Gary Neville has explained why he turned down offers to interview at three different clubs, including Newcastle, after they made an approach during his time at Sky Sports.
The former Manchester United full-back is regarded by many as one of football's best pundits. In fact, he was recently named Britain's favourite pundit with 13.42% of the vote.
Neville made his debut on Monday Night Football at the start of the 2011/12 campaign, when he memorably stepped up to interview Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini after a 4-0 win against Swansea.
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And he's flourished ever since alongside the likes of Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards and Roy Keane. But things could have been very different for the former England international.
Speaking on the latest episode of Stick To Football – brought to you by Sky Bet – Neville opened up on being invited to interview at Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and Derby in recent years.
He began: “I took the Valencia job purely because I knew the owner and I felt like I owed him something and I was loyal to him, he believed in me in terms of the business.
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"I’ve been asked by Middlesbrough for an interview, Newcastle and Derby asked to speak to me, all in the previous three years I had been on Sky, and I said no to every offer because it wasn’t what I wanted to be.
“I had started my businesses and my media career, so I didn’t want to be a coach and I had said no to Newcastle, which came from someone at Sky who had a contact at Newcastle as they wanted to speak to me, which was the same with Middlesbrough, and I’m not saying that would have got me the job but it could have."
He added: “When I first came out of football, in those first two years on television, I knew every player, I knew football inside and out and I felt like I could communicate the game well, which is different now 10 years later as I’ve distanced myself from the game, but I didn’t want to be a manager and I didn’t want to be a coach, and I said no to Peter Lim [Valencia CF owner] the first time, but he said that he really wanted me to do it.
"I signed on a five-month contract, and I didn’t last that time because it became impossible for Peter, for me and for everyone.”
Neville went on to explain how his short spell in La Liga with Valencia taught him how to say no.
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“By the time I was manager of Valencia, I had done my UEFA B license which was when I was 31," he added.
"I had done my UEFA A license at 34 whilst I was still at Manchester United, and I had done my UEFA Pro license at 37, so I was fully qualified and could sit on the bench for any team in Europe.
“I said at the time that if you do your coaching badges, it will help with your punditry and it does for a period because you’re talking about the game with 20 other coaches doing their badges. Despite doing the badges, I didn’t want to go into a managerial role because I was enjoying the media side.
“The lessons from Valencia were massive for me about saying no. At the time, I said yes to a couple things that came my way, and the one with Peter at Valencia was purely to do him a favour.”
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/The Overlap - Getty ImagesTopics: Gary Neville, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Derby, Premier League, EFL Championship