BT Sports presents “An Englishman Abroad”

[STFCDP1990]

Part One

The camera pans round a canal, in the background we can see that the canal runs through a city, and people are riding bikes along the canal. Jake Humphry stands in front of the canal, and the camera focuses on him.

“Good Evening, and welcome to our show. There have been a number of Dutch managers who have graced the Premier League, but few English managers have graced the Eredivisie. Top names such as Ruud Gullit, Guus Hiddink, Martin Jol and Rene Meulensteen have all at some point managed an English club, but only Bobby Robson and Steve McClaren have managed a Dutch club, until this season.” Jake Humphrey told the camera.

“Tonight you join me in Amsterdam, famous for many things, some less reputable than others!” Jake accompanied his last sentence with a sly smile.

“Amsterdam is home to the mighty Ajax, famous for bringing us players such as Johann Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Edgar Davids, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Kluivert to name but a few. Ajax is known worldwide for its fantastic youth set-up, with the club frequently placing it’s faith in young players, harnessing their talent and giving them a chance in their first team. Now it appears that the club are looking towards young and talented managers to bring through.”

The location has changed, and now the camera focuses on the Amsterdam ArenA. Jake Humphry pushes open a door and walks through to be greeted by a youthful looking man in a club tracksuit. The pair shake hands.

“The man we will be talking to tonight is Ajax’s new, young English manager David Pierce. David, thank you for agreeing to talk to us.”

“It’s my pleasure.” David replies.

The pair walk away from the camera, the camera follows them down the corridor, where David and Jake stop outside of a room. The sign on the door reads “Manager’s Office”, David pushes the door open and they all walk in. David sits behind a big wooden desk, and Jake takes the seat on the other side, the walls are covered with pieces of paper, photos and medals.

“So, David how does it feel to be the only current English manager in the Eredivisie?”

“To be fair I’ve had a lot to live up to when you consider who I’m following in the footsteps of. Bobby Robson and Steve McClaren both made big waves when they were over here, and I’ve got to continue to fly the flag for English managers abroad.”

“There aren’t a lot of English managers overseas are there?”

“Not really, we don’t seem to get the chance overseas, and I don’t understand why. I think people outside of England have a really backdated idea of English managers, I believe that they all think that we love to play hoofball, and that doesn’t fit with their own personal styles. I’m happy to have been given the chance to prove people wrong. Hopefully if I am successful out here then it will open up the door for other English managers to move abroad.”

“So how did the move to Ajax come about? No offence to you David but this is a massive club, and this is your first job in management, it just seems odd that Ajax would take such a risk on such an inexperienced manager.”

“No offence taken, I understand where you are coming from. To be honest with you this all came about because of Marc Overmars. We played together at Arsenal, and have always kept in touch. When Frank De Boer decided to leave, I jokingly texted Marc and threw my hat into the ring. I’d been coaching at Arsenal, and all of a sudden I’ve been invited for an interview, and a day later they offered me the job, obviously I ripped their hands off at a chance to manage Ajax, I mean who wouldn’t want to manage this club?”

“You’ve previously played for Ajax, how does managing them differ to playing for them?”

“There isn’t a great difference between playing and managing, in both roles your main aim is to win. The only difference is that the lads playing, do just that. They play for the club and I stand on the touchline managing them, instructing them how to play. Luckily for me I played under a couple of great managers and I’ve now got the chance to apply what I learnt from them.”

“Do you feel the players respond well to you due to your age?”

“To be fair, they probably do. I’m 34 soon to be 35, and I’m the same age as Christian Poulsen. We do have a very young squad, I believe the average age is 21 years old, and when you compare that to the rest of the division, we have the youngest squad. Being a young manager helps in that sense as, I believe, I can relate better to the players, then say a 50 year old could, not to say that all managers should be my age though. I’m assisted by a 49 year old, and we have plenty of older heads in the backroom staff.”

“Talking about your backroom staff, you have quite a few high profile ex-pros, how do they help?”

“Who Jaap Stam, Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Michael Owen and David Beckham? They don’t do much!” David laughed, “But in all honestly having those guys on the training pitch is brilliant, we have a young squad and the squad looked up to these guys when they were kids, so seeing someone like Jed Wallace working with David Beckham is brilliant. Coaching isn’t all about how to improve physically, there is a need to coach the players mentally, and having these winners in the backroom staff is amazing.”

“How did you get David Beckham to join your backroom staff?”

“He asked me. He has his MLS franchise to set up and he wanted to develop as a coach. My wife and I were having dinner with Victoria and David, and I mentioned about needing another coach, and he persuaded me to take him on. Not that I needed much persuading. He went to the 2010 World Cup with England in a coach role, and the passion the man holds for the beautiful game is inspiring. He kicks every ball, he frequently gets involved in training matches and is just an all-round great influence on the players.”

“Well that’s all we have time for in this segment of the programme, join us after these adverts.” Jake informed the camera.

The cameraman gave everyone the all clear. David took a sip of water from the glass in front of him, and one of the assistant’s handed Jake a piece of paper, Jake looked over the paper, and placed it on his lap, checking with the cameraman that it was out of shot.

[RicardoW]

Ajax story \0/ Waiting a long time for that one.

[STFCDP1990]

They are a fun team to play with!

Part Two

“Welcome back, to any viewers who have just joined us, I am here today with David Pierce, the 34 year old manager of Ajax.”

The camera pans away from Jake’s face and shows the two men sat opposite each other. Over David’s shoulder we can see people working on the pitch.

“You’ve bought in a number of young English players, and it would be fair to say that a few eyebrows were raised when you failed to bring in anyone with experience, do you feel this is a fair judgement?”

At the bottom of the screen a ticker tape lists the players bought in by David, “Alex Mowatt (Leeds), Matt Partridge (Reading), Jed Wallace (Portsmouth), Josh Passley (Fulham), Tariqe Fosu (Reading), Callum Burton (Shrewsbury), Callum Cooke (Middlesbrough), Harry Cardwell (Reading), Joshua Webb (Aston Villa), Diego Contento (FC Bayern).

“No, it’s not a fair judgement. Have you seen the squad I was left by Frank De Boer? That squad could easily walk into any Premier League team and they would do brilliantly. There was no need to bring in ‘experienced’ players. Why have you made a point about saying that I bought in a number of English players?”

“Well it’s the truth.”

“Are you accusing me of a bias towards English players?”

“I suppose it could be taken that way, you have bought in nine English players. Diego Contento is the only non-English player you have signed.”

“And? Managers in the Premier League bring in plenty of non-English players, and no-one bats an eye. I move to Holland and bring in some talented English lads and everyone loses their minds. My transfers were based on scouts reports, these lads were the best and they deserved a chance to join a team like Ajax. I also signed three of those lads from Reading, does that mean I am biased towards Reading? No it doesn’t, it just shows that Reading have a good youth system.”

“Have the board said anything about your transfers?”

“They’ve agreed with each one, of course they have, they signed the cheques! One of the philosophies that the board hold is to give youth a chance, and they like the fact that I am looking around and bringing in young players. They also like the fact that I’m bringing in English lads, they feel that these English lads will help raise our profile in England. If you look at our youth team, we have a wide range of nationalities, but the majority of the lads are Dutch, and that is the way it should be. We are a Dutch club and we should be bringing through more Dutch lads than other nationalities. The Premier League may be one of the best in the world, but what do the individual clubs do to help the national team? Not a lot.”

“So are we going to see an even younger squad next year?”

“There will be plenty of chances for younger players to join the first team and show what they can do. Personally I only like to bring players who are at least 18 in to the first team, but if I have to I will play 16 year olds. I think when you look at Stefano Denswil, you can see why it is important to bring players through at a young age, the lad is 20 and is the first name on my teamsheet. More clubs need to put their faith in younger players, rather than paying bloated transfer fees for older players. Honestly, if clubs spent less on transfer fees and wages then they could make the game more affordable for the average Joe.”

“But why would someone pay for tickets to see young players, when they could pay more and see World-Class players?”

“Are you trying to say that Stefano Denswil isn’t a World-Class player? Younger players are some of the most exciting players out there, look at Cristiano Ronaldo, how old was he when he burst onto the scene? He has set the world alight, and he did that at a young age at Manchester United.”

“I suppose you have a point there David.”

“You suppose I have a point? Of course I have a point. The Premier League is becoming more and more expensive, and no one is trying to do anything about that. When you compare our ticket prices 29 Euros, about £24, compared to Arsenal’s £48 or Chelsea’s £50 or Manchester United’s £40. Our season tickets are also better value, we charge around £394, Arsenal charge £1,390, Chelsea charge £822 and Manchester United charge £750. For the price of a season ticket at Arsenal you could probably buy one for us, and have enough money for flights and accommodation. Yes Arsenal have made it to the final of the Champion’s League, but they are playing Bayern Munich, a team from another country where you get value for money. I suppose what I’m saying is, English teams don’t offer value for money when it comes to tickets, and I feel that is due to their transfers and wages. Sure Bayern and ourselves still pay players well, but we’re realistic, we’ve invested in youth, and that allows us to be fair with our ticketing. I’d probably go as far as to say that due to our investment in youth, that is why Germany, Holland and Spain are the best nations in Europe, and also it is the reason why England have fallen behind.”

“Some people may disagree with you there David…”

“Let them disagree with me, but I am telling you, England will win nothing until the FA does something to encourage teams to invest in proper youth structures. None of this 25 man squad rubbish. Teams need to be told that they have to play 6 players in their match day squads that are eligible to play for England, not players that have been in the country for five years but are going to play for foreign nations.”

“But what about St George’s Park?”

“Waste of money. So the England youth are going to play there. They’ll only play there a couple of times a season, but if the individual clubs did more with their youth set-ups it would be of greater benefit. Look at Manchester City, they are modelling their youth set-up on Barcelona’s amazing La Masia, and when that is up and running it will hopefully force the other teams to wake up and smell the coffee.”

The producer was now screaming in Jake’s earpiece, the segment had over-run, but Jake hadn’t wanted to stop David from talking.

“Please join us after these adverts, when we’ll be talking about Ajax’s season, and David’s first season in management.”

The camera panned over David’s shoulder, and the screen in front of the producer showed the Amsterdam ArenA pitch. A number of assistants rushed about, fetching drinks and snacks for David and Jake. After about ten minutes, the producer signalled for everyone to take their places.

[STFCDP1990]

Part Three:

“Thanks for rejoining us. Tonight I have David Pierce with me, many of you will know him as the 34 year old manager of Ajax. So David, would you care to talk about your first season in management?”

“Sure, that’s what we’re here for isn’t it? We had a productive pre-season, the players worked hard on adjusting to my tactics, we set out two formations at the start of the season, one 442 diamond, and a 4231 formation. Both are very attacking, as we aim to take control of the game from the start and dominate in style. Sure we lost some games in pre-season but the players were still adjusting, and what I saw in pre-season was promising.”

“You picked up your first piece of silverware in August, how did that feel?”

“It was fantastic to get off to a winning start in my managerial debut. We beat AZ in the Super Cup, which is the Dutch version of the Community Shield, a 2-0 victory was a fantastic way to kick the season off, especially when there is a trophy to be collected afterwards.”

“How do you feel the league in August went for you?”

“Well we played five games in August, winning three, drawing one, and losing one. First up were ADO Den Haag, which was my first home game. We beat them 4-1 and I remember being pleased with that result, however it was disappointing to concede a goal, as I felt that the defence had played well enough to keep a clean sheet. Next up were Vitesse, who we dismantled 7-2 Kolbeinn Sigborsson picked up a hat-trick in that match, with Alex Mowatt scoring his first senior goal. Again it was disappointing not to keep a clean sheet, but a win is a win. FC Groningen came after, and this was the first match that we drew, rather disappointingly, as we dominated the match from start to finish. We made up for it in the next match as our defensive work paid off against NEC, as we beat them 3-0 at home, this match bought Jed Wallace his first senior goal, and it showed that our goals would come from any position on the pitch. The last game of the month, was our first defeat, and it was a horrible defeat. SC Heerenveen put us to the sword, and our defence crumbled allowing them to put the ball into the back of our net 6 times. Our attack kept up their good work however as they stuck two in their net.”

