The High Flying Dutchmen: An Ajax Amsterdam Story

[Raikan007]

The High Flying Dutchmen: An Ajax Amsterdam Story

Breaking news:

Late last night there was pandamonium outside the Amsterdam Arena as Steven Den Have the Chairman released a shocking statement:

Steven Den Have:

"It is with great sadness that I have to share the news to the fans of this fantastic club and the nation/world as a whole. Earlier this evening Frank had a series of violent attacks that doctors believe to be caused by an unkown heart disease. He is currently in I.C.U recovering well, however, doctors advise that in order to prolong his life and ensure his well being he would have to give up football management. As of now we are currently searching for a new manager to take over the reigns, this is imperitive for the future of the club and we will not rush into any decision, all applicant's will be thoroughly interviewed and assessed.
Thank you for your time and we wish Frank a speedy recovery..."

(outside the Amsterdam Arena the next morning)

Steven Den Have:

"Thank you all for joining us again this morning. We have several shortlisted candidates for the vacant managerial position at present which include the likes of Marc Overmars, Steve McClaren, Dennis Bergkamp, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and a few more... The decision will be made later this afternoon as we are currently considering a few other options as well!"

Frank De Boer (released a statement from hospital:

"I just want to say thank you to all the fans and the board here at Ajax for allowing me the oppurtunity to coach this fantastic team, I am doing well however am deeply saddened that I will never be able to coach again. I wish my replacement all the best for the future"

Press conference Amsterdam Arena:

Steven Den Have:

"It is with great pleasure to announce that we have been able to capture a very talented young manager who hails from a small town in South Africa, Mr. Neil Hart. Please use this time to ask Mr. Hart your questions and please, one at a time only, thank you"

Piet Riegter: (Journalist)

Good day Mr. Hart, welcome to Holland. As Mr. Den Have mentioned you are from a small town in South Africa, does sitting here intimidate you?"

Neil Hart:

"Hi Piet, please, call me Neil and thank you for the warm welcome! To be honest nothing scares me, I grew up in South Africa in the height of apartheid and now with he constant crime we as South Africans face on a daily basis, sitting here does not intimidate me in the slightest, I look forward to the challenge"

Peter De Jonge: (Journalist)

"Hi Neil, as an English speaking manager will you not find it difficult to communicate with your players and staff?

Neil Hart:

"Hi Peter, in South Africa we have 11 official languages and one of them is Afrikaans which of course is similar to Dutch as Jan Van Riebeck and the 1820 Settlers arrived at our shores at the Cape of Good Hope all those years ago. So by speaking Afrikaans which I do fluently, I am certain I will be able to get my views across to my boys"

Hendrik De Koning: (Journalist)

"Sitting here today, do you know who is in your plans and who is not? Are you looking forward to working with Christian Eriksen who has been a revelation since joining Ajax?

Neil Hart:

"I do have an idea who is in and who will be on their way out, the Chairman has entrusted me with building a title winning team and in doing so being able to compete once again for the Uefa Champions League. Christian is by far one of the brightest stars of this generation and I am excited to work closely with him and help him develop into the Global Superstar he is destined to become"


Robyn van Damer: (Journalist)

"Hi Neil, could you give us an indication of what your philosophy is when it comes to your formations and style of play as this is your first attempt at coaching, we would like to know what to expect

"Neil Hart:"
Robyn, I am afraid you are going to have to wait and see like everyone else. Football is about entertainment but also about winning games even if its by one goal or six goals. A season is a long time and its easy to hit the ground running but with injuries and suspensions you cannot predict what will happen in the future so we just have to take one day at a time. At this point I would like to thank everyone for coming here today"

(Later that evening lying in bed in his brand new apartment)

"****, what a night! Nervous as **** for tomorrow, hope I can get at least a couple of hours sleep in before training... Overnight my life has changed completely! What the **** am I doing here? Why did the Chairman entrust me with this position, I have no experience in managing! This is going to be an epic **** up, I can just feel it! Tomorrow is a big day, meeting all the players and the staff, I hope they like me, I hope they respect me! I am loving this apartment for the time being! Can't wait for my fiance' to move up, I am missing her already"
​

 

[Raikan007]

(Early in the morning lying in bed in the brand new apartment)

"****, I barely slept an hour, not the greatest start to the greatest day of my life! I need a cup of joe, thank God they have some of the best coffee in the world here. Need to have a quick shower then its off to work, **** I love this place"

(After a quick tram ride I arrive at the Amsterdam Arena)

"This is going to be one **** of a day! This must be one of the most magnificent stadiums around, it looks even better in the day actually!" As I walked through the staff entrance I thought to myself that I have to be confident, caring and honest with the players and staff here for them to connect with me and respect me. It's not going to be easy but I have a job to do and I intend to do it well.....

