24th May 2010
Amsterdam ArenA
Ajax v Roda JC
It was the last game of the Eredivisie, the game that would clinch us the championship, I had signed for Ajax in July 2009 from Leeds United after failing to make their first team. I was 23 and had my whole career ahead of me, I'd been touted as player of the season in the Dutch league, but it meant nothing if we finished second best to Twente. I knew i still had one more job to do. As we sat in the dressing room before kick off, Franke de Boor told me to keep doing what I had been all season, running at defences trying to scare them as much as i could, using the pitch to get into dangerous areas, but Roda had done their research on me, they had a left winger called Kenneth Staelens, a Belgium international at the age of 20, he had a tendency for being 'dirty'.. 34 minutes into the match, we were 1-0 down, and couldn't touch them, id barely had a sniff. Eventually Christian Erikson got the ball in the centre circle 'ping it' I shouted, I knew i could do the full-back for pace, and i did, as i got to the byline, i could see Kenneth Staelens charging at me, before i could do anything both of his feet were in the air and going straight for my left foot, as it hit i felt the sudden pain sear the left side of my body. Collapsed in a heap on the floor, i knew the signs weren't good...
25th May 2010
Amsterdam General Hospital
'W-w-Where am I?!'
'Amsterdam General' replied a soft voice.
'You snapped your Achilles tendon, broke your ankle and fractured your foot'
'But, don't worry, the other guy did get sent off' She continued
'Great, I'm probably never playing ever again, and Staelens has a 3 game ******* ban!'
'Speaking of playing again?.. Will I? Will I play again?!'
Franke de Boor and Steven ten Have strolled into the room..
'Sorry' Franke said downbeat, 'You won't play again, we have been warned another injury to your foot will stop you walking for life, we can't take that risk on you.'
I lay in my bed motionless, felt like i had lost everything. I had nothing anymore.
'When your better we want you to take control of the reserves' Franke told me.
This was a great opportunity for me!
'Ok boss' I gleamed
Fantastic, this could take me onto bigger things, I thought to myself...
28th May 2010
My Apartment
*RING RING RING*
'Hello?' I answered my phone
'Ash, it's Simon Clifford from Leeds!, I'm sorry about your injury pal, I heard you'll never play again. That's the most devastating news a footballer will ever hear is that..'
Simon was a samba soccer's schools coach, he coached mini soccer in Brazil before he was a coach at Leeds,
'Alright Si, I know, I'm still shaken by the whole thing to be honest. They've asked me to have the reserves at ajax when I'm better, so it's not all bad.
'Ah i guess that means you don't wanna be coming back to Elland Road then?!'
I wondered why he was asking..
'Why, who's leaving boss?'
'Me' he replied in a joyful voice, 'I've been offered the assistant manager job at Aston Villa'
Crikey, he was going up in the world.
'Brilliant news mate. Hopefully I'll be somewhere like that one day, but for now Im settled in Holland'..
The call ended there, and I began the road to recovery..
I Went back to the Hospital to find the nurse who looked after me whilst I was there, and sure enough I found her - Lila Vosel. She was a plain girl, nothing over the top, just perfect, we got talking, and I asked her for a drink on Friday night, and luckily, she agreed to it.
Friday came around and i was all ready for my date with Lila - crutches and all. We met at La Bosvel Brasserie, and had a perfect evening together, we both agreed we would meet up soon. In the coming weeks Lila and I became much closer and were very much an item now.
8th January 2011
Amsterdam General
Nothing too exciting had happened in my life over the last few months, but today, today was the day i've been waiting for, for 8 months, the cast was coming off!!. I had been walking on it, without crutches for about a month, and I had never felt a relief like it, all i wanted to do was get on the training pitch and kick a ******* ball. But I couldn't.
10th January 2011
Amsterdam ArenA
My first time back at the club since that night when my career ended, it was so very daunting, as I walked up the stairs, Mr de Boor was walking down..
'Ah Ashley your back. Good to see you!'
'Mr de Boor, Its good to see you too!'
'You know your officially the Reserve coach now?'
'Well, I do now.'
'Get your boots laced up lad'
As I took my first training session two days later, i could see the promise in some of these youngsters, they were top of the reserve league by a country mile, the only problem was, only 3 could speak ******* English. After i finished the session i went to the chairman's office.
'Ashley Its fantastic to see you back. How did the first session go?!'