“Then there was the international break at the start of September, you only played three league matches in September, thoughts?”

“Our first match after the international break was one to blow off the cobwebs for the players, we played FC Utrecht and drew 2-2, in quite an entertaining match. We then beat Roda JC away from home 2-0, this victory, in my mind kicked off a good run of form, as we took on RKC in our next match and beat them 5-1, we let ourselves down defensively by not keeping a clean sheet, but sometimes you can let things like that go when you put five in their net. Leading onto October, we found ourselves in good form, and in our two league matches, we picked up two victories, as we beat SC Cambuur in a close 2-1 win. If I’m honest I felt we would have done better against SC Cambuur, but I was happy to pick up the three points even if we did scrape it with a late goal. Next up were FC Twente, which was the match that had worried me the most for October, and I believe that we took full advantage of our home crowd, who are fantastic, and they inspired is to a 5-1 victory.”

“A 5-1 victory over Steve McClaren’s old side, did you know that he was in the crowd?”

“No, I had no idea. Not that it would’ve bothered me if I had been aware, the man obviously likes his football, and had taken the opportunity to see someone he worked with as a player take his first steps in management. Steve was one of the first people to contact me when I took the job.”

“Did he warn you against dodgy impersonations?”

David chuckles before answering, “Yes he did actually, so did Joey Barton.”

The two men share a laugh and the producer takes his opportunity to tell Jake to wrap this section up.

“When we come back we’ll hear more about David’s first season in management.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Four

“Welcome back to our programme, David Pierce is talking us through his first season in football management with Ajax. Before the break you had just finished talking about October, so we’ll move onto November, how do you feel November went for you?”

“Again we only played two league matches in November, due to cup competitions, both of our matches were home matches. I love playing at home as it does give you a definite advantage, especially seeing as our fans are just fantastic. Anyway first up were GA Eagles, which bought another 5-1 victory, which took our run of wins to 5 games, confidence was high in the camp at this point, which can sometimes be a worry as you never know what a loss will do to your team. Following the GA Eagles game, we faced Heracles and beat them 3-1, annoyingly we hadn’t been able to keep a clean sheet for 5 games, and I’ll be honest we were torturing the defence and goalkeepers in the hope that they would finally keep a clean sheet. The chairman was quite happy though as he didn’t have to pay any bonuses for clean sheets!

“On a side note, we’ve seen this season that certain managers have had massive fallouts with the chairman of their club, what is your relationship like with Hans Wijers?”

“The man is brilliant, he has the best interests of Ajax in his heart. I’m not just paying lip service, I honestly respect the man more than I’ve ever respected a chairman before, he’s placed his full support in me and I’m so thankful for that.”

“So let’s move onto December…”

“December was, in our standards, a rocky month.”

“A rocky month?”

“Yeah, we have very high standards here and I was disappointed with some of the results. We kicked off the month by beating PSV at their place in a fantastic 2-1 win, which was the best result of the season for me. But then we followed that result with a 4-0 loss at AZ, which frankly was a massive blow, we moved on quickly from that result and beat Zwolle 4-1, which was yet another match where we couldn’t keep a clean sheet. Finishing December off were Feyenoord and we drew 2-2 with them, ending our poor month.”

“You sound frustrated about your team’s inability to keep a clean sheet.”

“I am, as a manager you want to keep clean sheets, as someone who used to be a defender you realise how important clean sheets are. So yeah I have been frustrated this season, but shouting and screaming will get you nowhere, you have to work with the players to help them improve.”

“Shall we take a break from the league and talk about the Dutch Cup?”

“Sure. At the start of the Dutch Cup we decided to play a young squad, and we gave games to those who would be on the fringe of the squad and they rewarded us in the first match as they demolished Hollandia 7-0.”

“We decided?”

“Marc Overmars, Jan Olde Riekerink and myself.”

“Does Marc have a lot of influence over first team matters?”

“He’s employed as Director of Football for a reason, but the final say is mine.”

“Alright then, who came next in the Dutch Cup?”

“Next up were FC OSS, and we played the same line-up as we did in the first match, and our faith was rewarded as we ran out 5-0 victors. Which led us on to Kozakken Boys, who somehow managed to score 2, but we scored 5. In the Quarter Final we faced Sparta, and unfortunately this is where our Dutch Cup ended, Sparta beat us 2-1, despite the loss I was proud of the team we had sent out, as they were a young team and they played well. We’ll probably keep the same philosophy for next season’s Dutch Cup.”

“What about the Champion’s League?”

“We drew quite a tough group, with OM, Anderlecht and FC Porto, and I was happy with our results in the group. We played OM first and drew with them 3-3, next we beat Anderlecht 2-1. FC Porto came next and we beat them 3-1. We seemed to be having the same problem in the Champion’s League as we did in the league as we couldn’t keep a clean sheet. In our second game against FC Porto we beat them 3-2. We also beat OM and Anderlecht 3-2 in our final games against them. We won our group and advanced in a strong form. We drew Atletico Madrid in the First knockout round, and only advanced through on away goals. In our first match against them we played them at their place and drew 3-3 as we came back from 3 goals down. In the second match we allowed them to come back from 2 goals down to draw 2-2 with them. In the Quarter Finals we drew Shakhtar, honestly I would rather forget these matches, we lost the first match 5-0 at their place, and quite frankly it was embarrassing, I had a go at the players after this match, and back at the hotel, and on the coach to the airport, and on the plane, and in arrivals. We had a mountain to climb in the second match, and didn’t make our job any easier as we allowed them to race into a 3 goal lead, meaning we had to score 9 goals to advance through, we scored 2 and we crashed out of the competition.”

“Thanks David, and that ends this part of the programme, join us again after the break where we will be discussing Ajax’s fortunes in January and February.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Five

“Thank you for rejoining us, David you were about to talk about how your Ajax side faired during January…”

“January presented us with four matches and I told the team that we should pick up 12 points in the month, by winning every match. We were sitting pretty at the top of the table and every side was gunning for us. First up came NAC Breda and we travelled to their place full of confidence, what followed was a tough match and we ran out narrow victors in a 2-1 win. Next we travelled to ADO Den Haag where we ran out 6-3 winners in a brilliant match for the neutrals. I’ll be honest this was one match where I didn’t mind not keeping a clean sheet as it was such an entertaining match.”

“Is that a personal philosophy?”

“What playing entertaining football? I suppose it is, I’ve spoken passionately about ticket prices, and I want to make sure those that pay their money should get value for that money. A nine goal thriller is better value than a one goal win. As long as we win, I don’t really mind what the score is. I’d rather score 4 and concede 1 than score 1 and win by that single goal.”

“Do the Ajax board share that view?”

“Yes I believe they do, they’ve never said anything against us wanting to play attractive football, in fact Marc Overmars made it clear that they chairman prefers to see his team playing attractive football. I fully feel the support of the chairman in everything I do, which is why he pulled out the chequebook when I wanted to buy Callum Cooke, Harry Cardwell, Joshua Webb and Diego Contento and is also why he didn’t stop me from selling Jairo Riedewald to Junventus, and Jasper Cillessen to PAOK.”

“So let’s carry on with January…”

“Next up were Vitesse and we welcomed them to the Amsterdam ArenA. Our defence let us down slightly and if hadn’t have been for the attacking side of our team, we would have dropped two points. Luckily we emerged the winners in a match that ended 3-2. We finished up January by welcoming SC Heerenveen, this time we were unable to get the winning goal to take all three points and we ended sharing the spoils in a 0-0 draw.”

“This moves you onto February…”

“The draw against SC Heerenveen led to a poor run of form for us. Our first match in February saw us play FC Groningen, and we managed to get away with a lucky point in a 2-2 draw which saw us twice come back from behind We then travelled to NEC where we again drew 2-2, this time we threw the lead away twice.”

“I’ve got to admit that I love the fact that you consider three draws in a row to be bad form.”

“Well it is, three draws is only three points, whereas if we had won those three games we would have picked up nine points. That is six points dropped.”

“Next up for you were FC Utrecht, how did that game go for you?”

“That game showed a massive improvement in form as we beat them 4-0, it was our first match at home in two games, and I personally feel that we won the match due to being back at home.”

“So do the fans have an influence on the team?”

“Of course they do, they are the twelve man and without them we wouldn’t have a sport.”

“I bet they’ll be pleased to hear that.”

“Anyway, after the FC Utrecht match we played RKC at their place, and we emerged 3-0 winners, which was our second clean sheet in a row, so the defence were over the moon with their own efforts. Roda JC were the last team we played in February and we made it three clean sheets in a row as we beat them 2-0.”

“When we come back from the break, we will be discussing the end to Ajax’s season, and asking David about his plans for the future.”

[Jibby123]

Very original and nice slant on how to follow a career. Nice one and well written STFCDP1990. Following.

[STFCDP1990]

Thanks! This has been a very enjoyable story to write!

Part Six

“Welcome back, joining me is David Pierce, and we are now entering the final leg of Ajax’s season, David would you care to tell us about March?”

“We started March by hosting SC Cambuur and were dealt a cruel kick as they scored a late equaliser to hold us to a 1-1 draw, the SC Cambuur keeper played an absolute blinder. Next came a visit to FC Twente, where yet another late equaliser held us to a 1-1 draw. I wasn’t feeling too confident about the visit of Feyenoord after the previous two results, and I was presently surprised to beat them 3-1, as we dominated the match from start to finish, yet our inability to keep a clean sheet struck again, disappointingly. Then the wheels fell off of our season.”

“The wheels fell off?”

“Yeah, we hit an atrocious patch of form, as we lost 3-2 to GA Eagles away from home, with GA Eagles scoring a late goal to pick up all three points. Luckily we were still four points ahead of PSV. NAC Breda came here, to the Amsterdam ArenA, and beat us by a single goal, which was scored, cruelly, in the 89th minute, luckily elsewhere PSV had only managed to draw which put them three points behind us. We then entered April, and ‘Squeeky bum time’. Heracles were our first opponents of April and they soundly beat us 3-2, PSV also lost that day and we clung on to the top spot. PSV were the next visitors to the Amsterdam ArenA, and this game had been billed as the game that would decide the season, and for the neutrals it had everything, as we narrowly lost in a 7 goal thriller. PSV dominated from start to finish and we were lucky to score three.”

“How did you feel at that point of the season?”

“Terrified. Honestly terrified, I was scared that we were going to throw away all of our hardwork.”

“It’s refreshing to hear a manager talk so honestly.”

“Thank you. AZ came next and they took the lead early on in the game, and we were lucky to come back to draw the game. Elsewhere PSV had won which put them two points ahead of us. So we entered the last game of the season with it all to do. We really had to rely on other results. If PSV drew or lost and we won then we would win the title, if we drew or lost, or if PSV won then we would hand them the title on a plate. PSV hosted Roda JC and we travelled to Zwolle. I made it clear to everyone that I didn’t want to be told about the PSV result, and I didn’t want the players to be told as they didn’t need the distractions. So we took to the pitch against Zwolle, and the players went crazy, in a good way, as they fired 6 goals past the Zwolle keeper, in response Zwolle scored 1. This result meant that if Roda managed to hold PSV to a draw then we would win the league on goal difference, and after an agonising wait in the changing rooms, the news filtered through that Roda had managed to beat PSV.”

“Handing you the title!”

“Yep, the celebrations were wild. We emerged from the changing rooms onto the pitch to collect the trophy and we were greeted by every Ajax fan that had travelled for the match, the stewards had tried in vain to remove them from the pitch but there was no way that they were going to move. Picking up that trophy was a fantastic feeling, and definitely one I want to repeat in the future.”

“Talking of the future, what does the future hold for David Pierce?”

