Ramon Diaz at Oxford United: The story of how the Argentine took charge of the League Two club

That was in December 2004.

Oxford United, winners of the League Cup in 1986, were in the doldrums, having been relegated from the Second Division to the Fourth Division since 1999 – and were slipping back to the Second Division when owner Fairouz Kassam sacked Graham Rix.

Kassam, the club’s unpopular owner, invited unemployed manager Chris Turner to watch the 1-0 defeat by Swansea – and most people thought he was the new manager, including the Oxford Mail., external And some players.

But instead… “It was very strange,” said former U’s striker Basham. “Five or six men came, in a row. They all stood in front of us and none of them spoke a word of English, except for one translator.”

“All the players had their eyes wide open wondering, ‘Who are these guys?'” Guerin said.

These men are Diaz, head coach Horacio Rodriguez, another coach Raul Markovic, neighbors, fitness coach Pablo Fernandez, doctor Rafael Giulietti and translator Giuliano Iacobbi.

But wait, how did it come to this? It all starts in Monaco – where Kassam and Guerin lived and Diaz also had a house where he played for the club.

Kassam contacted a friend of his, Guiran, who worked as a football agent and consultant, to help him find a manager, and suggested Monaco to Diaz – who left River Plate in 2002.

At the time, it was widely reported that Diaz had not been paid for his role as Oxford club manager, and Kassam said he had “promised him shares in the club in return for success”.

But Guerin, speaking 20 years later, says it was Kassam’s Veruca company, not the club, that instead paid Diaz and Guerin’s consulting fees at Monaco.

The question many are asking is: Why did a coach with five Argentine titles and a Copa Libertadores come to Oxford’s Second League?

Guerin says it was part of a project to reach the Premier League within five years – but after a bitter end, Diaz, now Corinthians’ manager in Brazil, never worked in England or even Europe again.

“When they first came, there were big talks about redeveloping the stadium, putting a new stand behind the goal and taking us to the Premier League,” goalkeeper Tardif said.