I'd said for a while I wanted to manage a team, I'd been coaching at Ajax for a while, assisted Zwolle and my legacy as a player is oxf*rd solid. So yeah, the offer came through, I know I said I wouldn't mind starting in the Championship or League One, but y'know, I meant a big club, like Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, maybe even Sheffield United. oxf*rd Reading. I wasn't convinced.
Yeah. Reading. Greaaattttt.
I took the job, reluctantly. I can buy some players but there isn't that much money here, a few dutch freebies perhaps. I thought long and hard about it.
Joey Van den Berg, he hasn't let me down. He's also free. Free is good.
There's also this Mendes kid from France. I brought him partly for the lolz, since he keeps falling over his own legs, like this Jimmy Kebe legend of theirs. He also scored a few goals when they threw him up top. Can't be any worse than this inconsistent Hal Robson-Kanu trash they used to have. I mean, how many games did he play well? Exactly.
I saw we had a couple of bids come in for Tshibola, Norwich were pretty disrespectful with what they were offering, but I guess they were trying to unsettle him. Eventually Aaron came up to me and said wanted to move, he heard Aston Villa wanted him and he had a better chance of going up with them. We sat down to talk, "don't go" I said, "we'll build the team around you" I said, but he wanted out. I just couldn't convince him.
Brian let him go eventually, still, over £5million. It's not a bad deal really. I hoped I'd get some of it to spend.
I threw myself into the job, I want to emulate the Dutch style of play, which really making sure the coaches understood my philosophy.
Then Anssi joined, he's a good kid. Sander worked with him at Ajax Cape Town, should be able to give Ali a bit of a kick up the arse.
Brian pulled Swift out of the bag, some clubs in the Championship were still trying to get him as he was signing the contract. Dead happy with that. Looks a talent.
Then I was able to reinvest some of the cash we got from Aaron though in a dutch international from Hertha. Was on the Beerens that night, you get me?
Brian even managed to help me get in a youth player from PSG. Bit of a coup there, Meite happy about that. "Feed the Yak and he will score" the say, although he might need a bit of time to get his fitness up and he's a young lad, so I'll play down the pressure on him.
So that's it, I've got my squad shaping up nicely. I had a few days and pre-season coming to a close to mull over what to do for the first game. It's definitely going to be 4-3-3, we're just a little threadbare in places, defence, striker, and a bit of depth. Couple of injuries aren't helping either, do we really have to start Rakels?
So I had it. My perfect team for the opening day. Then Oliver Norwood said he wanted to leave. What the oxf*rd. You've got to be oxf*rd kidding me right?
What is it with these little shits? I wanted to karate chop his agent. oxf*rd oxf*rd, messing up my plans for the Preston game at the last minute.
So we sent him to Brighton. Nice one Brian.
Anyway, I sat down and had a another think about it, now there's a gap in midfield. I expected to start Swift and Williams with Ollie. Should I go with Evans? I pictured him being a bit more box-to-box, although he has some of his traits. Maybe Kelly, although it's a lot of pressure to start him on the first game, decisions decisions.
Eventually, I settled on Evans, he's a good kid, he'll do us proud. Last minute I brought in Callum Harriott from Charlton. Left winger, a bit like Gilkesy. Run run run run run run Ainsley. And that was that, with one final rallying cry I sent them on their way.
and you know what? First game down it started alright. We got the win, and more importantly it was a good performance. The lads listened to me and some of my philosophy came through. It's a start, but what more could I have wanted for my first game?
COME AT ME CHAMPIONSHIP.
