Fans are openly questioning his involvement and the atmosphere in the Mestalla Stadium is becoming increasingly hostile with fans whistling and jeering underfire coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
There were chants of "Nuno go now" and others of "mercenaries" directed at the Valencia players following the 0-0 draw against newly-promoted Real Betis on Saturday.
The result left Valencia with just one win from four La Ligamatches and they also suffered a home defeat by Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League last week.
Such antipathy may appear exaggerated at such an early stage of the season and Valencia fans are known for their hastiness in turning against coaches but this time the causes of their anger appear to run deeper than just results on the pitch.
A growing number doubt the credentials of Nuno to be coach and believe he was put in place due to his friendship with so called "super-agent" Jorge Mendes, one of Lim's close business contacts.
Many also feel former coach Juan Antonio Pizzi was unfairly shown the door in July, 2014, which Valencia stated at the time was done to facilitate the sale of the club.
Nuno, a goalkeeper in his playing days, was one of the first players to be represented by Mendes in the mid-1990s, negotiating a deal that took him from Vitoria Guimaraes to Deportivo La Coruna, and he continues to manage his affairs today.
There have been whistles in previous matches but against Betis they were markedly more audible.
"The crowd showed they are unhappy and it showed to me who has overall responsibility for the team,” Nuno told a news conference afterwards.
"I am concentrating on my work and I won’t comment on what is speculation.”
MODEST HISTORY
Despite a modest coaching history at Rio Ave in Portugal, Nuno was given the job of bringing about Lim’s ambition of making Valencia one of the top sides in Europe.
Lim is rarely seen at the Mestalla and his stance of always being in the background has only helped to reinforce an air of mystery about him although he has had some previous involvement in football which has included him holding third-party ownership of players.
He has also invested in English minor league club Salford City with several "Class of 92" Manchester United players including Phil Neville, now one of Nuno’s coaching assistants.
Lim’s business interests also extend to Cristiano Ronaldo’s image rights after a deal with the Real Madrid forward, also represented by Mendes, was signed by Media Mint, another company owned by the Singaporean.
Under Lim, Valencia are back among Europe's elite and are looking to move into a new stadium in 2019, but some claim they overpaid for players like Rodrigo Moreno, Alvaro Negredo and Joao Cancelo who arrived for a reported combined total of 77 million euros ($85.75 million).
A former vice-president of the club Miguel Zorio has said he will present a paper to a supporters meeting on Thursday alleging mismanagement of the club's finances.
"The fans are starting to realise the situation and people are coming to me who are not happy," Zorio told Reuters on Tuesday.
A Valencia spokesman declined to comment on the current situation when asked by Reuters on Tuesday.
($1 = 0.8980 euros)
(Editing by Mike Collett)
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