Hot Prospects That afternoon came what I'd been dreading: The press conference. I was shepherded into the room next door to it, accompanied by Club captain Edgar Davids, Keizer and Van Giel. "Listen" Maarten said to me "You have nothing to worry about. Answer their questions as truthfuly as you can, but do not give too much away. If they probe and get on your nerves, ask for another question. Relax, everything will be fine" I nodded, took a deep breath, then followed him out into the glare of the press spotlights and what seemed like a thousand lightning flashes. I took my seat in between Van giel and Edgar, took a sip of water and waited nervously for the onslaught. They were gonna have a field day. Van Giel stood, and took up the reins. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Ajax football club, and our press conference here today. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you all, a young man who we hope can rejuvenate the Godenzonen, this great football club, back to its former glories. Please welcome our new manager, Steve Hart" He sat down "Now I'm sure there are a few questions, so one at a time please." Here we go. I put on my poker face and tried to look authoritative. I doubt I convinced anyone. They all put up hands or shouted questions at me, so waiting a second for the din to abate, I paused then nodded at someone in the front row. Here it came, the first question. It was in dutch. The press reporter, a pretty girl who asked it sat back down, and everyone looked at me expectantly. I just stupidly smiled. What the hell did she just ask me? Before I could open my mouth, the translator kicked in. "How do you feel to be the new manager at this club?" I looked at her "Obviously I'm absolutley delighted" I replied. "This is a club with a massive history, but things havent gone so well recently. I'm hoping to put that right" Phew, well that was easy. After that though they came at me hard and fast and I had to think on my feet. I did try to inject a little humour into the answers, keep the press on their feet a bit. "Where do you see a man of your extremely limited experience taking Ajax Football Club?"
"Well at the end of the day, all we want is success, to give the fans what they want. I think we can win at least one trophy with the talent we have here"
"How long do you think it will take to get Ajax back to the glory days of the past?"
"I'm hoping for domination of the domestic fronts as soon as possible. European success will take longer, maybe about 10 or 15 minutes"
"You took over from Henk ten Cat who was very unpopular, how will you get the fans on your side and back you?"
"I think they will identify with the position I'm in. At the end of the day I'm a football fan, same as them. I want what they want, and I'm now so fortunate to be in a position that I never dreamed of. I'm not in this for personal gain"
"What made you take the Ajax job?"
"Well initially I refused, but they were very insistent, and had a compromising photo of me with a microphone, an elastic band and a jar of Nutella, so in the end they became very persuasive"
That one shut them up for a second, there was a bit of a murmur at the back, and it wasn't helped that Van Giel hadn't quite registered what I'd said, and had nodded throughout. I grabbed my glass of water.
"Will you be making any signings?"
"Not immediately for the first team squad, as the talent there is of a very high standard. I want to bring in around 8 or 10 "Hot Prospects" for the second team however, I want to recreate the "total Football" days of years gone by, where the talent comes through the ranks at the same time"
"Are you nervous of the Dutch Super Cup on Sunday?"
"It'll be a tough game, PSV are a fantastic side, but I think we more than have the capability to cope with them.
That was enough for now apparently as Van Giel called a halt to the proceedings. There was a brief moment or the press to take photo's of me shaking hands with Van Giel, then it was all over. Thank god!
