I was recently reading an account of a grand old football institution that has sadly fallen upon hard times. In a nutshell, the story goes...

There was once a club famed all over the planet for its world class players and exhilarating style of football. They won all there was to be won domestically and were a force to be reckoned with at the highest level of European football. Shortly after going a whole season unbeaten in their national league, they moved into a huge new stadium and then dramatically fell into decline.

The club that was once universally admired and respected for its ideals, vision and excellence, seemed to inexplicably lose its way in an alarmingly short space of time and became a rather ordinary outfit. A team that were once frequently proclaimed as champions or title contenders, became consigned to being labelled as mere also-rans.

They have become a club who look back with sad nostalgia to those bygone lofty victories over the Real Madrids, the Juventus’s and the Inter Milans, while struggling to compete in the third rate football tournament that has become the UEFA Cup.

They are now totally reliant upon their much publicised youth policy and usage of other young unknowns plucked from obscurity - the best of whom subsequently becoming lost to anyone waving a cheque book. Rarely are home games filled to capacity in their new, cash-hungry stadium.

You’ve probably guessed that I’m describing Ajax. But while reading about the club, I felt troubled by something I couldn’t exactly put my finger on – the best I can describe it is that it was a kind of déjà vu. I was also haunted by the words of George Santayana, 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' I understand Le Boss dabbles a little in philosophy. I wonder if he has a view upon this?