Valencia great Vicente Guillot admits he's been won over by coach Rino Gattuso this season.

The Italian arrived at VCF in the summer, having been out of the game for over a year. Moves to Fiorentina and Tottenham collapsed during the period and his appointment at the Mestalla by club owner Peter Lim was met with some skepticism.

Guillot admits he was among those to initially question Gattuso's appointment. But much like the Valencia support and the wider Spanish football fanbase, he's now convinced Lim chose right in turning to the former Napoli and AC Milan coach.

He told Tribalfootball.com: "Funnily enough, I didn't initially think Gattuso would be of help to the players of Valencia CF, technically, given that he had been a tough nut rather… than a technically skilful footballer, in his days as a player in Italy.

"But I'll tell you something… Gattuso has really surprised me. Valencia CF has sold off players left, right and centre and he's taken over an almost unknown squad and made them into a good squad. Valencia CF have lost matches under him that they deserved to win and therefore Valencia now deserve to be higher up La Liga table too."

For what he's working with, Gattuso has Guillot's approval and the former wing wizard admits he's enjoyed the fiery Italian's touchline antics - which have already gone viral around the world on social media.

He laughed: "I like him, I think he's a doing a great job. He's given a lot of character to the team on the pitch.

"Gattuso kicked a fridge on the touchline when Valencia played up in Pamplona but he didn't break his foot because it's so strong and solid from all that tackling over the years!"

With the La Liga set to resume after the World Cup break, Valencia sit tenth on the table, five points away from the top four.