whole experience is a win-win situation. Thinking back to Christmas 2014, when I was agonising over the decision of whether to take on the challenge or not, it feels like a lifetime ago. Choosing the more difficult option has undoubtedly changed me for the better. The big take-away is this: always be prepared to push yourself, in whatever walk of life that may be. It will not always be easy, but if it were easy then it wouldn't be worth doing. It wouldn't challenge you, or make you an even better version of yourself than you already are.

I believe that things aren't always as black and white as they appear. It's very easy these days to dub oneself a success or failure depending on past experience, and I believe the fear of 'failure' is what holds us all back sometimes. It's not the end of the world to admit you've made a mistake. I'm a firm believer in second chances in all walks of life, be that with work, academia, friends, relationships, you name it. There will always be another chance to try again, to make amends. You just need to be prepared to go away, learn where and how you went wrong and then be patient when you return. It may come tomorrow, next week or a year from now. But when that next opportunity comes around we have to be brave, take a chance and grab it while we can.

So if in doubt, challenge yourself. If you don't buy a ticket, you'll never win the lottery.


'You see teams go to the Camp Nou and get beat 5, 6, 7-0. Barcelona are a good side, well, a great side. But if I were ever involved with a team that got beat 7-0  there I wouldn't be able to look my family in the eye anymore.' Gary Neville, 15th April 2014 on Sky Sports

'We can only say sorry to the supporters and the many people who work every day for this club.'
Gary Neville, 4th February 2016, after experiencing the aforementioned result.

*The quotes in this blog are taken from BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, from the 31st March 2016. Well worth a listen for any fellow followers of The Beautiful Game out there.