“Well I’m 34 years old, I’ve got a long career ahead of me, and I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”

“Will you still be with Ajax this time next season?”

“I’ve no idea why I would leave this club.”

“What if a bigger club came along?”

“Who is bigger than Ajax? Someone from the Premier League? Sure maybe if Arsenal came in for me, I would consider it. Real Madrid would be a dream come true. But those are the only two teams that would turn my head, and even then the offer would have to be damned brilliant for me to leave.”

“What about if David Beckham asked you to go and manage his MLS franchise?”

“Sure that would be an interesting proposition, and if Becks asked me to consider it, then I would. But I have still got trophies to win with Ajax, I want to get my hands on the Dutch Cup and I want to get my hands on the Champion’s League.”

“So are those the aims for the next few years?”

“They sure are, and I’m hoping to achieve them sooner rather than later.”

“Well thank you David, we wish you all the best for the future. That is all we have time for, thank you for joining us tonight. Hopefully we’ll be back next year to talk to David about his second year in management.”

The camera pans away from Jake’s face, and points out of the window, where the sun is setting over Amsterdam.

[STFCDP1990]

BT Sports presents “An Englishman Abroad: Season Two”

Part One:

“Well another season has past, and you join me back with David Pierce, our Englishman Abroad. Last time we spoke to David he was the title winning manager of Dutch Giants Ajax. Tonight we join him at his home.”

The camera cuts from Jake Humphry’s face, and reveals that David Pierce and Jake are sat on a balcony. The sun is setting in the background, and we can see a football stadium in the distance.

“Thank you for joining us tonight David, and thank you for inviting us into your family home. It’s safe to say that you have seen a lot of changes this season, would you care to tell the viewers at home about them?”

“Well, we are no longer in the Netherlands, we’ve made the short move to Germany, more specifically Monchengladbach, where I’m now the manager of Borussia Monchengladbach.”

“Last year you told us that you wouldn’t leave Ajax unless Arsenal or Real Madrid offered you the job.”

“Times change, and so do people. The Gladbach job opened up and I took the chance to manage a team in a league of better quality.”

“Better quality?”

“Look at the teams that are in this league! Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Schalke etc. This league is just better quality than the Eredivisie. As an ambitious manager you have to take the opportunities provided.”

“You had an interview earlier in the season with Tottenham, whilst you were still at Ajax, what happened there?”

“I didn’t get the job.”

“Why not?”

“Daniel Levy and myself didn’t see eye to eye on certain areas. I wanted to bring in the “Ajax method” of bringing through youth players, which he agreed to, but then he decided that he wasn’t willing to improve the youth facilities, improve the funding to junior coaching or expand the youth recruitment network. I walked out of that meeting after ten minutes.”

“You walked out?”

“Yeah, he shared none on my ambitions and I didn’t want to waste my time.”

“Alright then. So how are you finding Germany?”

“I’m loving it here. The people are friendly, life is more relaxed and everything is completed efficiently. The trains run on time here! Not early, not late, just on time!”

“How are your family adapting?”

“Well they are enjoying life here. Sophie has started attending an English school, but we are pushing her to learn as much German as she can whilst she is here, and my wife has found a part-time job in the town. In fact Jason has just signed a contract with the club, it’s a pretty proud moment when you watch your first born son sign a contract with any club, but for it to be the club I manage makes it even better. So I think it is fair to say that they are enjoying living here.”

“How much consideration do you have to give to your family when you chose to move clubs?”

“Well Anne and myself sat down and talked about Monchengladbach before we moved, and we drew up the pros and cons of moving. I had obviously seen a lot of the town when I was here for my interview, and I had taken a lot of photos. For the first month I lived out of a hotel, whilst I looked for a house. Then I found this place and I moved Anne, Jason and Sophie out here. We also had to consider education for Jason and Sophie, and she literally has just joined a school, Anne has been home-schooling her for a couple of months, and she has been able to keep up with her peers.”

“That’s good to hear. What drew you to Borussia Monchengladbach? I mean you had the chance to join Tottenham and rejected that due to a disagreement with Daniel Levy, what did Rolf Konigs offer you to convince you to come here?”

“He agreed to increase the junior coaching funding, extend the youth recruitment network and agreed to my philosophy to bring through young players. He also showed an interest in me as a manager. He admitted that he had been flattered when I had applied for the job, and I get along well with him as a person. I’m currently enjoying working with him, and we have a good working relationship.”

“So is Rolf a good man to work for?”

“Absolutely, he is a fantastic man to work for. He is ambitious and wants the club to compete at the highest level possible. His influence rubs off on the rest of the board, and indeed on the players and the staff of this club.”

“Talking of staff, have you tried to convince anyone from Ajax to join you here?”

“To be fair when I arrived here, I met with my assistant, and I met the rest of the coaches, and we all instantly clicked. I saw no need to sack any of them, as they are doing a fantastic job. But if a role opened up, then yes I would consider bringing in someone that I have worked with before.”

“Have you been contacted by anyone?”

“No.”

There is a smile on David’s face which suggests that he is lying. Jake leans forward.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Plus if I had been contacted by anyone, I wouldn’t be able to tell you as that would be a betrayal of their trust. Look I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to bring David Beckham over here. I get on well with him, and if the correct role opens up for him then I would love to bring him over here, the same with Michael Owen, Jaap Stam and Marc Overmars.”

“Well, we’ll have to leave part one here. Join us after the break, where we’ll be delving deeper into David’s first season with Borussia Monchengladbach.”

[Cheesey1975]

loving the story so far

[Spav]

I like what you're doing here, very nicely done so far.

[STFCDP1990]

Thanks Guys!

Part Two:

“Thank you for re-joining us, and for anyone that has just tuned in, I am here with David Pierce, the manager of Borussia Monchengladbach. So David, describe the start of your season with Ajax.”

“Well after the success of my first season in management, I had a good break over the summer, and settled down to watch the World Cup. It was a shame that Holland couldn’t go onto win the tournament, but eventual winners Serbia did well, despite the fact that Daniel Pitt’s England should have won. I hear he threw his runner’s up medal over a hotel balcony. Once the players were back in training we threw ourselves into a lot of fitness and tactical work. We’d made the decision to play with a 532 with wing-backs providing the attack on the wings.”

“So a change from your favoured 442 Diamond?”

“Yeah, the coaches and I felt that the 532 would suit the players better, we carried on with playing direct football, building quickly and getting the ball forward.”

“Isn’t that the opposite of the Ajax way?”

“Not really, we still encouraged passing through the middle, but I wanted the players to move the ball forward quickly. Tiki-taka is all well and good but we aren’t Barcelona, and some of our players would obviously need to spend time on the training pitch working on their passing, and working on retaining possession.”

“Do you enjoy the Barcelona style of play?”

David rubs his hand on the back of his head, and pauses, as if searching for the right words.

“At the risk of becoming unpopular, no I don’t.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, the passing play is brilliant, but I feel it is over-hyped by the media, there are plenty of teams at the top that play direct football, and this doesn’t get mentioned as it isn’t pretty. Put it this way, for all of Barcelona’s style would they be able to replicate that kind of form in League Two, of the English Pyramid? The answer is no, can you imagine a team in that league, with all of Barcelona’s money etc, going to Accrington Stanley on a cold Tuesday night in January and winning by playing passing football? It wouldn’t happen. I suppose this comes from a personal dislike of Barcelona FC, I’ve never like them and never will.”

“So you wouldn’t take the manager’s job at Barcelona?”

“If I was offered it, I would probably say no. That isn’t going to upset anyone in Barcelona, because if they do hear this interview then they will just laugh it off. As I said last year, Real Madrid are the Spanish team I would love to manage.”

“Why?”

“I’ve no idea, I’ve just always loved Real Madrid as a team, plus the chance to work with one of the biggest stars in football would be too good to turn down.”

“Cristiano Ronaldo? Who do you think is better, Ronaldo or Messi?”

“Ronaldo. Simple. Sure Messi is a fantastic player, but he doesn’t replicate that form for his country. Plus look at it this way, who is more entertaining off of the pitch? Ronaldo dates celebrities and supermodels, he crashes cars, he sets up museums dedicated to himself and what does Messi do? Messi doesn’t pay his taxes, ooh rock ‘n’ roll.”

“So back to Ajax.”

“Right. So we set out our new formation, and the players worked hard on it. During the pre-season we had a couple of players leave and a couple come in. Niklas Moisander left us and went to OM, Christian Poulsen left for Lens, Nicolai Boilesen went to Hertha BSC, Stefano Denswil departed for Inter and Lerin Duarte went to HSV. So obviously we had a couple of gaps to fill, but being Ajax we had plenty of youth players to bring through so some of them, and some of the previous seasons’ fringe players were given more responsibility in the team. We bought four players in during the break and these were all players that had been scouted numerous times, from Everton we bought in John Stones to replace Stefano, also to replace Stefano we bought in Ben Gibson from Middlesbrough. Reece Brown joined from Birmingham and Aaron Kuhl joined from Reading, and they were brought in to play in the centre of midfield.”

“All English players?”

“Yeah, they were the best for the job so we brought them in. Nationality had nothing to do with it, if they were American or German or Nigerian we would have bought them in.”

“You do know that the Ajax fans biggest gripe with you was the amount of English players bought in?”

“Doesn’t bother me one bit.”

“You also bought in Gareth Barry in October.”

“Yes I did, I’ve worked with him before in the English National team and respect the bloke greatly. If he is good enough for Man City then he is good enough for Ajax.”

“So what happened when the season kicked off?”

“Well first up were PSV in the Super Cup, and we dispatched of them 2-1, which was a great confidence boosting start to the season. We then faced Feyenoord in our first league match and we beat them 2-1 as well. We took our early form to SC Cambuur and kept a clean sheet and beat them 2-0. Next up were RKC who we beat 4-0 away from home. AZ came next and unfortunately we drew with them 0-0 which put an end to our winning start. We finished August off by beating FC Utrecht at their place.”

“You then took some of the players to America, over the international break.”

“Yes, we travelled out and played a couple of friendly matches, we beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0, we followed this by drawing 1-1 with Chicago, and ended our mini tour by losing

to the New York Cosmos by a single goal.”

“Well we’ll have to take a break now, when you rejoin us we will talk about the rest of David’s time at Ajax, and how he came about taking the job at Borussia Monchengladbach.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Three:

“Welcome back, when we finished the last section we were just beginning to talk about September for Ajax.”

“So after our mini tour of America, we came back and hosted Willem II, who came to us and parked the bus. They managed to get a lucky goal and just shut up shop, winning the game 1-0. My old club Arsenal came next, and to be fair they completely outclassed us and beat us 2-0, in front of our own fans. Our bad luck continued as we travelled to ADO Den Haag, where they beat us 1-0 as well. We managed to reverse our fortunes as we beat Telstar 1-0 in the Dutch Cup 2nd Round, this year we hadn’t played a youth team, instead sending out a strong team in an attempt to build confidence. Last up in September were Zwolle and we beat them by a single goal. September wasn’t a brilliant month for us, and I was glad to see the back of it.”

“Moving on to October.”

“First up in October were Freiburg and we came back from behind to draw 1-1 with them at their place. We then hosted FC Twente and beat them 2-1 in our first league game of October. We then travelled to Heracles and had to come from two goals down to beat them 3-2.”

“Wasn’t this the time that Tottenham contacted you?”

“Yes it was, and recent league results were the only reason I travelled over to London for the interview. We always gave the players a day off after a match, so I took my time off to sneak over to London.”

“Did the board not know?”

“No, they didn’t know.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Sometimes you just have to take the risk, and when the story broke in the newspapers, I was given an option by the board, either issue a statement declaring my intention to stay at Ajax, or leave. Obviously I declared my intention to stay.”

“How did the newspapers find out?”

“A Tottenham fan tweeted a picture of me leaving the stadium, and being hurried into a waiting taxi, they put two and two together and the story came out.”

“How did they players react?”

