Tony Adams' Granada appointment is not Gary Neville 2.0... He's a company man trusted to be the Chinese owners' touchline lieutenant

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Tony Adams has landed a surprise return to football management as head coach of struggling Spanish club Granada.

The 50-year-old former Arsenal and England captain was named as the club's sporting director last week. But following the sacking of Lucas Alcaraz, he has been asked to step in until the end of the season to steer the team away from relegation. 

It's not quite Gary Neville to Valencia 2.0 but Adams' appointment does have many similarities with last season's arrival of his old England team-mate at the Mestalla. 

Former Arsenal captain Tony Adams is the surprise appointment as manager of Granada

Adams is closely linked to Jiang Lizhang the president of Granada's ownership company

Adams has replaced Lucas Alcaraz (pictured) who was sacked after the 3-1 defeat by Valencia

Granada are in even more trouble than Valencia. With seven games left they are seven points from safety. 

Both clubs have been bought by overseas investors, and just as Neville was close to Valencia's Singaporean billionaire owner Peter Lim, Adams' arrival at Granada stems from his friendship with DDMC Football Club Management Company president Jiang Lizhang. 

But Adams is seen as a company man stepping into the breach, rather than a rookie risking his reputation on one of the hardest jobs in Spanish football.

Arriving at the club in November, Adams was not impressed by the coaching set-up, but Alcaraz was given the benefit of the doubt. 

Gary Neville's stint as Valencia manager turned sour as the Englishman struggled to get results

GRANADA'S LA LIGA FIXTURES 

*Granada's La Liga run-in 

Granada vs Celta Vigo - 16/04/2016

Sevilla vs Granada - 21/04/16

Granada vs Malaga - 25/04/16

Real Sociedad vs Granada - 29/04/16 

Granada vs Real Madrid - 07/05/16

Osasuna vs Granada - 14/05/16

Granada vs Espanyol - 21/05/16 

But supporters turned on the team when they lost 3-1 at home against Valencia on Sunday. Alcaraz was gone within hours, having lost 14 and won four of his 24 games. 

If Adams saves the club from the drop he could stay on, but it could also see him take a management job in England if DDMC succeed in attempts to buy an English club — Crystal Palace have been considered.

As with Neville's arrival in Spain, the first reaction has been positive because of his fantastic playing career. There is respect for the 14 seasons he captained Arsenal, even if previous stints in management at Wycombe, Portsmouth and Azerbaijan club Gabala far from reached those heights.

Adams has had a nomadic coaching career that has seen take jobs in Azerbaijan and China

How long the good feeling lasts will depend on results. They play Celta Vigo this weekend, then Sevilla, Malaga and Real Sociedad before a home game against Real Madrid on May 7. 

Granada have three players on loan from the Premier League: Victorien Angban and Jeremie Boga from Chelsea, and Andreas Pereira from Manchester United.

But chaos reigns at Granada as their position in the table suggests. They signed 17 players in the summer and have a United Nations of team-mates who can struggle for a common language.

And they are on their third coach this season: Paco Jemez was axed after six games.

It is into his chaos that Adams has been parachuted. His remit was to find a new sporting director. He must now find one of those and a new coach — unless he does so well that fans at the small but noisy Los Carmenes stadium start singing for him to stay in charge.

Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira has been a bright spark for Granada this season