Taking a leaf out of Ajax’s bookisbeuker’slong-term planforambitiousspiders
Queen’s Park director of football, Marijn Beuker, admits his job is like playing a real life version of Football Manager.
The Spiders have grand plans to get back to something like the glory days of their early history.
But the Dutch guru doesn’t expect the club to be heading for the Premiership at the end of this season.
Rather than a third promotion on the trot, Beuker would be delighted if Owen Coyle’s side could secure a mid-table Championship finish.
He joined Queen’s last November after 15 years at AZ Alkmaar. It was seen as a major coup for the club, who turned professional in 2019 after being amateur for 152 years.
They are modernising Lesser Hampden, which will be ready later this season and, bankrolled by Lord Willie Haughey, have huge ambitions.
Beuker said: “This is Football Manager in real life. The difference is I can’t look up the computer to see what the potential of a player is. I’ll never find the exact answer.
“But I am working on substantiating the building blocks of success, and I use a lot of research to approximate a player’s potential.
“’When I first got asked to come here, I thought I was going to speak to Queens Park Rangers in England,
“I read the presentation that Willie Haughey sent me, and I thought: ‘Fourth level in Scotland? That’s not for me.’
“But he offered me total responsibility, and the chance to fully do it my way.
“He gave me a contract for 10 years, with the mission to build one of the best youth academies in the world.
“It’s a romantic idea, but Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, Auxerre and Real Sociedad are our benchmarks.
“So the decisions we make are focused on winning in the long run. Everything we do should contribute to that. If not, it’s a waste of time and money.
“Look, I wouldn’t stop if we won promotion this season. But I would be happy to finish fifth because I know we need two or three more transfer periods to find the right candidates to grow.
“It’s about sustainable success in the long term.
“Willie Haughey turned to me before our play-off with Airdrie, and said: ‘I don’t care if we win or lose today. The plan remains the same’.”
Beuker is clear where he sees Queen’s Park in the future after studying a list of the world’s top football clubs, based on performances.
He said: “My first question after my appointment was: What is Scottish football like?
“Ajax are in the top 20 on the list. Celtic and Rangers are in place 55 and 68, while AZ and Feyenoord are both between them. So Dutch and Scottish football is comparable.
“Now, we are not even in the top 1,000 with Queen’s Park. So the first step for us is to establish ourselves in the top 500, then to connect with the top 300 clubs.
“As a logical consequence of that, you are going to win and be successful.
“The fact that we played preseason friendlies against Utrecht is a conscious choice, so our team experienced the level we want to get to.
“I have studied and worked with Sir Alex Ferguson, Guus Hiddink, Marco van Basten, Louis van Gaal, Brendan Rodgers and many more top coaches.
“We are now applying everything I have learned into practice.”