“They understood that I had to look out for myself and keep an eye on other jobs, in fact some of them were hoping I would take them with me.”

“So how did the rest of October go?”

“Well after my quick trip to London, we travelled to Greece where we were beaten 2-0 by Olympiakos. We then travelled back to Holland to be beaten 1-0 by SC Heerenveen. Next up were FC Oss in the Dutch Cup 3rd Round and we were lucky to win 3-2. Our form was swinging erratically, and we moved onto November in poor form. We showed this poor form by getting beat 2-1 by NAC Breda. We then hosted Olympiakos and beat them 3-0 which was fantastic. PSV then came to face us and we shared the spoils in an entertaining 1-1 draw. FC Groningen finished off our three home games in a row, and we beat them 2-0. We then travelled to London to play Arsenal at the Emirates, and played our hearts out, but we were beaten 5-3, which in a way I was proud of as we managed to put 3 goals past Arsenal.”

“Did the players think that that was something to be proud of?”

“I don’t know. I was proud though, as we hadn’t been in the best of goalscoring form and I felt that the players would be turning the corner. It was at this point thought that I put my application in at Borussia Monchengladbach.”

“When did you have your interview?”

“The day after we got back from the Arsenal match. Rolf Konigs actually travelled to my house in Amsterdam to interview me. He impressed me and obviously I impressed him.”

“How long did it take for him to contact you about the job?”

“Well they had a couple of other applicants so, I was in charge for the Roda JC match. We travelled to Roda for our final game of November, and at the time they were top of the league, so I wasn’t surprised when they beat us. I then began to prepare to play GA Eagles, but on the Friday before the match Rolf phoned me and offered me the job and I ripped his hand off at the chance.”

“So on the 6th of December you were announced as manager of Borussia Monchengladbach.”

“Yes I was, and the day after we travelled to Hertha BSC to play them in the league.”

“And we’ll talk about that first match after this break.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Four:

“Welcome back, tonight you find me in Monchengladbach with our favourite Englishman abroad, David Pierce. David before the break you had finished telling us about the start and end of your season at Ajax and you were about to tell us about the start of your career at Borussia Monchengladbach.”

“So as I was saying before the break, I was unveiled as the new manager of Gladbach on Saturday 6th December, and the following day we travelled to Hertha BSC to play them in the league. As with most new managers, who arrive partway through a season, I allowed my assistant to take control of the match, as he knew the players, and knew what would be best for them. The only change I had made was to the formation, we decided that a 4231 would be best. We set out to play a high tempo, passing game with a high emphasis on attack. The players were obviously desperate to prove themselves, and they raced into an early lead and finished the game 2-0 winners.”

David reaches forward and takes a sip of his water.

“Next up were Wolfsburg in what would be my first home match. I was presented to the fans before the game, and I received a warm welcome from the Gladbach faithful. Wolfsburg set out to disrupt my private party, and we emerged 1-0 winners in a tight game. The next match showed the real strength of the league as Bayern Munich travelled to face us, and I’ll be honest they easily demolished us as they ran out 4-1 winners. We then entered the winter break.”

“Winter break?”

“Many of the European leagues, rather sensibly, have a break in the schedule over the Christmas period to avoid the players burning out. It’s probably why other nations perform better on the international stage as there players are rested, unless they play in England.”

“Do you think England should adopt a winter break?”

“Yes, I do. There are people that go on about the fact of the Boxing Day fixtures being the best in the whole schedule, but the leagues could easily have a two week break after Boxing Day, it would enable the players to rest, and they wouldn’t burn out as badly.”

“So what did you spend your winter break doing?”

“Scouting players. Looking for people to bring in.”

“You signed a couple of players in January, remind us of who they were.”

“Alex McCarthy from Reading, Martin Demichelis from Man City, Simon Falette from FC Lorient, Steven Davis on a free, and I went back to Ajax to bring Diego Contento over here. For some stupid reason he had been placed on the transfer list and I leapt at the chance to bring him back to Germany.”

“Did Diego personally contact you?”

“The stories in the newspapers are true, he text me as soon as he had been told he was being placed on the transfer list, and I contacted my chairman and he authorised the transfer.”

“You then played four friendly matches.”

“I’ll be honest, I left those to my assistant, they were just fitness builders, we didn’t try any new tactics, we just wanted to make sure that the players were fit and ready for the second half of the season.”

“That’s very honest of you, do you leave a lot to your assistant?”

“Just unimportant friendly matches.”

“Why?”

“Because I have better things to do, I trust my assistant and he knows what is expected of the team and of himself when they take to the pitch even in a friendly.”

“Okay, so tell us about the rest of January.”

“Well after the break we only had two games left in January, the first up were the other big guns in Germany, Dortmund, we travelled to Dortmund, and we lost 1-0. We were greeted by their fans, in their traditional way and I think the players became a bit overawed. Next up came Schalke at home, and disappointingly we lost 3-0, I really let the players have it after that result, and I cancelled their day off.”

“Day off?”

“As I’ve said earlier, I always give my players the day off after a match, but I made sure to cancel that one.”

“Well we’ll head to a break now, when we come back David will be telling us about February and March for his Gladbach side. See you in a couple of minutes.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Five:

“Thank you for rejoining us, I am joined by David Pierce, Borussia Monchengladbach’s English manager, David you were about to tell us about February and March for your club.”

“We started February by travelling to Dusseldorf, where we reminded the players that they needed to make a response to the last match we had played, and disappointingly we allowed Dusseldorf to get a late minute equaliser, and we came away with a share of the points after a 1-1 draw. We then played two home games in a row, with Stuttgart travelling to play us first, they managed to keep our strikers at bay and they scored a last minute winner to send themselves home with the three points, a 1-0 loss is always frustrating, and we had a lot to learn from that match. 1860 Munchen came next, and they at the time were bottom of the league, yet they outclassed us, and outplayed us and emerged 3-0 winners, in the game which I feel was the worst performance of my entire season. We then travelled to Werder Bremen where our bad luck continued as they scored an early goal, and should really have scored more as they were a lot better than the 1-0 scoreline suggests.”

“What can you do as a manager in that situation?”

“You just have to keep reminding the players that there is always going to be periods of bad form, and it is a test of strength for a top club, and that is what we had to prove that we are. We made a couple of tweaks to the tactics and the players worked hard, to improve on their game. We watched the defeats and found places where the players could improve and they worked hard on that.”

“So what happened in the next match?”

“We won. We beat HSV at home and you could see the confidence return to the players. They went down early, but they rallied and we beat HSV 2-1. We then travelled to Leverkusen and in front of the television cameras we hammered them 3-1, and we really showed our class.”

“Clean sheets seem to be a problem for your side, just as they were at Ajax.”

“Yeah I suppose you could say that they are, but I’ve matured and now as long as we score more than the opposition I don’t really mind the odd goal scored against us.”

“Okay, so March.”

“We started March by travelling to Schalke to play them in the German Cup Quarter Finals. The last time we had played Schalke was back in January when they had beaten us at home 3-0. So before the match I reminded the players of this, and I reminded them that they owed Schalke for that loss and they needed to get revenge. Which they did. We couldn’t keep a clean sheet but we beat them 3-1, and saw ourselves advance to the next stage of the German Cup.”

“Which extended your run of good form to three wins.”

“We told the players this, and the confidence in the camp grew, and we took that into the next match where we played Freiburg, in an entertaining match, we scored, they scored, we scored, they scored etc. In the end we were lucky to beat them 4-3, the neutrals would have loved the match, but it aged me by a couple of years.”

“You’ve picked up a reputation for playing attractive, attacking football no matter who the opposition is, how do you feel about that?”

“I’m glad that people appreciate the football that I get my team to play, and it feels good when people talk positively about my style. I could have set my side out to play defensively against Bayern and Dortmund but what would have been the point? There is always a chance of meeting them on an off day for them, and how could we ever find out if we could beat them if we parked the bus?”

“Some sides do park the bus, and they do win.”

“And the football they play is boring, and I’m pretty sure the fans hate it. If I was sat in the stands I would rather see my side play attractive football and lose the occasional game, then see them play boring football and win more than often. It’s an odd view I’ll admit, but it’s one I’ll stick to.”

“So what happened in the rest of March?”

“In the next two games we hit a bit of rocky form, and we lost to Mainz, at their place, in a match that ended 1-0 to them. They are an example of a team who parked the bus, and you could see it on the home fan’s faces, they were bored and even though they won, they didn’t really celebrate, whereas my fans never stopped singing all game, and they enjoyed the football we played. We then welcomed Frankfurt, and they came to play football, they set out to attack, and we had to match them. We scored first but they pegged us back and came back to win 2-1. Which ended March. We had done alright, winning two and losing two, but I still felt that there was more to come from the players, and I needed to see that in the closing stages of the season.”

“As Alex Ferguson would say, you were entering ‘squeaky bum time’. What were your aims for the end of the season?”

“We wanted to get into Europe and we knew that we had to finish Sixth or above, or we could finish seventh and just hope that the side that won the German Cup, qualified for Europe in the league, and that the runners up also qualified through the league. Or we needed to win the German Cup, and we were one step away from the final. The players were very aware of my desire to get into Europe, but if I am honest the board had made it clear that there was no pressure on me to qualify for Europe, as I had only just joined the team. I personally wanted to beat the previous season’s finish of 7th.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I want to prove that I am better than the man that has gone before me. If I am to ever manage one of Europe’s top sides, I need to prove my ability, by winning competitions.”

“Do you see Gladbach as a stepping stone to better things?”

“No. Because there is another way to manage one of Europe’s top sides, and that is to turn Gladbach into the best team in Europe, and that currently is my aim. It may take years but I want to transform them into a team that is better than Real Madrid or Barcelona or Bayern Munich etc.”

“When we come back from the break, David will be telling us about his side’s end to the season.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Six:

“Thanks for rejoining us, we’ve entered the final part of tonight’s programme and David is about to tell us about the final stages of his Borussia Monchengladbach’s season.”

“We had a good break after the Frankfurt game, of over two weeks, which is always a good thing as it allows us to give the players some time off to recover, and time to make sure they are ready for the run in.”

“Do you not worry that the players will be rusty when they play their next match?”

“No, they are still training, and we will make sure that they play a game or two against the Under 19s, which is good for both teams, as it allows them the youth to show what they can do, and it gives the first team a run out. On a personal level it was great to see my son play as well, I’ve not been able to get to many of the youth games, so seeing him play was special.”

“Do you not worry about your players getting injured in matches like that?”

“No, they get injured in training, when I think back on my career, some of the injuries I have heard of, and experienced have come from some of the most innocent of things, and sometimes not the most innocent of things. When I was at Ajax one of the coaches told me about a player who had suffered a groin strain, out of training, the player came clean about how he had suffered the injury, and let’s just say that the red light district was involved. So injuries happen.”

“Have you personally suffered any embarrassing injuries?”

“I was out for a spell, whilst I was at Arsenal, because I tripped over my dog, who was lying at the top of the stairs. Broke my wrist, and managed to give myself concussion.”

“Ouch. So what happened after your mini-break?”

“We played Hoffenheim at their place, they found themselves flirting with the relegation spots, and to be fair to them their form hadn’t been the greatest all season, and it showed as we beat them 3-1. I was disappointed that we conceded as they really didn’t play well.”

“Did you feel sorry for their manager?”

“Yeah I did, you could obviously see the pressure on him, and I’ll be honest I would have hated to have been in his shoes, it’s not easy being a manager. Lots of people think they can do the job, and they think we get paid loads for a small amount of work, but the pressure it puts on you is extreme. I spoke to him after the game, and you could see it in his eyes that he just didn’t know what he could do to turn his team’s form around. If the team does badly then it is all the manager’s fault, but if the team does well then it is because of the players, where it probably should be the opposite.”

“Do you feel that the players should be held responsible for poor form?”

“It should be an equal thing. The manager can be blamed for the tactics, but sometimes the players just can’t be bothered and that isn’t always the fault of the manager.”

