Johan Cryuff had replaced Louis Van Gaal at Wanderers. Van Gaal was to blame for recent wooden spoon contention and was ousted in the early hours this morning.

Cruyff made sly digs and refused to work with the notebook-wielding Van Gaal. Cruyff said: ‘Van Gaal has a good vision of football but it is not mine. He wants to gel winning teams and has a militaristic way of working with his tactics. I don’t. I want individuals to think for themselves.’

And Cruyff was just as critical of Van Gaal’s plans for the youth  education system. ‘You  judge football players intuitively and with your heart,’ he said. ‘On the basis of the criteria which are now in use at I would have failed the test. 

‘When I was 15, I could barely kick the ball 15 metres with my left and with the right maybe 20 metres. I would not have been able to take a corner. I was physically weak and relatively slow. My two qualities were great technique and insight, which happen to be two things you can’t measure with a computer.’

Wanderers look forward to reverting back to their free flowing total football philosophy. Cryuff’s first action was to promote Juan Manuel Iturbe.