Nuno gone. But Valencia are still confused

When in July 2014 Nuno Espirito Santo entered through the revolving door that is the managerial hot seat at Valencia FC he became the fifth coach in two years at the Mestalla.

Now he too has gone, the latest incumbent to fall on his sword despite having taken the club back into the Champions League following a season that saw ‘Los Ches’ equal their record of 77 points achieved when Rafa Benitez’s side won the title back in 2004.

This has always been a club where the fans’ expectations are disproportionately high, but this time there is much more to the departure of the Portuguese, Sao Tome born former goalkeeper than meets the eye.

A desire to make too many changes, too quickly – a common mistake made by young coaches and he has just started and will definitely be a big one with experience – and an unwillingness or inability to inform the players of his plans and take them with him have cost him.

That said his record during his tenure at the Mestalla stands up against that of anyone and he even has a higher win percentage than Unai Emery during his four year at the club.

Ultimately it is the team’s performances that will be cited as the main reason for Nuno’s departure with a below par Champions League campaign and some fairly insipid displays at home, but that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

In the eyes of many, top league football has always been a business, but in the view of many of the fans, this is a Valencia business where the controlling interests are not necessarily working in the best interests of the club.

At the helm is the billionaire Singapore businessman, Peter Lim and super-agent, Jorge Mendes, his bedfellow of choice when tip-toeing through the minefield that is the football transfer market.

To date there are no fewer than ten Mendes players in situ at the Mestalla, as well as Nuno who is also represented by Mendes.

To be fair to Lim who has put something in the region of 200 million euros into the club, you could never accuse him of not putting his money where his mouth is. He first loaned the club the money to buy the players through Meriton Holdings, a company owned by himself and Mendes.

The problem is where, and on who, that money was spent because in the opinion of many of the fans, the Mendes players that have been bought are overpaid, overpriced and overrated. More significantly they are now owned by Valencia and worth neither what they cost, nor what they earn.

The departure of Nicolas Otamendi to Manchester City and the subsequent arrival of Aymen Abdennour and Aderlan Santos from Monaco and Braga respectively has not yet proved to be good business for anyone at the club except Mendes who represents all three players.

The fans have seen enough and not surprisingly the fall-guy here had to be Nuno. His decision to jump before he was actually pushed had already been taken prior to his side’s defeat at Sevilla. The talk coming out of the boardroom is that Nuno’s replacement, whoever that might be, will not be a Mendes man.

It comes against a backdrop of discontent following the departure in the summer of Amadeo Salvo, the former executive President of a then embattled, cash-strapped Valencia FC and former director of football, Francisco Rufete.

Salvo was seen by many as the man who saved Valencia from ruination when he sold the fans the idea that it was a straight choice of a deal with Peter Lim or bankruptcy. Now however the feeling of many is that the control enjoyed by Lim and Mendes is excessive.

In the short term Phil Neville will take control of the team for the club’s upcoming Copa del Rey match against Barakaldo. Unfortunately as he still hasn’t got all the necessary badges he will do so in tandem with the club delegate, Salvador Voro who does.

As for what happens then, your guess is as good as mine. What is certain is that this is far from being settled and not just about football but also about who owns Valencia FC.