'There's promise there, that's for sure.' I replied
'Only problem is I cant understand half of them'
He slid me a number across the desk.
'Phone him, he will offer you the best dutch lessons'
'Ok, Thanks, I appreciate what your doing for me, Mr. ten Have.
As i opened the door to leave, he shouted.
'Eh!, You know there's a match on Saturday'
I pretended I did, but I didn't have a clue.
17th January 2011
De Toekomst
Ajax 2 v Willem II Reserves
It's safe to say that I could not of had a worse start to my managerial career, a poor performance meant a 2-0 loss at home to bottom of the league, the language barrier just didn't work and that's where today went wrong. I was confident we would turn it around though..
And i was right, in the coming months up till the end of the season, we were unbeaten in 10, no thanks to me nor my young group of lads, but thanks to a guy called Maark Vicke, I was almost Fluent in Dutch thanks to him.
19th March 2011
My apartment
As Lila and I lay watching TV, she caught me staring at her.
'Whats wrong?' she asked softly.
'Hmm nothing, I'm just thinking about how much I want to marry you'
She asked me not to joke about it.
'Who's joking?! i replied and pulled out an engagement ring
She leaped into the air and started screaming
'Is that a yes or a no?! I asked Jokingly
'YES YES YES' she screamed.
2nd May 2011
Phillips Stadion
Ajax 2 v PSV II
Cup Final
We had won the league by 19 points, there was still 2 games to go, but this game meant something, 20,000 turned out to watch the reserves battle it out. I needed my star man to perform tonight, Mats Rits a 17 year old lad from Belgium, class little player and he did perform, my god he performed, with 8 minutes gone we were 1-0 down, some slack defending let PSV in, I screamed at my captain, telling him to sort it out! and within 10 minutes we were back on terms, Rits playing a brilliant give and go with de Guliers before feeding it to Rodney Sneijder who smashed it home. 1-1 HT
The second half started off slowly, the first 15 minutes both sides were trying to keep the ball, however on the hour Rits tried to round the keeper only to be brought down by him, he was shown a straight red card, and Rits got up to take the penalty, he smashed it right into the corner, giving the sub keeper no chance at all. PSV had a couple of chances to come back at us, but they were poor really, with 4 minutes left, more brilliance from Rits was causing the PSV defence trouble and a free kick was given, about 40 yards out, Klesters, a Swedish lad who once played for Liverpool was a bit of a free kick specialist, but i thought this was too far, even for him.. But i was wrong, Roberto Carlos-esque he smashed the ball over the wall into the bottom corner, and it put us out of sight. 3-1 FT
So a league and cup double for the Reserves had everyone cheering at the club. However this would be short lived..
4th May 2011
Amsterdam ArenA
AJAX Chairman Steven ten Have:
'It is with regret that I must inform you all, First team manager Franke de Boor was found dead at his home this morning, at this difficult time our thoughts are with his family and friends.. With the season now over, First team operations are suspended until further notice, we will also not be looking for our next manager until the time is right. Thank you'
I sat in my seat frozen, couldn't believe what i had just heard, but in the back of my mind, i knew this was a great opportunity for me, i knew that getting the double with the reserves might get me noticed..
30th June 2011
Seychelles
I woke up to find a missed call on my phone, i was confused, who would phone me in the Seychelles, ******* crazy money! i phoned back thinking it must be important, didn't even give my application for the managers job at Ajax any thought
'Hello Ashley' said a soft voice
'Who's this?!' I asked swiftly
'Steven ten Have, your chairman, be at the club for 10AM tomorrow morning'
'Ok sir, I'll be there.'
Ok it meant cutting my holiday short by a couple of days, but i knew what this was about, I told Lila we needed to get the next plane back to Holland.
'What if its not what you think it is?' she asked.
'Trust me, I'm sure of it'
1st July 2011
Amsterdam ArenA
'Morning Ashley, Take a seat' Steven told me.
' See those papers?, I want you to sign them and take on the role of first team manager at AFC Ajax.
I couldn't believe it 24 years old and I was going to be manager of Ajax, one of the most decorated clubs in Europe
'You'll have a £9m transfer kitty, and £350,000 to spend on wages, on top of that is your 3 year contract worth £15,000 a week' I was told.
I signed the papers almost straight away.
'Thank you so much for this opportunity sir, I will be forever grateful, I can't wait to start work!
