4th January, 2015
Louis van Gaal will walk into Yeovil’s ‘bunker’ on Sunday, the ominous-sounding office where manager Gary Johnson has been plotting the downfall of English football’s biggest name for the last six days.
But if he wants a good glass of red wine, whatever the result, he has been warned he may have to bring his own.
“There are no windows,” said Johnson before a game he puts up there with the biggest in the club’s history. “If it’s fresh air he wants then we’ll have to go outside.
“Unfortunately, if Louis wants an expensive bottle of wine in my office afterwards he’s going to have to bring it with him — he’s probably got a stash somewhere in his kit bag. We’ll go for a mediocre red, but if he wants a real top one then I’ll be happy to share.”
How much they are willing to spend on a decent Merlot isn’t the only thing that’s a little different about these two clubs. Yeovil’s weekly wage budget stands at £37,500 — the amount United striker Radamel Falcao earns in a single day. Wayne Rooney takes home more in a month than the minnows shell out in a year.
Not that it really bothers Johnson, who is the epitome of pragmatism but holds that sparkle which fills this small Somerset town with hope of an unlikely upset to match their greatest ever, against Sunderland in 1949. Incidentally, the prize for that scalp was an 8-0 fifth-round drubbing by United.
“We’d like to keep our reputation as a good FA Cup side,” he added. “We’ve told all the new lads that Yeovil were the best non-League team for Cup upsets for years, and that we do well when we’re the underdogs. We’re certainly the underdogs here by a million miles.”
They are even more up against it than when the draw was made, with Johnson fully admitting that Yeovil have taken their eye off the ball since beating Accrington in the second round replay.
None more so than on Monday, when they were battered 3-0 at home by Leyton Orient in a defeat which leaves them bottom of League One.
“Some of the players subconsciously saved themselves in that game and lost their place for United. They will learn from that pretty quick.
“If Louis watched us against Leyton Orient he’d probably feel they could put out their Under 14s against us.
“Hopefully the boys will go in with a different feeling, without the pressure of the points. Now it’s finally here we just can’t wait.”
Johnson, who says his experience managing Latvia stands him in good stead for games such as this, can’t be far off legend status in this pocket of the West Country. He was the man who won promotion to the Football League in 2003 and then did the unthinkable by taking Yeovil to the Championship two years ago.
“If we win they might even put a statue up of me,’ he laughed. ‘I reckon I’ve earned one already, but the chairman says I’ve got to do a little bit more yet. I’m only 5ft 7in so it wouldn’t take a lot of metal, would it?”
Originally published on Mail on Sunday