“Okay, well let’s continue with April.”

“Next up were Hannover, and we took them on at home. We took a 2 goal lead early on, but after the break they came back and entering the final stages of the match we were drawing 2-2. In the 90th minute Steven Davis slammed home a winner, to give us the three points that we deserved. We then travelled to Nurnberg, we took the lead early on, but they scored either side of halftime, to put themselves into a 2-1 lead, we then came back late on and drew the match 2-2.”

“What affect do goals before half time have on the team?”

“It can be demoralising, and it is annoying for me, as I suddenly have to change my team talk. It can really affect a team’s performance.”

“Interesting.”

“We then faced Freiburg at home, in the Semi Final of the German Cup. We played brilliantly and we controlled the game from start to finish, the only let down was that we couldn’t keep a clean sheet. But we won the game 2-1 and that was enough to put us into the final. Hertha BSC came next and we played out a boring 1-1 draw with them, both sides set out to attack, and we cancelled each other out. We then travelled to Wolfsburg and were outclassed by a brilliant team, who ran out 2-1 winners. This meant that to secure 7th in the league we had to avoid defeat in our last game, and as luck would have it we were due to play Bayern Munich away. We worked hard on our defensive positioning all week, and had to come back from behind twice, but we managed to draw 2-2 with them, which cemented 7th place for us.”

“Wasn’t that the same position as the team finished the year before?”

“Yeah it was, and I was disappointed to be honest, but at least we were in the top half of the table, and we had played well against the team that finished 2nd in the league, for our final match.”

“You then had the German Cup Final to look forward to.”

“Yeah, there was a break between our final league match, and the Final, so again we were able to rest the players, and then blow off the cobwebs with a match against the youth team.”

“And victory against Koln would have seen you qualify for Europe.”

“Yes, it would. All week we emphasised the importance of this match to the players, as Koln are local rivals, and obviously this game would mean a lot to the fans. By the time the game came around, I was confident that my players were ready, and that they would go out there and play a good game of football.”

“So what happened?”

“We lost.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, we lost 1-0 to a Second Division team. To be fair to Koln they finished 2nd in their league, and we will play them again next season. But to say I was unhappy with the players would be an understatement.”

“But didn’t Koln beat Dortmund to reach the final?”

“Yes they did, but we still should have done better, we squandered our chance to qualify for Europe, and that was unacceptable for me.”

“So what is the aim for next season?”

“Europe.”

“Nice and simple there.”

“It’s all I want.”

“Well it was good talking to you again David, we’ll see you next season for our annual review, and we’ll see you at your first home match of the season. That’s right viewers, we will be covering Gladbach’s first home game of the season live on BT Sports, with exclusive behind the scenes access. Good Night.”

The camera cuts away from Jake and David, and focuses on Borussia-Park which stands in the distance.

As the screen fades to black, a message pops up on the screen. “In recent news, David Pierce has left Borussia Monchengladbach, as such we will now no longer be airing Gladbach’s first home game of the season.”

[Gary_Parker]

Loving this interview style story. Can't wait to see where you go next.

Oh and the quote of

what does Messi do? Messi doesn’t pay his taxes, ooh rock ‘n’ roll.

Had me in stitches, keep it up chap.

[STFCDP1990]

Thanks!

BT Sports Presents “An Englishman Abroad (No more): Season Three, Return of the Englishman”

“Another season, another club. With me is David Pierce, and as has become customary we will be discussing his season in management, this being his third management with his third club. So how did the move to Arsenal come around?”

“Well a day or two after we finished filming for the second season review, I heard that Arsene Wenger had decided to retire. Immediately I emailed my CV to Chips Keswick, and threw my hat into the ring. A week later I had an interview with Chips and Stan Kroenke, and well here we are.”

“So are you pleased to be back at Arsenal?”

“I’m over the moon, I supported Arsenal as a kid and spent 15 happy years with the club, before I retired in 2012. I then coached at the club from 2012 to 2013 before leaving for the Ajax management role.”

“So you’ve now managed every club that you have played for.”

“Yes I have, I now only have to manage the England national team, and that will be club and country sorted.”

“Is that the next aim for you?”

“The England job? Of course it is, what Englishman wouldn’t want to take on the England job?”

“That’s very true David. Now let’s talk about the club, you joined Arsenal at the start of July, and didn’t hang around to make changes to the backroom staff, did you?”

“No I didn’t. I wanted to bring in my own people, and I found the right people on the right wages and brought them in as soon as I could. There were a couple of gaps in the staff, as some of them went with Arsene Wenger. I could understand their decisions as they were loyal to Arsene, and couldn’t imagine working with someone else.”

“Some of your choices for staff weren’t that popular.”

“Why because I bought in ex-Man Utd players?”

“Well yeah.”

“I also bought in ex-Tottenham, Liverpool, Fulham etc. Why should it matter who I bought in?”

“Well some fans must have felt that these staff members were ex rivals.”

“And? So David (Beckham), Jaap (Stam), Michael (Owen) and Owen (Hargreaves) played for Manchester United. So what? They are winners, who share the same desire to win like I do. If this club is to win the Premier League again, we need to bring in people who will drive us on to win. Their past doesn’t matter, we live in the present, and are planning for the future. Let’s look at the staff I bought in.”

“There was Michael Owen, Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Kieron Dyer, Andy Sinton, Danny Murphy, Owen Hargreaves, David Dunn, Jamie Carragher, Dean Ashton, Jonathon Woodgate, David Platt, Ugo Ehiogu, Ray Wilkins, Sammy Lee, Kevin Richardson and David Hirst.”

“And every one of those people has won at least 1 cap for their national team. They are winners who have played at the top. It doesn’t matter who they played for before as they are all committed to Arsenal.”

“Is there anyone you wouldn’t work with?”

“Pep Guardiola, and Lionel Messi if he ever became a coach.”

“Really?”

“Yep, can’t stand them.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, probably a view not shared by many, but this is my personal opinion and I’m going to stick to it.”

“Fair play.”

“OH! And Alan “Hand in the air, like I don’t care” Shearer.”

“Hand in the air?”

“That stupid celebration. I sometimes go on to YouTube and watch the clip of me decking him. Best sending off of my career, and the first.”

“What is the story behind that sending off?”

“It was my third game for Arsenal, I’d just joined from Ajax as a 20 year old, and it was my second game at Highbury. Alan had been all over me all game, putting in little digs here and there, there were a few off the ball incidents, I was giving as good as I got, but he was taking it too far. It got to around the 80th minute, and he stamped on my foot whilst we tussled at a corner, I appealed to the ref, but the ref claimed he hadn’t seen anything, and Shearer whispered something in my ear about needing to be a man, so I decked him. I then stood over him and asked him if I was man enough. I didn’t even notice the red card, until Tony Adams began to drag me off of the pitch.”

“Didn’t it make playing for England together awkward?”

“No, I ignored him and he ignored me unless we were on the pitch.”

“You also had a few run ins with Roy Keane.”

“Now, if Roy Keane asked me if there was a job for him, I would bring him in straight away. I have a huge amount of respect for Roy. He was a brilliant player, passionate, driven and determined, and he showed that as a manager.”

“So even though he is deeply unpopular with the Arsenal faithful, you would still bring him in?”

“You show me a Arsenal fan that claims he doesn’t respect Roy Keane, and I will show you a liar.”

“Right after this break, we will continue to talk to David about prospective signings, and we will find out who he would pick in an all time Best Eleven.”

[unitedmanager]

Amazing story so far, very different, very interesting....

Looking forward to the next installments

[STFCDP1990]

Part Two

“Welcome back to our programme. So David, let’s get straight back into it. Who would feature in your all time Best Eleven?”

“Players who I’ve managed or played with/against?”

“Played with or against.”

“Ooh, tough one. Right so let’s start with the keeper, there is only one man for the job, and that would be David Seaman. Peter Schmeichel would be my sub keeper, but David just edges it.”

“Defenders?”

“Right back, Gary Neville. Passionate man, loves his football, and that showed when he played. He wound me up no end when we played against it each other, but I always enjoyed watching him play. In the centre of the park I would have Tony Adams and Martin Keown. I’m sure Jaap will be annoyed with me, but he would have to be on the subs bench with myself. On the left side of defence I would have Ashley Cole.”

“Midfield?”

“On the right, David Beckham. Simple choice. In the middle, there are only two men I could pick, I’ve played with and against some fantastic midfielders, but these two men bled their respective clubs, I’m sure you’ve already guessed them.”

“Patrick Viera and Roy Keane?”

“Got it in one. I miss the days of those two playing.”

“Do you not feel that there are still players like Viera and Keane out there?”

“Sure there are, but they’ve changed, they aren’t as blood and guts anymore. The only players that come close are Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshire, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Joey Barton.”

“Joey Barton?”

“Love him. He’s had his moments of pure stupidity, but I love him. If he ever needs a coaching job then all he needs to do is phone me. I’ll find him some work.”

“So Joey, if you are watching!”

“Ha, fingers crossed.”

“Who would you have on the left?”

“Ryan Giggs. On his day he was superb, and when you consider he only retired recently, well that just shows how brilliant he was as a player.”

“Strikers?”

“Ooh, as a defender this is a tough one.”

“Alan Shearer?”

“Get out of my house.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Well I had the luck to play against Yorke, Cole, Sheringham, Solskjaer, Nistelrooy, Rooney, Drogba, Torres, Owen and so many more. But I also played with some fantastic strikers.”

“Which striker did you especially hate playing against?”

“Any of the ones that I have mentioned. They were all fantastic and I can’t choose just one as they all had their tricks.”

“So I’m going to press you, who would you have upfront?”

“Bergkamp and Henry.”

“Who would you have as subs?”

“Schmeichel, Stam, Myself, Parlour, Scholes, Solskjaer and Nistelrooy.”

“So a team made up exclusively of ex Arsenal and Man Utd players?”

“Yep. You have to remember that when I was a player, especially in my younger years, there were really only two clubs in England, who competed year after year for the title, and that was Man Utd and Arsenal. I want to get back to those days, and I’ll get Arsenal back to the top.”

“So who would you bring in to achieve that aim?”

“Well the squad currently is fantastic and I can’t see us needing to make many changes.”

“Diplomatic answer.”

“Yeah it was. If money was no object, I have a couple of players in my mind that would help us get back to the top quickly.”

“Who?”

“Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mario Balotelli, Sergio Ramos, Luke Shaw, Cesc Fabregas, Ross Barkley and Gareth Bale.”

“That’s more than a few.”

“Well hopefully the chairman is listening. Although it would probably cost a small fortune to get those players.”

“Zlatan?”

“Yeah. Why not Zlatan?”

“Well no offence to him but he is getting on now.”

“And he’s still one of the best strikers in the world. I enjoy watching him play, he’s an arrogant person with a huge ego and that shows on the pitch, but he has the talent to back it up. If he really wants to prove himself then he needs to move to the Premier League. Hint Zlatan hint.”

“Cristiano Ronaldo?”

“Again, arrogant with talent. I like players with that style, that confidence. I want players that will show off, but work hard.”

“What about Lionel Messi?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“No. please don’t mention his name again.”

“Well David has definitely laid down the challenge to his chairman, and when we come back after the break we will be discussing his first season as Arsenal manager.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Three

“Thank you for rejoining us. So David, you spent a short couple of months in Germany as Borussia Monchengladbach manager before taking the vacant Arsenal role. How have your family adjusted to the move?”

“Well they are back at home, the only big change is that Jason stayed out in Germany with Gladbach, I offered him the chance to come with me to Arsenal but he made the decision to stay. He has his own apartment out there, and I’ve asked one of the ladies from the canteen to keep an eye on him. Sophie has joined a school nearby, in fact if you look out of that window you can see her school. As for Anna, she’s settled back in well, she’s closed to her family again, and is enjoying life, I think she was a bit sad to leave her old job in Germany, but she’s keeping herself busy.”

“So why did you move to Kentish Town?”

