Roman Renaissance : Start of a New Era

By: Dhaw | November 4th, 2009

7th July, 2009

In front of my idiot box, I sat there, amazed at the events unfolding at the headquarters of AS Roma, news suddenly broke that Luciano Spalletti had left his position as the manager of AS Roma, I was not only dissapointed because of my natural love for the Giallorossi but also because of this ongoing soap opera at Roma.

I was worried for the future of my beloved – a club that currently has “zilch” in it’s transfer kitty, a club that is on the market to be sold one minute and then isn’t the next, a club that was playing Champions League football last season and now finds itself battling for a mid-table finish.

Just as I was about to pick up my phone and call one of my mate to discuss this on-going saga, my phone rings.

“Hello, Who is this” ?

“Hello Dhawval, this is Daniele Prade, Director of Football at AS Roma, we met recently.”

“Yes Mr.Prade”

“I am sure you have heard about Mr.Spalletti resigning today morning, we’ve decided that the man to take us forward is you, we’d like you to be the new Manager of AS Roma”

“Is this a joke, why me, surely there were better candidates out there.”

“No one else wanted the job as they didn’t think the environment at the club is right at the moment” are you interested in the job ??

“Ofcourse Mr.Prade, who wouldn’t be”

“Great to hear, I’ll see you tommorow and have a contract ready for you and then take it from there”

“Certainly. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I’ll speak to you tommorow”

Well my history in football is limited to the coaching of youth teams and discovering a few talents but I never quite made it as a pro, which all in all does not add up to much. On a recent and very successful tour of Rome with a highly organised and well disciplined youth team my skills attracted the attention of Daniele Prade who was very impressed with my work and said to me that one day he would like to see me at Roma but little did both of us know that this day would be upon us so soon.

8th July, 2009

As I was driving towards the headquarters of Roma, I was completely taken over by the occassion and was ecstatic but as soon as I entered the building, I started to think, maybe they’ve had a change of heart, maybe they have figured it out that I am not the right man, but once I got in the room I saw Prade and the legal documentation on his table and felt a sigh of relief and without bothering to read the documents, without even looking at the wages I pulled out a pen and signed the papers.

I am now a manager of Associazione Sportiva Roma. I left my meeting with Daniele Prade having just signed a 2 year contract worth £12,000 a week. The money wasn’t important as being given the responsibility of managing a team I have supported as a kid was an honor.

Due to the financial crisis at the club the management isn’t in the position to offer me a transfer kitty but they have asked me to qualify for the Champions League which means I have to target a top 4 finish. With a lack of transfer funds and a aging squad this is going to be a challenge but nonetheless I am going to give it a shot and I feel I am going to have to rely on all my skills at coaching the youngsters as for the foreseeable future these kids are the clubs future.

I can’t wait until I officially start tomorrow.