Amsterdam ArenA
Ajax v Roda JC
It was the last game of the Eredivisie, the game that would clinch us the championship, I had signed for Ajax in July 2009 from Leeds United after failing to make their first team. I was 23 and had my whole career ahead of me, I'd been touted as player of the season in the Dutch league, but it meant nothing if we finished second best to Twente. I knew i still had one more job to do. As we sat in the dressing room before kick off, Franke de Boor told me to keep doing what I had been all season, running at defences trying to scare them as much as i could, using the pitch to get into dangerous areas, but Roda had done their research on me, they had a left winger called Kenneth Staelens, a Belgium international at the age of 20, he had a tendency for being 'dirty'.. 34 minutes into the match, we were 1-0 down, and couldn't touch them, id barely had a sniff. Eventually Christian Erikson got the ball in the centre circle 'ping it' I shouted, I knew i could do the full-back for pace, and i did, as i got to the byline, i could see Kenneth Staelens charging at me, before i could do anything both of his feet were in the air and going straight for my left foot, as it hit i felt the sudden pain sear the left side of my body. Collapsed in a heap on the floor, i knew the signs weren't good...
25th May 2010
Amsterdam General Hospital
'W-w-Where am I?!'
'Amsterdam General' replied a soft voice.
'You snapped your Achilles tendon, broke your ankle and fractured your foot'
'But, don't worry, the other guy did get sent off' She continued
'Great, I'm probably never playing ever again, and Staelens has a 3 game ******* ban!'
'Speaking of playing again?.. Will I? Will I play again?!'
Franke de Boor and Steven ten Have strolled into the room..
'Sorry' Franke said downbeat, 'You won't play again, we have been warned another injury to your foot will stop you walking for life, we can't take that risk on you.'
I lay in my bed motionless, felt like i had lost everything. I had nothing anymore.
'When your better we want you to take control of the reserves' Franke told me.
This was a great opportunity for me!
'Ok boss' I gleamed
Fantastic, this could take me onto bigger things, I thought to myself...
28th May 2010
My Apartment
*RING RING RING*
'Hello?' I answered my phone
'Ash, it's Simon Clifford from Leeds!, I'm sorry about your injury pal, I heard you'll never play again. That's the most devastating news a footballer will ever hear is that..'
Simon was a samba soccer's schools coach, he coached mini soccer in Brazil before he was a coach at Leeds,
'Alright Si, I know, I'm still shaken by the whole thing to be honest. They've asked me to have the reserves at ajax when I'm better, so it's not all bad.
'Ah i guess that means you don't wanna be coming back to Elland Road then?!'
I wondered why he was asking..
'Why, who's leaving boss?'
'Me' he replied in a joyful voice, 'I've been offered the assistant manager job at Aston Villa'
Crikey, he was going up in the world.
'Brilliant news mate. Hopefully I'll be somewhere like that one day, but for now Im settled in Holland'..
The call ended there, and I began the road to recovery..
I Went back to the Hospital to find the nurse who looked after me whilst I was there, and sure enough I found her - Lila Vosel. She was a plain girl, nothing over the top, just perfect, we got talking, and I asked her for a drink on Friday night, and luckily, she agreed to it.
Friday came around and i was all ready for my date with Lila - crutches and all. We met at La Bosvel Brasserie, and had a perfect evening together, we both agreed we would meet up soon. In the coming weeks Lila and I became much closer and were very much an item now.
8th January 2011
Amsterdam General
Nothing too exciting had happened in my life over the last few months, but today, today was the day i've been waiting for, for 8 months, the cast was coming off!!. I had been walking on it, without crutches for about a month, and I had never felt a relief like it, all i wanted to do was get on the training pitch and kick a ******* ball. But I couldn't.
10th January 2011
Amsterdam ArenA
My first time back at the club since that night when my career ended, it was so very daunting, as I walked up the stairs, Mr de Boor was walking down..
'Ah Ashley your back. Good to see you!'
'Mr de Boor, Its good to see you too!'
'You know your officially the Reserve coach now?'
'Well, I do now.'
'Get your boots laced up lad'
As I took my first training session two days later, i could see the promise in some of these youngsters, they were top of the reserve league by a country mile, the only problem was, only 3 could speak ******* English. After i finished the session i went to the chairman's office.
'Ashley Its fantastic to see you back. How did the first session go?!'