“Well I’ve lived in the area before, when I first played for Arsenal I lived around here, and I decided I wanted to come back, it’s close enough to the Emirates, I can take the Underground to get there, so that’s nice.”

“You take the Underground?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Well don’t you worry about people recognising you?”

“No, if they do recognise me they ask for a picture or an autograph, no matter what club they support. I’ve even had Tottenham fans shake my hand.”

“So you’ve never had any problems?”

“Not yet.”

“That’s good to hear, so how did pre-season go for Arsenal?”

“Well the players arrived back in training at the same time that I arrived. We started on the 4th of July and I spent my birthday, the 6th of July, watching my players run up and down hills, trying to get them fit for the season ahead.”

“So even in the Premier League you still get the players running up and down hills? I thought that was just a lower-league exercise?”

“It is, but a bit of running never hurt anyone, and it was good to remind the players that they may be stars but they still need to work hard.”

“Your first friendly was played very early on into pre-season, how did it go?”

“Well we travelled to Russia to play Alania Vladikavkaz on the 8th of July. It was a good chance to see how the players would fit into my system of play, and we shared a draw with them. We then played our next friendly against Cruz Azul, on the 11th of July, which meant we travelled straight from Russia to Mexico. We beat Cruz Azul which was pleasing.”

“You also made your first signing as Arsenal manager around this time.”

“Yeah, John Stones joined us from Ajax. Obviously I had worked with him before and I wanted to bring him here as he is a talented defender.”

“Does he remind you of yourself?”

“Absolutely. When I look at him in training, and on the pitch I see myself when I was his age. He’ll be an absolute world-beater when he gets older.”

“You then made three signing before your next friendly.”

“Yes, John Ruddy came in from Norwich to provide cover for Szczesny. Will Hughes joined from Derby. Will is a player I have had my eye on for a while and I tried to get him over at Ajax but the board wouldn’t release the funds for his transfer. The opportunity never arose at Gladbach and when I got to Arsenal, the opportunity rose, the funds were there and I swooped in for him. We then strengthened the left side of our defence by bringing in Alex Sandro from Porto.”

“You also saw a number of players leave.”

“Flamini went to Roma, Mertesacker went to OM, Jenkinson went to West Ham, Bendtner went to Handover, Podolski went to Porto and Arteta went back to Everton. I wanted to freshen up the team a little and these were the players I decided to move on.”

“Your next friendly saw you play Leyton Orient away from home.”

“The Leyton Orient game came from an agreement between the two clubs, and it was an enjoyable friendly as we came out 4-3 winners. We then travelled to France to play FC Nantes where we shared a 1-1 draw. Before the end of pre-season we took a trip to America, where we played Colorado, where we won 2-0, next were New York Red Bulls, who we beat 3-2, and we ended our trip with a game against Seattle where we won 3-1.”

“Before the start of the season you made a couple of more transfers. Care to tell us about them?”

“Callum Chambers joined us from Southampton. Callum is, in my eyes, going to be the next Ashley Cole, despite the fact he plays on the right, maybe he’ll be the new Gary Neville! We also bought in Yassine Benzia from Lyon, Yassine is a very talented striker with a very bright future. Bojan joined us from Barcelona, I worked with him at Ajax, and he has a lot of talent but he hasn’t realised that talent yet. Barry Thompson joined from Motherwell, along with Pedro Carvalho from Guimaraes and Ricardo Serrao from Setubal.”

“Please join us after this break, when we come back we will be discussing Arsenal’s start to the season.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Four

“Thank you for rejoining us. David how did the start of the season go for you?”

“Our first game was a tough one. As we made the short trip to Chelsea. We were aware that it was going to be a tough match, as Jose would have his team playing a strong, defensive style of football.”

“Do you dislike the style of football that Jose gets his teams playing?”

“No. Jose has a chosen style and he sticks with that, how he wants to get his team playing is his business. He’s an experienced manager and I have a lot of respect for him. His tactics obviously worked as they beat us 2-0 by hitting us on the counter attack.”

“So a losing start to your season?”

“Yeah, not the way I wanted it to go, but that’s life. We then welcomed Kilmarnock to the Emirates for our Euro Cup Playoff first leg.”

“This would have been your home debut, as manager. How did it go?”

“Well I received a great reception from the home fans, and we turned in a good performance to reward the home fans for their support, as we beat Kilmarnock 6-0. The team played brilliantly and I was full of confidence for the next match against Liverpool, in my first Premier League match as a manager. We turned In a great performance and beat Liverpool 3-0. August finished with is travelling to Scotland to take on Kilmarnock in the second leg of our Euro Cup playoff. We were already leading 6-0 on aggregate, but we went out there to win, and beat them 2-1, meaning we won 8-1 on aggregate.”

“You then had the international break, with most of your squad away. What did you do in the time off?”

“I spent some time at home, relaxing. I also went and worked with some of the local schools, doing a couple of PE lessons.”

“So do you get out in the local community a lot?”

“Arsenal are very involved in the local community, and they encourage us to get out there and help out. We regularly visit hospitals and schools to see our younger fans.”

“That’s excellent. So how did September pan out for you?”

“Our first game in September wasn’t until the 14th, and we travelled to play Norwich, where we lost 3-4 in what would have been an excellent game for the neutrals, but not a good game for my nerves. I was disappointed to lose, but there were positives. We then hosted BATE at home in the Euro Cup group stage, and we beat them 4-1. Next in the league came Aston Villa, and we scraped a 1-0 win at home. We then travelled to play Manchester United, where we were bested 3-1 with United playing some very good football. Moyes has got his United side playing well and has done well taking over from Fergie. We ended September with a home match against Southampton where we emerged 1-0 winners.”

“October was a very busy month for you, as it saw you play 8 matches, with a lot of those matches coming at the end of the month. How do you feel October went?”

“Well we started off by playing Panathinaikos, away, in the Euro Cup. We went there and had to come back from behind twice, to draw 2-2. We then travelled back and went to Wigan where we ran out 3-1 winners. After a break for international matches, we travelled to Newcastle and beat them 1-0. Next came Wigan at home in the Capital One Cup 3rd Round, this time we beat Wigan 3-0 and advanced to the next round. Red Star travelled to play us next, in the Euro Cup, and we outclassed them and ran out 5-2 winners. The lads were beginning to look a bit tired at this point, but the games kept coming, and we faced West Ham at home 3 days after the Red Star match, we emerged 1-0 winners, but it was clear to see that the players were tired. We then faced Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup 4th Round, two days after the West Ham match, and beat them 2-0. I rested a number of players for this match and I was pleased to see the fringe and youth players put in a good performance. We finished October with a match against local rivals Tottenham. I have to admit I felt a bit of pressure before this match, and I was over the moon when we ran out 4-0 winners, in what actually turned out to be an easy match.”

“I think we have enough time for you to talk about November.”

“Well compared to October, November was an easy month in the case of the number of games, we played four games in November, and we rotated the squad heavily for the month. We started by playing Red Star and they beat us 2-1, which was disappointing, but we were still doing well in the Euro Cup. We then travelled across London to Fulham and beat them 3-1 as we continued our climb up the table. We then had another break for international matches, which allowed me to rest any players who hadn’t been selected for international duty. Once the break finished, we welcomed Everton the Emirates, and we beat them 2-1. Our last game of the month came in the Euro Cup as we faced BATE, away, we finished the month with a 2-0 win.”

“Well that is all we have time for in this part of the show, please join us after the break.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Five

“Thanks for rejoining us. David, the festive period was fast approaching, and so were the matches. How did December go?”

“We started December by demolishing Nottingham Forest 5-0, in the league, which was a very satisfying result. We made the short trip to Reading, where we came out 3-1 winners. Following the Reading match, we welcomed Panathinaikos to the Emirates, and beat them 5-1. Next was our Quarter Final match in the Capital One Cup, and we faced West Ham. We were unlucky not to win the match in normal time, as West Ham scored a late equaliser, to take us to extra time and then to penalties. West Ham had luck on their side, and they beat is 4-3 on penalties, knocking us out of the Capital One Cup. We picked ourselves up, and dusted ourselves up and headed to Hull where we won 4-0. Next up came Watford, before a short Christmas break. Watford came to the Emirates, and shut up shop, only attacking rarely, and they put eleven men behind the ball after they scored the only goal of the game. After Christmas, we travelled to Swansea and drew 0-0 with them, obviously the players hadn’t recovered from the festive period, and they played poorly. In our last match of December we hosted Chelsea at home, and drew 1-1 with them.”

“Do you miss the Winter Break?”

“Yeah, I feel that it is essential to keeping players fit, and playing well. But until the dinosaurs at the FA wake up, we’ll keep playing through a busy festive period.”

“Dinosaurs?”

“What are they going to do? Fine me? They are dinosaurs pure and simple, they aren’t looking forward to the future, and they haven’t made any good decisions lately. I’m just being honest.”

“Well honesty is what we have come to expect from you David. How did January go for your team?”

“Well during January we made a couple of changes to the team, as we bought in Andriy Yarmolenko from Napoli and Junior Moraes from Santos to add to the current side, we also bought in Pierre-Yves Roux from Lens, Callam Jones from West Brom and Bobby Crossan from Celtic, but they are faces from the future. Leaving us was Felipe as he headed to Dinamo Moscow.”

David pauses, and takes a sip of his drink, in the background the sounds of children playing can be heard, the sounds are coming from the school across the road, and David waves to a child on the playground.

“Is that your daughter?”

“Yeah it is, in a minute there’ll be a couple of lads grouped around the gate, most of the children at the school are Arsenal fans, so Sophie doesn’t have any problems.”

“Let’s talk about January’s fixtures.”

“We started off by playing Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup 3rd round, and they ran us close as we emerged 5-4 winners. We had travelled down to Bristol with a younger squad, but the lads played well and we came out winners. We then welcomed Cardiff, and we beat them 3-0. Our next trip was to Liverpool, and they gained revenge as they beat us 2-0. Our next match saw us play Man Utd, and I was pleased by my team’s performance as we ran out 3-0 winners. Next we travelled to Aston Villa, and we played terribly, as Villa beat us 5-2, scoring all 5 of their goals in the first half an hour. Next up came Man City, and we made the journey up to Manchester and were beaten 2-1. Our form returned as we beat MK Dons 5-0 in the FA Cup 4th Round. We then carried on our form by beating Southampton 4-1, and we ended the month by beating Norwich 4-2.”

“There is just enough time to talk about February, so David how did your side’s February go?”

“Our first match was against Wigan, in the league, and we won 2-0 in front of our fans. We then travelled to East London to play West Ham, where we ran out 4-2 winners. Next up was a trip to Cardiff in the FA Cup 5th round, Cardiff wanted the win more than we did, and they came out 2-0 winners. Our next match was away to Genk in the Euro Cup first knockout round, and we came out 1-0 winners, with the all important away goal. We then welcomed Newcastle to our place, and we beat them 3-1. Genk travelled to our place, and ran us close and we emerged 7-4 winners, in a very entertaining match. We finished the month by hosting Fulham, and we shared a 1-1 draw, which was disappointing seeing as how we had scored 7 in our last game.”

“When we come back from our next break, we will hear how Arsenal’s end to the season went.”

[Gary_Parker]

Great read as always. Hope you win the league with Arsenal.

[STFCDP1990]

Thanks fella!

Part Six

“Thanks for rejoining us. So David your Arsenal side now found themselves entering the end leg of the season, how did it go?”

“Our first game in March bought a 2-1 loss to rivals Tottenham, which was a complete disappointment. Next up came Everton in the 2nd Knockout round of the Euro Cup, and we beat them 4-1 at home. We then faced Everton in the league, and they beat us 4-2 at Goodison Park. Following the Everton league game, we then faced Everton in the 2nd leg of the 2nd Knockout round. I was getting sick of seeing Roberto Martinez by now, and again we played an entertaining match against them. They came flying out of the blocks and it wasn’t a good game for either defence, as they beat us 7-4. We drew 8-8 on aggregate, but thanks to the away goal rule we progressed to the Quarter Finals. We then had a break from the Euro Cup, as we played Man City and beat them 3-1 at home. Then I travelled back to where my management career began as we faced Ajax in the Euro Cup quarter finals.”

