The dismissal of Javi
Grace as coach of the Valencia
marks the eleventh movement on the club's bench in the six and a half years that Peter
Lim He has been the club's maximum shareholder, although in reality there is one more movement that has already advanced this trend to the relays.
Paradoxically, the coach who has lasted the longest in this stage of Meriton at the club is Marcelino García Toral, with whom he starred in the worst confrontation and whose departure has been the most notorious of all because he involved blowing up a successful project.
The name that is repeated the most in this series of movements is that of Salvador González ‘Voro’ to whom Lim will entrust the team for the fifth time and who had already assumed the role of ‘fire extinguisher’ a couple of times before the arrival of the investor. It will therefore be the seventh time that he has to roll up his sleeves to redirect the team.
Lim formalized the purchase of Valencia in autumn 2014 but had already advanced it in the previous spring, seven years ago now. As a result of this pre-purchase, the then president of the club, Amadeo Salvo, decided to dispense with Juan Antonio Pizzi in July 2014, despite both he and the sports director Francisco Rufete being happy with their work, to hire Nuno Espírito Santo a 'recommendation' of the future owner.
The first dismissal with Lim's official signature was precisely the coach sponsored by Jorge Mendes, whom he fired after the thirteenth day of the 2015-16 campaign. She was replaced by Voro one game, Gary Neville (who recently recognized his surprise that they put him in front of the team without having any experience) and Pako Ayestarán from England. Those are the first three moves.
In 2016-17 three more arrive. Voro replaced the dismissed Ayestarán for a couple of days and the club hired Cesare Prandelli, who after eight games and not feeling supported by the club resigned. Again the club had to lay hold of Voro.
With Mateu Alemany, two years and a single movement
The arrival at the club of Mateu Alemany as general manager opens a period of stability. Two years and a single movement: the hiring of Marcelino García Toral. The Asturian led the club back to the Champions League and led him to the conquest of the Copa del Rey in 2019, but disagreements with Lim over the club's sports policy ended with his dismissal in September of that year and the arrival of Albert Celades. They are the seventh and eighth movements.
In last season's de-escalation, the Catalan was dismissed and once again Voro finished the campaign starring in the ninth coaching relay. The arrival of Javi Gracia last summer was the tenth change on the bench and now his departure and the return of Voro is the eleventh. Twelfth if you count the replacement of Pizzi by Nuno that he already urged although he was not yet the owner of the club.