'There's promise there, that's for sure.' I replied
'Only problem is I cant understand half of them'
He slid me a number across the desk.
'Phone him, he will offer you the best dutch lessons'
'Ok, Thanks, I appreciate what your doing for me, Mr. ten Have.
As i opened the door to leave, he shouted.
'Eh!, You know there's a match on Saturday'
I pretended I did, but I didn't have a clue.
17th January 2011
De Toekomst
Ajax 2 v Willem II Reserves
It's safe to say that I could not of had a worse start to my managerial career, a poor performance meant a 2-0 loss at home to bottom of the league, the language barrier just didn't work and that's where today went wrong. I was confident we would turn it around though..
And i was right, in the coming months up till the end of the season, we were unbeaten in 10, no thanks to me nor my young group of lads, but thanks to a guy called Maark Vicke, I was almost Fluent in Dutch thanks to him.
19th March 2011
My apartment
As Lila and I lay watching TV, she caught me staring at her.
'Whats wrong?' she asked softly.
'Hmm nothing, I'm just thinking about how much I want to marry you'
She asked me not to joke about it.
'Who's joking?! i replied and pulled out an engagement ring
She leaped into the air and started screaming
'Is that a yes or a no?! I asked Jokingly
'YES YES YES' she screamed.
2nd May 2011
Phillips Stadion
Ajax 2 v PSV II
Cup Final
We had won the league by 19 points, there was still 2 games to go, but this game meant something, 20,000 turned out to watch the reserves battle it out. I needed my star man to perform tonight, Mats Rits a 17 year old lad from Belgium, class little player and he did perform, my god he performed, with 8 minutes gone we were 1-0 down, some slack defending let PSV in, I screamed at my captain, telling him to sort it out! and within 10 minutes we were back on terms, Rits playing a brilliant give and go with de Guliers before feeding it to Rodney Sneijder who smashed it home. 1-1 HT
The second half started off slowly, the first 15 minutes both sides were trying to keep the ball, however on the hour Rits tried to round the keeper only to be brought down by him, he was shown a straight red card, and Rits got up to take the penalty, he smashed it right into the corner, giving the sub keeper no chance at all. PSV had a couple of chances to come back at us, but they were poor really, with 4 minutes left, more brilliance from Rits was causing the PSV defence trouble and a free kick was given, about 40 yards out, Klesters, a Swedish lad who once played for Liverpool was a bit of a free kick specialist, but i thought this was too far, even for him.. But i was wrong, Roberto Carlos-esque he smashed the ball over the wall into the bottom corner, and it put us out of sight. 3-1 FT
So a league and cup double for the Reserves had everyone cheering at the club. However this would be short lived..
4th May 2011
Amsterdam ArenA
AJAX Chairman Steven ten Have:
'It is with regret that I must inform you all, First team manager Franke de Boor was found dead at his home this morning, at this difficult time our thoughts are with his family and friends.. With the season now over, First team operations are suspended until further notice, we will also not be looking for our next manager until the time is right. Thank you'
I sat in my seat frozen, couldn't believe what i had just heard, but in the back of my mind, i knew this was a great opportunity for me, i knew that getting the double with the reserves might get me noticed..
30th June 2011
Seychelles
I woke up to find a missed call on my phone, i was confused, who would phone me in the Seychelles, ******* crazy money! i phoned back thinking it must be important, didn't even give my application for the managers job at Ajax any thought
'Hello Ashley' said a soft voice
'Who's this?!' I asked swiftly
'Steven ten Have, your chairman, be at the club for 10AM tomorrow morning'
'Ok sir, I'll be there.'
Ok it meant cutting my holiday short by a couple of days, but i knew what this was about, I told Lila we needed to get the next plane back to Holland.
'What if its not what you think it is?' she asked.
'Trust me, I'm sure of it'
1st July 2011
Amsterdam ArenA
'Morning Ashley, Take a seat' Steven told me.
' See those papers?, I want you to sign them and take on the role of first team manager at AFC Ajax.
I couldn't believe it 24 years old and I was going to be manager of Ajax, one of the most decorated clubs in Europe
'You'll have a £9m transfer kitty, and £350,000 to spend on wages, on top of that is your 3 year contract worth £15,000 a week' I was told.
I signed the papers almost straight away.
'Thank you so much for this opportunity sir, I will be forever grateful, I can't wait to start work!