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June 2nd, 2006, 04:39
New Betar Jerusalem manager Ossie Ardiles said he intends to bring a "dangerous and aggressive" style of attacking football to the club.
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Swindon coach spoke passionately about his plans to mold a team capable of taking the Israeli Premier League title, and said he would not be averse to employing the controversial diamond formation at Betar.
"Last year we finished in third place and now we want to finish in first place," Ardiles stated at the press conference held at the David Citadel Hotel in the capital. "We are very happy to be in the UEFA Cup, but of course we would like to be in the Champions League. So this will be a very important season for us, and we are going to do everything possible to achieve that."
"I played with Luis Fernandez at Paris Saint Germain in 1982. He was the only one who spoke Spanish so we immediately had a friendship. He helped me a lot... He was just starting out but he was a wonderful player.
"I talked with him yesterday and we had a very long chat. We talked about the club. He told me to be careful with the press here."
Since Ardiles agreed to join the club Betar has opened negotiations with a number of players, including former Hapoel Tel Aviv captain Shimon Gershon. Ardiles said he had given the club permission "to sign as many Israeli players as possible."
The Argentinian, who answered all questions in English, said he had watched videos and DVDs of the current Betar squad while in his Dubai hotel room before flying to Israel and said he was "pretty happy" with the squad he has.
He confirmed that Frenchmen Fabrice Fernandes and Jerome Leroy would be staying at the club, but he is also looking at bring in three foreigners in - a defensive midfielder and two strikers.
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Swindon coach spoke passionately about his plans to mold a team capable of taking the Israeli Premier League title, and said he would not be averse to employing the controversial diamond formation at Betar.
"Last year we finished in third place and now we want to finish in first place," Ardiles stated at the press conference held at the David Citadel Hotel in the capital. "We are very happy to be in the UEFA Cup, but of course we would like to be in the Champions League. So this will be a very important season for us, and we are going to do everything possible to achieve that."
"I played with Luis Fernandez at Paris Saint Germain in 1982. He was the only one who spoke Spanish so we immediately had a friendship. He helped me a lot... He was just starting out but he was a wonderful player.
"I talked with him yesterday and we had a very long chat. We talked about the club. He told me to be careful with the press here."
Since Ardiles agreed to join the club Betar has opened negotiations with a number of players, including former Hapoel Tel Aviv captain Shimon Gershon. Ardiles said he had given the club permission "to sign as many Israeli players as possible."
The Argentinian, who answered all questions in English, said he had watched videos and DVDs of the current Betar squad while in his Dubai hotel room before flying to Israel and said he was "pretty happy" with the squad he has.
He confirmed that Frenchmen Fabrice Fernandes and Jerome Leroy would be staying at the club, but he is also looking at bring in three foreigners in - a defensive midfielder and two strikers.