“How did it feel to go back to Ajax?”

“It felt good, I have good memories of the place, and I enjoyed returning to the place. I especially seeing as we beat them 6-0.”

“And that win was the last game of March for you, so how did April turn out?”

“First up came Reading and we beat them 3-2 at home. We then hosted Ajax, and they beat us 2-1, but we advanced 7-2 on aggregate, putting us in the semis of the Euro Cup. We then hit a rough patch of form as we travelled to Nottingham Forest, and drew 1-1 with them. Next was a journey to Cardiff, and we returned down the M4 with a point, following a 2-2 draw. The Euro Cup semis saw us return to Merseyside as we faced Liverpool, away from home, and according to the bookies against all odds, we emerged with a 2-0 win which put us in a very strong position. Next were Hull at home, and our form disappeared as we lost 2-0. Our title chances had long disappeared and now our aim was to secure third place. Next came our second leg against Liverpool, and just like Everton they flew out of the blocks, and once again both keepers spent a lot of time picking the ball out of their net, as we drew 4-4 which was fine by me as it put us in the final.”

“So there were two games left in the league, and a final against Monaco in the Euro Cup. How were you feeling at the start of May?”

“Nervous. My first season at Arsenal and I’ve managed to get them to the final of the Euro Cup, and I’ve got a chance to finish the season in a better position then the team did last season.”

“At the start of May your side sat fourth in the table and had the chance to finish between 3rd and 5th, which would have been a lot better than the 7th place finish in Wenger’s last year, so how did May go?”

“Well first up were Watford away, and we were desperate to get revenge over them, as they had beaten us at our place. We may have gotten revenge as we beat them 1-0 but we played poorly and I was disappointed with our performance. Next came Swansea and we knew that if we drew or won we would finish 3rd, no matter what Tottenham did. Tottenham won their last match, but we drew 2-2 with Swansea, which saw us finish the season in 3rd.”

“So you got that 3rd place, were you pleased with that?”

“Not really, this is Arsenal we are talking about, we should be winning the league, not celebrating finishing 3rd. The only good thing about finishing 3rd is qualifying for the Champion’s League.”

“Are you hoping to take the title back off of Chelsea next year?”

“That has to be the aim, these Arsenal fans have suffered enough, domestically, and it is up to the players and I to deliver 1st place in the league like they deserve.”

“The last match of your season saw you play Monaco in the Euro Cup final, how did you prepare for the match?”

“Well we played Swansea on the Sunday, and travelled to Lisbon on the Monday, we made sure that the players rested, and had a light training session on the Tuesday and the Wednesday, in the morning before the game. Before the match I spoke to the players, and told them not to worry about Monaco, we had to make them worried about us. It was all about the mentality.”

“So, tell us about the final.”

“It was a warm evening in Lisbon, and the pitch looked beautiful. The players were desperate to get out there and play, and they played brilliantly. The Ox scored early on, which settled our nerves slightly, and in the 30th minute Giroud scored to double our lead, Monaco pegged us back before half time, and I spent the break re-assuring the players, making sure they stayed focussed on the second half. Both sides went straight out to attack, with both sides creating chances but it took until the 80th minute for the 4th goal of the game to be scored, and it was scored by Giroud. His goal put us into a 3-1 lead, and effectively handed us the trophy. When the final whistle blew, we began our celebrations. To be honest those celebrations have only just ended.”

“Are the stories about your medal true?”

“What that I gave it to Sophie? I give her all of my medals. She took it into school this morning to show to the rest of the class.”

“What does the future hold for David Pierce, are you going to stay at Arsenal?”

“Of course I’m going to stay at Arsenal.”

“You said that about Ajax and Gladbach.”

“But they weren’t Arsenal. I want to win the Premier League and that is our aim for next season. I have already told the players this, and they agreed with me.”

“Well there you have it Arsenal fans, David wants to get that Premier League trophy for you. Thank you for joining us, and we will see you next year.”

[STFCDP1990]

BT Sports Presents: “An Englishman Abroad (No More): Season Four.”

Part One

“Here we are again Danny, the end of the season, and the end of your fourth season in management. I can’t believe that it has been four seasons now. Three clubs in four seasons.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing!”

“Well, some could say you have itchy feet.”

“They call it itchy feet, I call it ambition, and now I sit in the hotseat of one of the best teams in England.”

“Yes, this has been your second year in charge of Arsenal. This has been your longest stay in management, have no clubs expressed an interest?”

“No, and I wouldn’t really be interested if they did. I’ve built the club the way I want it, I have my coaches in and I have started to bring my own players in. So I’m slowly turning this into my club.”

“Are you trying to change Wenger’s legacy?”

“I believe that every manager needs to bring in their own style, every manager needs to leave their own stamp on a club.”

“What stamp did you leave on Ajax?”

“Talented young English lads.”

“Gladbach?”

“Again talented young English lads, but to be fair I didn’t have a lot of time at Gladbach.”

“Do you keep in touch with any of the lads that you took to Ajax and Gladbach?”

“There is the odd text message, to see if they are okay. At the end of the day I moved them out to these countries, and I do need to keep an eye on them.”

“If one of them said that they were homesick what would you do?”

“Well I’ve got contacts at other clubs, and could have a word in someone’s ear.”

“Would you not bring them to Arsenal?”

“Depends on the player.”

“Care to name any names?”

“Not at this moment in time.”

“Let’s move on, in the close season we watched as unlikely Ireland lifted the 2016 European Championship. What did you make of the competition?”

“I was disappointed by England. Roberto Martinez has taken over, and I felt he could have got the players playing better. But he has a long England career ahead of him and things can only get better for him.”

“What do you think of a Spaniard taking control of the English national team?”

“Roberto? He isn’t a Spaniard anymore, he’s been over here for so long he might as well be English!”

“That is true, he has said that he feels accepted by the English. But what do you think of foreign managers running the national team? You played under Sven yourself.”

“Sven was a great manager, despite what people have said about him. Foreigners running the national team doesn’t bother me. If you are good enough then nationality shouldn’t matter, look at the amount of foreign managers running clubs in the Premier League, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Do you feel that there are too many foreign managers in England?”

“As I’ve said, nationality doesn’t matter. The only thing I would say matters is if you can speak the language, you can’t be an effective manager if you are working through a translator.”

“Is that not hypocritical?”

“Do you mean at Gladbach?”

“Yeah. It’s a known fact that you speak Dutch, but German?”

“No I don’t speak German, it is one of the only languages I don’t speak. But going back to your point, I sometimes didn’t feel that my team talks got the desired point across, as it was translated for me. I did make an effort to learn German, in my freetime, but I never became fluent.”

“How do Arsenal help non-english speaking players?”

“We offer language classes, which we make compulsory in the contract the player signs. There are fines for players that we know can speak English if we catch them using another language.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and it was the same at Ajax, if I knew a player could speak Dutch, but they weren’t chatting in Dutch in the changing room, they received a fine.”

“What did you do with the fines collected?”

“We donated them to charity, the lads voted on the charity, and we gave them to our chosen charity.”

“Did you collect fines for anything else?”

“Lateness, not putting enough effort in, bad clothes, there were a couple more but I can’t remember them off of the top of my head.”

“Bad clothes?”

“Yeah, some of the lads wear some horrendous things.”

“Who is the worse?”

“I’m not going to say, I don’t want to embarrass Jack Wilshere too much.”

“Well with that bombshell, we are going to head into a break.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Two

“Welcome back, David normally we have a chat at this point about your view on World Football, you’ve never been shy with your opinions, but tonight we want to dive straight into your season with Arsenal.”

“That’s fine by me.”

“So, at the end of last season you listed a number of players you wanted to sign, I’ve got that list here, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mario Balotelli, Sergio Ramos, Luke Shaw, Cesc Fabregas, Ross Barkley and Gareth Bale. How well did you do with signing these players?”

“I signed none of them, as they weren’t available for me to sign. We tried with Zlatan, but unfortunately we couldn’t agree on terms.”

“Okay, so who did you bring in?”

“Well I was lucky to be backed by the board, with them freeing up money for me to strengthen my team.”

“Did you feel the team needed a lot of strengthening?”

“Not really, but there were a few positions that just needed that extra competition.”

“”Does competition help within the squad?”

“It makes players train harder and play better, as footballers want to be playing, not just sitting on the sideline collecting wages.”

“So who did you bring in?”

“First up was Geoffrey Kondogbia from AS Monaco, he arrived with the pressure of a large transfer fee, and to his credit he has paid back every penny with his fantastic performances in midfield. My next signing was very unpopular with the fans, but now they love the lad, Danny Welbeck joined us on a free from Man Utd, and I’ve no idea why Moyes let him leave. We also bought in Pepe from Real Madrid, he’s knocking on, but he let that experience to our defence, plus I’ve always wanted to work with him. We also bought in some youth, with Harrison Cammock joining from Walsall, Cesar Lopez joining from River, and Joel Torres arriving from Boca.”

“Did many players leave?”

“We had the usual amount leaving on loan, to get some minutes on the pitch. We did see Kieran Gibbs leave for Newcastle, and John Ruddy departed for Wolfsburg in July.”

“John Ruddy?”

“Yeah, he only spent a season with us, he couldn’t accept that he was a backup keeper, so I shipped him out, we made a profit on his sale though, which was a plus.”

“How did pre-season go?”

“We spent a lot of time in America, touring the country, which was great for merchandise sales. We played 12 friendly matches overall, and we lost two, drew one and won the remaining nine, which put us in nice form for the start of the season.”

“So how did August go for your side?”

“The new signings settled in quickly and in our first league match we beat Nottingham Forest by two goals. We then faced Manchester United and they left with a point, after they scored a very lucky late goal. We then travelled to Watford where we ran out winners in a scrappy game which saw us score the only goal of the game, early on. Next up was Chelsea in the Euro Super Cup. This was essentially going to be our Charity Shield for the season, and we wanted to make sure we left with the trophy, the game was entertaining for the neutral as both sides decided to press forward and attack, and it took us extra time to manage to find a winner, in a game that ended 5-4.”

“So August bought your first silverware of the season?”

“Yeah, but we weren’t going to let it distract us from the rest of the season, and we decided to celebrate our win at the end of the season.”

“So that wraps up August, you then had the international break, and played a couple of friendly matches in America, but we’ll ignore those. Your next match was a league game with Chelsea.”

“I want to forget that match, it was dire and atrocious, in all my years of being involved in football I’ve never been involved in a worse display. We lost 4-0 to Chelsea and I actually walked home from Stamford Bridge, as I just couldn’t bring myself to look at the players.”

“I don’t think there is a person in the country that hasn’t heard that story. How long did it take you to get home?”

“Not too long, when you are fuming about something you don’t tend to notice other things, so I didn’t really notice the distance I had walked.”

“What happened in the next match?”

“Well we travelled to Moscow in the Champion’s League, and we threw away a two goal lead to draw 2-2 with Dinamo Moscow. Our next league match saw us play Hull and again we threw away a lead to draw 2-2 with them. We managed to get back to winning ways in September as we beat Blackpool 3-0 at home in the Capital One Cup Third Round, Everton 2-0 at home and Porto 3-1 at home, so I was pretty pleased with the end to September.”

“That’s all we have time for in this part, when we come back we’ll discuss October, November and December for David’s Arsenal side.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Three

“And we’re back, David care to tell us about October for your side?”

“We started badly, with a 4-2 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Unfortunately I couldn’t walk home after this match, as we were away from London, but the coach journey home was a quiet one. We then took some time off for the international break, and when the players came back they were desperate to get back to winning ways, and when we played Swansea we emerged 3-0 winners. We then travelled to Austria to play FK Austria Wien, where we came home with a point following a 1-1 draw. Southampton came next, and again we shared the points following another 1-1 draw. Next up came Mansfield in the Capital One Cup Fourth Round, and we beat them 4-0 at Field Mill. We finished October by playing Norwich, and we ran out 3-2 winners of that match.”

