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

It was December 2004.

Oxford United, the 1986 League Cup winners, have fallen from the second tier to fourth since 1999 – and were relegated to League Two when owner Firoz Kassam sacked Graham Rix.

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

But instead… “It was quite bizarre,” said former U’s striker Basham. “Five or six men came in, in a line. They were all standing in front of us and none of them spoke a word of English, except for an interpreter.”

Goiran said “all the players had their eyes wide open thinking ‘who are these guys?'”.

Those men are Diaz, head coach Horacio Rodriguez, another coach Raul Marcovich, Goiran, fitness trainer Pablo Fernandez, doctor Rafael Giulietti and translator Giuilliano Iacoppi.

But wait, how did it come about? It all started in Monaco – where Kassam and Goiran live and Diaz also has a home playing for the club.

Kassam approached a friend of a friend, Goiran, who worked as a football agent and consultant, to help him find a manager and the Monegasque suggested Diaz – who left River Plate in 2002.

At the time it was widely reported that Diaz was not paid to be Oxford’s manager – and Kassam said he had “promised him part of the club in return for success”.

But Goiran, speaking 20 years ago, said Kassam’s company Firoka, but not the club, instead paid Diaz and Goiran consulting fees in Monaco.

And the question many are asking – why did the manager with five Argentine titles and the Copa Libertadores come to League Two Oxford?

Goiran said it was part of a project to get to the Premier League in five years – but after a bitter end, Diaz, now manager of Corinthians in Brazil, is no longer working in England or even in Europe.

“When they first came in, there was a lot of talk about redeveloping the stadium, putting a new stand behind the goal and taking us to the Premier League,” said goalkeeper Tardif.