(A quick board meeting early in the morning to finalize everything)

Steven Den Have:

"Good morning Neil, I trust you had a good rest. We have decided to offer you a two year contract at £7500.00 per month. I know its not a lot to start off with however if you perform to expectations and hopefully beyond, we will adjust it accordingly. Your main objective this year is to challenge for the Eredevisie title and qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League"

Neil Hart:

"Thats absolutely perfect, thank you! If this meeting has run its course I think I should meet with my staff to discuss training and contracts"


As I walk through the suites in the Arena I start to feel as though I belong, I get a good feeling about my time here in Amsterdam however I need to fire a few of the coaches here as they are not up to the standard. This has to be the worst part of the job....

I call a pre-season meeting with all my staff members to introduce myself and meet who I will be working closely with in the next several months. It goes well for the most part, they share their views on training regimes and how things have run in the past with past mangers. I explain to them that things are going to change around here, not in an ugly or disrespectful way but in a motivating way! Dennis Bergkamp does not seem to like me much, I think he had applied for the vacant managers position after Frank had released his statement (poor guy, I hope he is recovering well) and clearly is unhappy that some unkown manager had been chosen ahead of him. Tough ****!

I invite Dennis and a few other staff members in who I can see do not want to be a part of this new chapter and offer them an oppurtunity to cancel their contracts and of course we will pay their severances, everyone understands and agrees to this, Dennis does cause a bit of a scene unfortunately, but I had anticipated that, I think we had to get security in to help Dennis out the building....

Now the search begins:

I send out adverts and post a few job's that are available for Ajax in the media to see who is interested and what calibre of staff members I can attract...

I scour the applications and decided that Marc Wilmotts suits my criteria perfectly and give him a call and offer him the job which he gladly accpets, he seems like a great guy and I look forward to working with him...
​

 

[JonoMUFC]

Love it Boet, I also love how you seem to have taken yourself in real life as if tomorrow you were phoned by Ajax to take the job. Good story so far look forward to more updates

 

[Raikan007]

Thanks Jono, exactly what I was going for

 

[Raikan007]

(Marc Wilmotts arrives eager to get to work)

"I ask Marc for some suggestions regarding new coaches and a few players he thinks would do well here with us, unfortunately he has been unemployed for a while and has lost a few of his contacts, we chat for a an hour or so discussing our relationship and responsiblities, I inform him that he will be atteding most of the press conferences as I like to be with my boys from the morning of match day til kick off"

Den Have has given me around £8.25m to spend on strengthening the squad which can be stretched to a little more if needs be. However I do not want to overspend and I have to start offloading a few players in order to generate extra funds, also not my favourite part of the job, however it must be done!

I approach a handful of coaches from Brazil and a few unemployed coaches who eagerley accept my contract offers and are excited to be a part of the new chapter in the history of this fantastic club, I have a quick chat with them over the phone and inform them of their responsibilities and roles so as soon as they arrive they will get straight to work!


Ajax Transfers: In:

Free Transfers:

View attachment 203371View attachment 203372View attachment 203373

Paid Transfers:

View attachment 203381View attachment 203380View attachment 203378View attachment 203377View attachment 203376View attachment 203375View attachment 203374View attachment 203382

As I welcome all the new signings to the club over the next couple of days I start to feel at home and part of something bigger, it is a burning desire deep down that wants me, pushing me to succeed... The new bunch of players are all in a great mood and happy to have signed for a club with such a history and new ambition and cannot wait to get started!

I am happy with the depth of the squad at the moment and the quality I have in order to achieve what is required of me! have picked up a few players on free transfers to keep my transfer budget in tact and I must say there are some quality players out there and am delighted that they decided to join us instead of the likes of Juventus and Olympiakos!