“Sounds like a busy October.”

“With the international games, it was. There is always that risk of players burning out, which is why the club spend so much on the medical department, and we have hired the best fitness coaches available.”

“That’s something we haven’t mentioned, what happened on the staff front, did you hire or fire anyone?”

“We did bring in a few new faces, as Jermaine Jenas, Paul Robinson, Ade Akinbiyi all joined the Under 18s coaching staff, and Matthew Upson took the Under 18s manager role. Gary Neville joined the coaching staff. Robert Pires became head of youth development. Tim Flowers and Jens Lehmann joined as goalkeeping coaches. Tony Daley and Jon Goodman came in as fitness coaches, and my good friend Marc Overmars came in as Director of Football.”

“Did anyone leave?”

“Yeah, we said goodbye to a couple of people. Boro Primorac, Neil Banfield, Rodolfo Borrell, Gerry Peyton, Tony Robets, Tony Colbert, Marcus Svensson, Lee Smelt, Steve Leonard, Steve Gatting and Terry Burton all moved on.”

“How have the new coaches helped?”

“They have all bought fresh ideas to the club, and we’ve got a good mix of age and experience now. We also have a lot of players that have won the league, so they have been invaluable this season.”

“How did November go?”

“We started by beating FK Austria Wien by five goals to one. We then travelled to Newcastle and won 1-0. Then it was time for another international break, when that finished we travelled to Cardiff and beat them 3-0. We followed that win with another victory in the Champion’s League as we beat Dinamo Moscow 4-0. We then faced a massive challenge as Man City hosted us, but we weren’t good guests as we ran away with all three points as we beat them 3-2. We finished November by beating Porto 3-0 on their turf.”

“The festive period came next, did your team gift many goals to the opponents, or were they scrooge like?”

“Ha. Well we started the festive period by beating Fulham 1-0. We then lost by a goal to nil to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup. We then gave Liverpool a great present as our defence gifted them 3 goals, as we lost 3-1. We got back to winning ways and beat rivals Tottenham 2-0. Next up came Huddersfield and we beat them 3-0 at the Emirates. We then went away for 5 games, but we’ll talk about 3 of those later. In December we played Reading away on Boxing Day, and we took all 3 points in a 3-0 win. The end of December bought Crystal Palace on New Year’s Eve, and we beat them 3-1.”

“When we come back we will hear about January and February for Arsenal.”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Four:

“Welcome back, January normally brings reinforcements for clubs, did you bring anyone in?”

“Yes, we had Nathan Redmond join us from Norwich, to give us support on the wings. We also bought in Nicolas Tantoni from Boca, Luigi Mautone from Basel, Andreas Hansen from FC Midtjylland and Luciano Falorni from Catania. Nicolas joined the first team but the rest joined the Under 18s. We also saw Olivier Giroud leave us to join Palmero.”

“Why did Giroud leave?”

“He wasn’t getting the games, so I decided to cash in on him instead of letting him rot in the reserves, at that moment in time Danny Welbeck was playing out his skin, and he was getting goals left, right and centre.”

“So the unpopular signing turned out to be a good one?”

“Of course he did, I made the decision to sign him!”

“Modest as always. So how did January turn out for your side?”

“It started well, with a 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest. We then played in the FA Cup third round, beating Doncaster 4-0. We then travelled to Old Trafford, and came away with nothing as we were beaten 3-1. Watford came next in the league and we beat them 5-1. We then faced Watford again, as we played the in the FA Cup, and we beat them 3-0 that time. We then hosted Chelsea, and we drew 1-1 with them. Everton finished off January for us, and we travelled to Goodison Park and came away with a point following a 1-1 draw.”

“How were your title hopes looking at that point?”

“They weren’t dead, but it was going to take a great run of form to get to where we wanted to be. Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City were all challenging us, so it wasn’t going to be an easy run.”

“Let’s talk about February.”

“We played seven games in February overall, and we treated them all like cup finals. First up came Wolves, and we made up for our early poor result against them, as we beat them 3-0. We then travelled to Italy to play AC Milan in the first knockout round of the Champion’s League, we lost 3-2 but we were happy to have the away goals behind us. We then played Newcastle in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, and we drew with them 1-1, which meant that we would have to play an unwanted replay against them. Next up came Hull in the league, and we beat them 2-0. We then travelled to Swansea and beat them 1-0. At this point I didn’t care about the result as long as we picked up all three points. We then exited the FA Cup as Newcastle won the replay 2-1, this hurt slightly, but it allowed us to concentrate on the league, and Champion’s League. Our next league game was against Southampton, and we won 3-1 which handed us top spot in the league.”

“Did you start to believe at that point?”

“Believe does start to creep in, but you have to remain focused on the rest of the season, it would be far too easy to get carried away and throw it all away.”

“Is over-confidence a real problem in football?”

“Yes it is, it can lead to underestimating an opponent’s strengths, and that can be very dangerous.”

“That’s all we have time for in this segment, when we come back we’ll be discussing the final three months of Arsenal’s season.”

[Gary_Parker]

Great read as always sir. Keep it up. I'm expecting a league title this year, so no pressure

[STFCDP1990]

All shall be revealed shortly! Thanks fella!

Part Five

“Thanks for rejoining us. How did March go for your side?”

“Well we started March top of the league, and we were pretty confident about our chances for the rest of the season. The players were voluntarily staying behind after training, and were really busting a gut to make sure they were in the best condition possible. We faced AC Milan first, we found ourselves trailing 3-2 from the first leg, and we played brilliantly to bring ourselves back into the tie, we then got ourselves into the lead on aggregate, and ended up winning the tie 4-1 on the night, and 6-4 on aggregate.”

“Did you not feel the Champion’s League was just another distraction?”

“Part of me did, but it’s a trophy that I would personally like to win, so we were always going to go out there and play to the best of our abilities.”

“How did the league go for you in March?”

“We started off by playing Norwich, and we beat them 5-2 at home, which kept us at the top. We then played Newcastle and gained revenge for the FA Cup by beating them 2-0. We then suffered a tiny blip, as we drew 1-1 with Cardiff, in the Welsh capital. Which rounded off our March, we were top of the league, and had a three point cushion over second place Chelsea.”

“Let’s move onto April.”

“Well we started April by beating Fulham 2-0, and kept our cushion at the top of the league. We then hosted Real Madrid, and kept our good form up by beating them 3-2.”

“You beat Real?”

“Yeah, that was a hard one, as a Real Madrid fan, but Arsenal is my first love and I have to do what is best for the team I manage.”

“Next up in the league came Man City, how did that clash go?”

“Well I would count it as our game of the season, as we finished their title hopes by beating them 6-3 at the Emirates. The atmosphere after that match was electric, and I’ve never heard the Arsenal fans in better voice. We then travelled to Madrid, where we fell to a 2-1 defeat which handed Real Madrid the tie on aggregate. Again we weren’t too upset, as now we could fully focus on our goal of winning the league. We hosted Liverpool only four days after the Madrid game, and although they were fully rested, they were no match for us, and we beat them 3-2. We knew that we needed to get a good result out of our match against Tottenham but I never expected to beat them 4-1 at White Hart Lane. We now found ourselves mere points from the title, we knew that if we beat Huddersfield and if Chelsea failed to win, we would win the league.”

“Do you think the players were feeling under-pressure?”

“Honestly? Yes, we hadn’t won the league since 2004, and I was part of that squad. So we went to Huddersfield, had a perfect first half, we went into the break 2 goals up, and then collapsed in the second half allowing Huddersfield to comeback and draw the game 2-2. Luckily Chelsea drew with Nottingham Forest. We were now in the position to win the league without kicking a ball. If Chelsea drew or lost against Crystal Palace in their second to last match, then they would hand the title to us.”

“So the pressure was firmly on Jose Mourinho?”

“Yes it was, but if there is a man to cope with pressure it is Jose, the man thrives under that pressure and all week he was playing mind games with everyone he could. I’m friends with Jose, so of course he was winding me up through text messages, emails etc. We actually disconnected our fax machine, as he kept sending messages through to try and unsettle us. Obviously he was trying to take the pressure off of his team.”

“Did you have any contact with Dougie Freedman, Palace manager?”

“Yes I did, I gave him a ring the night before their game with Chelsea, and asked him to get us a good result.”

“What did he say to that?”

“He laughed, and said that he would try. I have a lot of time for Dougie, he’s a fantastic manager, and a lovely bloke.”

“You actually attended the Crystal Palace Chelsea match didn’t you?”

“Yeah, that was another of Mourinho’s mind games. He bought my wife and I tickets for the match, and when we arrived we found ourselves sat next to Mourinho’s family.”

“But not for the Sophie?”

“No, she had an evening at her grandparents, which I think she enjoyed.”

“Does she watch football?”

“Not really, she knows that I am a football manager but she shows no interest in the sport, unless she is using it to get attention at school!”

“Well after this break we will talk about the end to Arsenal’s season, did Dougie Freedman do David a favour?”

[STFCDP1990]

Part Six

“Thanks for rejoining us. David you were telling us that if Crystal Palace held Chelsea to a draw, or beat them then you would be champions of England. Would you care to tell us about the Palace vs Chelsea match?”

“Well when I sat down next to Mourinho’s family, it was quite awkward as obviously they knew what we needed Palace to do. I had to laugh at the number of Palace fans who shook my hand and told me that they would “Beat that Mourinho for me!” When Jose came out at the start of the game, he turned and waved to me, and when Chelsea took the lead, he obviously celebrated in my direction. Chelsea dominated the match, and it seemed like we would have to wait to win the league. Until ex-Arsenal lad Henri Lansbury volleyed the ball home in the 91st minute! When the final whistle blew, I sprinted down to the side of the pitch and celebrated with Dougie Freedman, his side had secured their Premier League place, and had won me the league!”

“So you achieved your aim for the season!”

“Yeah we did, what I hadn’t realised was that a number of Arsenal fans had gotten tickets for the match, and when they saw me celebrating on the pitch, they sprinted on, and we had a mini celebration. The Palace fans joined in with us, and it was a fantastic night.”

“So with two games left you found yourselves Champions of England.”

“Yeah, we decided to delay picking up the trophy until our last match of the season. We played Reading in our second to last game, and drew with them 1-1 at the Emirates, where the players received a heroes’ welcome. We picked up the trophy after playing Crystal Palace on the last day of the season, and we capped our season off with a 3-1 win. The Palace lads received a very warm welcome from the Arsenal fans, and Dougie Freedman looked like a kid in a candy shop as the Arsenal and Palace fans sang his name.”

“We’ve also heard that a certain somebody was named Manager of the Year.”

“That was a nice accolade to win, it’s always great to be recognised by your peers.”

“Have you got the trophy?”

“Sophie has it at school!”

“I should have expected that. Do you have your Premier League Winner’s medal?”

“It’s at school, it has been there since I bought it home, the teachers love it. I’ve also had numerous parents asking me to go and coach their children’s football teams!”

“Would you?”

“If it didn’t interfere with my responsibilities at Arsenal. I’ve already gotten some of the kids at that school trials with the Arsenal youth.”

“So what does the future hold for David Pierce?”

“More trophies with Arsenal. I want to win the double next year.”

“You won the double this year, the Super Cup and the Premier League.”

“I mean the proper double, the English double! The FA Cup and the League, then we can look at doing the English treble, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the League, and then hopefully the quadruple, the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Champion’s League and the Premier League.”

“So big aspirations?”

“You have to aim high, or you’ll get nowhere!”

“Very true, will we see many signings from you?”

“I’ve no-one lined up yet, but if the right player comes along then we will snap them up.”

“Well David, once again it has been a pleasure talking to you, good luck for next season, and we will see you again next year.”

“Thanks.”