Published: 03:00 EDT, 1 May 2024 | Updated: 03:12 EDT, 1 May 2024

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Gary Neville has revealed the FA once saw him as a future England boss and were lining him up to take over from Roy Hodgson after he took his ill-fated role with Valencia.

The Sky Sports pundit has only managed one club in his career after a brief spell the LaLiga team but he only lasted less than four months in the job after a disastrous period that saw him win just three of his 16 league games.

Neville's stock had been high before he took the Valencia job having also worked under Hodgson as an England first team coach, and the 49-year-old claimed FA director Dan Ashworth felt his first role in management was 'perfect' for him to eventually succeed the veteran coach as the next Three Lions boss.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, he said: 'I've never said this publicly, but I remember getting the Valencia job in December, and Dan Ashworth rang me and said this was the perfect move for me to be on that next step for when Roy Hodgson decided he wanted to leave the England job, for me to take over.

'I always remember that phone call and him saying this was the perfect opportunity, but I look back now, and it was right that I failed in the job because I didn't put the work in. With how my work ethic is now, I needed to fail to have that slap in the face moment, for me to get back to it, which is where I am now.'

Gary Neville has revealed he was once lined up by the FA to become a future England boss

]]]]>]]>The Man United legend would win just ten of his 28 games in all competitions with a win percentage of 35 per cent before he was replaced by his assistant coach Pako Ayesteran for the rest of the season.

After his horror spell, which included a 7-0 thumping by Barcelona, Neville remained with England and worked with the England squad for Euro 2016, which also ended in disaster as the team were dumped out by Iceland in the last 16 - with Hodgson quickly resigning after.

Sam Allardyce was picked as his replacement - before Gareth Southgate eventually succeeded him - with Neville returning to his role as a Sky Sports pundit.

Neville, who also coached England at the 2014 World Cup, said he never wanted to become a coach after hanging up his boots in 2011 and only took the Valencia job because of his friendship with the club's owner Peter Lim.

He revealed three clubs who approached him for an interview but said he rejected them to focus on his career in media and business.

Neville worked under Hodgson for four years but insists he never wanted to be a manager

'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,' he added.

'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.

'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.'