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At the end of every season, some things are a given and one of those is that Newcastle will have a disappointing finish and end up sacking their manager. This season was no different and applications were being accepted for the post. It seemed to be a yearly event and it saddened me that a great club like Newcastle should finish poorly and win nothing yet again. Their fans showed up consistently in huge numbers even though there really was no success to justify such support.
I had just passed my coaching exams after ending an illustrious playing career. "Maybe I'll apply!" I joked to the wife. "Give me one good reason why you shouldn't?" Well I couldn't. Why are women so often right? It's very annoying to me. "Just be yourself and think big" she said.
I sat in front of Shepherd, Ashley and other members of the board. They looked distracted. I think they were just going through the motions interviewing me, knowing that they were going to give the job to a much more qualified applicant. Shepherd sighed and threw the first question at me and the others started chiming in soon enough.
"Why do you think Newcastle has under-achieved recently?"
"You haven't under-achieved, you've been about as successful as I would expect you to be."
"Well…why have we not been more successful then, in your opinion?"
"You haven't had a good squad or a good manager ever since Keegan left"
That got people's attention.
"You don't feel Bobby Robson was a good manager?"
"Not by the time you got him, no. But he was the best you've had in the last 10 years"
"So you don't feel we have any good players?"
"You definitely have some good players, but the overall quality of the squad is poor. You have a large number of midfielders, you have 2 quality forwards who are vertically challenged, you have a good but not amazing goalie, and your defense is hopeless."
"I don't think that shows a lot of respect for the players here."
"I'm just being honest. Mediocre players produce mediocre results."
"What would you say if I said we had a large transfer fund available."
"I'd say you better spend it very wisely."
"How would you spend it?"
"I know many top quality players that I would sign, if I was given the job that is. I have a great many contacts around the world. Ask around. All my life I wanted to be a manager, before I even wanted to be a player. I intend to be the best, and knowing the best available players is a huge part of that. I would bring in an entirely new set of coaching staff and scouts and bring some top young players in. You need that foundation to build for the future. It might not bring you instant success, but it will bring you much more success in the long run, even though it would likely be my successors who would reap the rewards."
"I think the fans will tell you they're tired of waiting for success"
"I think the fans want to see progression and be entertained on the way. Right now, neither of those things are happening. Newcastle needs players and coaches with fire in their bellies to match the passion of the fans. People can talk systems all they want but if you don't have that, the rest doesn't even matter."
In the end, we talked for 3 hours. It was hard to know what they thought of me, but at least they took me seriously and I got my philosophies and opinions across. And if you're reading this, you already know I got the job. They called me in for what I thought was a second interview, but instead was a job offer. They told me I had 50 million to spend and I should get moving on those player, coach & scout signings. The wife and I went out to celebrate and she gave me that look that said "I was right". If you're a married man, you'll know what look I'm talking about. That evening the phone rang off the hook with well-wishers. It was all pretty overwhelming.
The press conference was interesting, I told them the immediate priority was to get into the UEFA cup through the Intertoto and have a good season in Europe. I told them I wanted us to qualify for Europe every season I was there and that I expected Champions League football within 3 seasons. I also told them I would hand in my resignation any season my goal wasn't met. I remained tight-lipped on new players even though a lot was going on behind the scenes to bring new players in. I did however unveil my assistant and everyone was amazed when my good friend Gianfranco Zola strolled in with that usual big smile across his face. His english was better than people remembered and he was his normal classy self. Working with him was going to be a blast whatever happened.
Well in an incredibly short period of time, we had secured the services of 9 new players. I had wanted a 10th but we had used up the transfer budget so 9 it was and here they are:
G Igor Akinfeev (20) for 7.5M from CSKA Moscow
D Billy Jones (19) for 725K from Crewe
RB Rafinha (21) for 5M from Schalke
CB Vincent Kompany (20) for 8M from HSV
DM Nigel DeJong (21) for 4.8M from HSV
AM Franck Ribery (23) for 11.75M from Marseille
AM/F Kerlon (18) for 500K from Cruziero
AM/F Anderson (18) for 4.8M from Porto
F Giampaolo Pazzini (21) for 9.5M from Fiorentina
Total spent: 53M. 5 players were released on frees and Alan O'Brien went to Gretna for 525K. Sibierski and Pattison were also placed on the transfer list.
I was very excited about the crop of new players. Pazzini was the first to join and when people knew I had him, it was a snowball effect. I felt lucky that the world underestimated the talent of Ribery & Akinfeev. Their loss, my gain. The board were already coming in for a lot of stick. First they appoint an inexperienced coach and then he goes and spends 50 million on a bunch of unknowns. Ribery seemed to be the only player most people had heard of but they would soon know a lot more about my all my new players. I had to give the board credit for doing what they truly felt was right for the club.
Another unfinished tale 
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