I cannot wait to see Jorge Enriquez in action, he looks like a fantastic athlete and only heard great things from the scouts about him, they think he will become a key member of the squad in a few years, lets hope so! I was quite surprised to see Belluschi on the transfer list online earlier this morning as well, he is a quality player and has represented Argentina a couple times, I contacted his agent as soon as I could to put in my offer! What a great player for a good price! I am very happy with that deal, he also provides a a good role model for the younger players like Ritheley and Jorge!

Nikao only arrives in January though but for someone as talented as him I think I got a fantastic deal! Rithely has the potential to be a key player for this team and is sort of the new Gilberto Silva in a way and I look forward to seeing how he develops..

As Khune and Xulu walked in I was greeted with a kg of biltong and a few other South African items I have been craving for the past several days, they seemed really excited to have joined Ajax and are really appreciative of me for doing so.. I am glad to have a few players on my side already, could make things a bit easier....

I am after one big signing though that will make everyone stand up and take notice of Ajax, I have this player in mind but dont want to let on anything in case I miss my chance.......

(It's a sad day for some of the players though)

It is hard seeing players that have been with the club for many years walking out the locker rooms on their way out to a different city, different country and some even a different continent! I feel for their families too as it completely uproots their lives and have to start over again somewhere new..

As I say goodbye to all of the players individually and thank them for understanding Miralem stops for a while and says "hi boss, I hope you can use the money you got from my transfer to finance your big deal player" as I looked at him I felt he was being extremely sincere and genuine and at that moment I felt better! I wished him all the best and good luck in England as he is going to need it!

(What an emotional day)

I arrive home just after 11pm that evening and sit back with an ice cold Heineken and go over the past several days in my head...

"What a rollercoaster ride, I never thought it would be like this! I am loving it so far! The hardest part is about to begin though, I have to introduce my vision on tactics/formations tomorrow, I hope they will accept the challenge and enjoy their new roles.... I made an offer on my Key signing just before I left my office, I will see what they say in the morning, lets hope its good news.....
​

 

[D@ve]

Really good story mate...
As i was reading it i felt like turning Sky Sports News on and listening to this unfold as i felt this was real life haha>>

I've book marked this story and will be following it with a close eye..

And i wish you all the best Mr Hart

 

[Raikan007]

what do you think of the transfers Dave? I was extremely happy with them

do you have any clue on who my marquee signing was/is? I spent £7.5m on him!

 

[Raikan007]

(The Big day)

"Thank God I slept better than the previous couple of nights, time for a cup of joe and check my personal emails. One from the fiance hits home a bit, its been over a week since I arrived in Amsterdam and she is still finishing up a project she has been working on for the last two years, it should still take serveral months, I hope I can fly her up for a weekend soon! As I carry on reading through my mails there is only one mail that has my attention, the one I sent to Fc Twente last night before I left the office....

As I arrive at the training grounds a little later on I am greeted by the board members and Steven standing around a brand new white Porsche Panamera. As I get closer I can see their smiles, ear to ear. I suddenly start feeling like a two year old child at christmas time.. I try hold back the excitement and greet them all good morning. Steven looks at me and says "take it for a spin, she's yours"

(Can this day get any better?)

Smiling from ear to ear and as happy as pig in **** I walk through the training ground on the way into my office, some of the guys look really relaxed and in a boyant mood on their first day back from the off season, some of the older players are a lot more focused and look raring to go!
Marc is waiting in my office with the rest of the coaches for our weekly meeting. Some of the old regime coaches make a few jokes about the car and the fact that no other manager had received a nice surprise like that, I just said the club must have been making a bit of a profit recently and loaded up my Mac...

After downloading over a dozen emails I skimmed across the subject lines until I found what I was looking for:
Re: Offer to purchase:

As I opened it my heart began to race "this signing will most definately get the fans and board excited"

Ajax transfers 2011/2012:

View attachment 203408
​

 

[D@ve]

Im sorry didnt get straight back to you but im setting up a new big Db and many leagues save with Utd...(gonna look at this Nikao kid)...And im very impressed how you've managed your budget and signedsomenice players i like the look of Belluschi where and how much did you purchase him from

But after reading your last post that is 1 **** of a signing i think the rest of the Nation will stand up an listen Neil...

Ive heard good things about De Jong i read on this site in 1 thread that he was signed for someone in there Arsenal save as a replacement for RVP when injuired but as kept RVP out of team as he been playing and scoring well....I am looking forward to the coming weeks to see how he preforms for you mate..

 

[k3zz4]

hehe raiken, nice to see you playing in Eredivisie but you choosen the WRONG team!!!! you had to choose PSV..

