And so, after just a year and a half in Indonesia, I had reclaimed the Premier Division for Persija, and more importantly, it was my first trophy as a manager. The end-of-year awards were rather predictable in that I won Manager of the Year, and a fantastic haul of 11 goals from midfield earned Affan Lubis the player’s award, although Bambang Pamungkas’ 17 goals earned him the fans vote.
It was soon after the awards ceremony that I realised that I had realistically achieved everything I could in Asia. I wasn’t going to win the Asian Champions League, especially with Persija, and Korea, China and Japan would never let me into their leagues.
And so, three and a half years after arriving in Kuala Lumpur, I tendered my resignation to the somewhat surprised Persija board, and headed back to London, armed with a memorable story to tell my grandchildren.
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