I had met many weird and wonderful characters during my esteemed managerial career. Whether it be Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, Peter Hill-Wood or even Dave Allen - I thought I had seen it all. However, nothing could have prepared me for the expectations of my new boss, Mohammed Al-Fayed.

The Egyptian owner of Fulham had broken the bank to steal me from under the noses of Manchester United for what I said would be my final managerial job before retiring. I had arrived at Craven Cottage amidst huge publicity and media hysteria, people were shocked that I had opted for Fulham over Manchester and I must admit, the overriding factor had been the amount of money on offer in London.

I felt that after such a long, hard career in which I had lived and breathed football, I was entitled to cash in on my reputation as a manager who can get the best out of players and win trophies. But that didn’t for one second mean that I wouldn’t be whole-heartedly committed to the Cottagers.

After wading my way through the hordes of journalist and photographers I finally made it into the ground and was greeted by Mr. Al-Fayed who shook my hand and lead me to the press conference room where I would be given my official unveiling. However, little did I know that the press conference would be less about me and more about Mr. Al-Fayed and his vision for the future of the club.

Al-Fayed said that he had overseen the development of Fulham from lower league no hopers into an established Premier League team. However, he felt that in recent years the club had become stagnant and that he was tired of the continual battle to stave off relegation. He told the hushed news conference that he was prepared to do whatever it takes to make Fulham into a major force, not only in England, but Europe as well. That, he said, was why he had brought the best manager in the world to Craven Cottage.

He continued, saying that he wasn’t a gambling man, but he was prepared to foot the financial bill for a major overhaul of the playing squad. “I have always been a winner, in life and in business. However, at the moment my football club does not reflect this. In order to address this problem I am going to lay my cards on the table and put my unwavering faith in Jonathan Wolstenholme”.

Later that evening, I met up with Mr Al-Fayed at the Hilton Hotel in central London, he wanted to further enlighten me on his plans for the club. I must say I was a little perturbed about the lack of input I was having on the direction of the club, having previously been given free reign to do things my way in other managerial jobs. But I guess for the amount of money he was paying, it was only fair that I listened to what he had to say.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to hear, “Top four this season, Champions next, that is what I expect, deliver me this and my legacy at Fulham will be cemented”. It seemed a ludicrously optimistic expectation, but he didn’t stop there “You will have my support in the transfer market, but I have my own ideas about the type of players we should be looking at…”.

“Just a minute…” I intervened “My track record as a manager should tell you all you need to know, I and I alone, will have the final say on transfers, as is stipulated in my contract”. Mr Al-Fayed stared at me and smiled “Let me finish, I believe that in every country there are a handful of good players and even fewer truly great players. My vision for the future of Fulham is that we only sign great players. What this will mean is that we bring in only the cream of the crop from each nation, it is something that is unheard of in football, it will be innovative and maybe even a bit of a risk, but if anyone can pull it off, I believe you are the man for the job”.

I began to wander if I shouldn’t have just taken the easy route and gone to Old Trafford, although, I have to admit I was intrigued by Mr. Al-Fayed’s plan. It certainly wasn’t going to be easy and it would cause huge upheaval in the dressing room, but after such a successful career, I wanted to go out with a bang. “Let’s do it” I said.