1 question about your transfers! how the **** did you get so much to spend???

great story !

 

[Raikan007]

hey Dave, glad to hear that, make sure you do not go over the player limit otherwise you will get crash dumps... also keep in mind the game file gets bigger and bigger so allow for at least 5000 player leeway when adding leagues and your max!

Belluschi is from Porto and paid £1.4m for him as he was transfer listed, he performed really well in a Porto save in Fm11 and is technically very gifted....

De Jong is being kept on the bench for the time being... you will see why shortly

K3eez, hahaahah! I just decided to make them into a European powerhouse again and I love Eriksen!

I was given £8.25m as I mentioned in the post and as you can see from above I actually saved £1m after selling off a few players

 

[D@ve]

Im interested on your tactic boss.... haha

 

[D@ve]

Hey bud thanks for that i didnt no that about my player count but ive check thelimit and its 77000 players and ive only 64000 load with 15 leagues bud... So thanks for the advice and im going to take my time and look for players and bargins this time..

 

[Raikan007]

Im interested on your tactic boss.... haha

at the moment it is only this one

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...on-tactic-testing-wanted-needed-please-2.html

 

[D@ve]

Looks a good tactic mate ill download it and when i start a save with either AC milan or Ajax or someone simlar bud??

 

[Raikan007]

(Later on that morning)

I cannot believe Fc Twente accepted our offer, their fans must be ******** bricks at the sale, I dont give a ****, I am sure every Ajax fan is drooling at the thought of him wearing the jersey... This is a great day for this club guys.

Marc Wilmots:

"Great deal coach, I was myself surprised to hear you signed him up so quickly and so quietly, I will work closely with him to ensure you get the best out of him"

Neil Hart:

Thanks Marc, lets go round the guys up for some pre-season fitness drills! John, did you manage to get that Yoga instructor I requested yesterday?

John Bosman:

Yes coach, I got a lady by the name of Doreen Roelofs, she is coming in at 2pm for the class.

(Later on that afternoon)

As I stand and watch the the guys stretching and attempting to bend their bodies in way's that the human body should not bend I see that they are all enjoying themselves after the vigarous fitness drills we ran earlier. It seems as though this was a reward for their efforts earlier which I will gladly take as it serves more than one purpose! After the session I will be sitting down with the squad and explaining their new roles and responsibilities in each position and the strategy we will be implementing... I hope it goes as planned and everyone will look forward to the change!

(Nervous as ****)

As I stand there explaining my vision for the way we are going to be playing this season, the general concensus from the group of players is looking rather promising, I feel a lot more relaxed now. I told everyone that I adopt a rotation plan that if you play well you will start! Regardless of your role in the team, your salaries, how big their dicks are! If they perform they play! I think I could see it motivated the younger players which is exaclty what I intended....

I told them we will be playing possession based football that will carve open defences with well timed and intelligent runs and passess! I explained recycling the ball is imperitive to maitain shape and dominance over your opponents and mentioned that the midfield will be the focus of the tactics and the defenders need to assist in retaining possession properly as Toby and Jan are great footballers....

All in all it seemed to go very well to my surprise, I think these guys like me already...

View attachment 203424

"Ok boys, time for questions:"

Christian Eriksen:

"Coach, are you looking to bring in anyone in the next few day's or before the window closes?"

Neil Hart:

"Hi Erik, no, not at all, I feel we have the perfect amount of depth and experience in our squad at present"

Itumaleng Khune:

"Coach, are we going to have a braai for these okes here, shisa nyama?"

Neil Hart:

"Hahaha, yes of course Itamuleng, I have actually organized one for tomorrow evening, please feel free to invite your wife and kids as well! Thanks for the biltong, I finished it already"

​

"All right gents, that concludes our meeting for today, go home and get some rest, good job today..."
​

 

[Quasit]

Nice looking story you have here. You should look to sign Jari Litmanen as coach when he retires.

 

[JonoMUFC]

hahahahahaha Khune loves himself a braai

Baie Lekker Braai vleis boet.

 

[slbenficacoach]

Good evening Raikan, which countries did you load ? Holand and South Africa or a few more? Brazil too?

 

[Fonzie]

Nice looking story you have here. You should look to sign Jari Litmanen as coach when he retires.

Even better, sign him as a player! Did that in 11 and he was still playing in the spring of 2013.