Aaron Ramsey was barely a fortnight into his first managerial role when Oxford United confirmed they had been placed under a transfer embargo for failing to comply with the EFL’s new salary rules.Welcome to the new job, Aaron. You simply can’t absorb that sort of rug-pulled-from-under-feet sensation by reading the manuals or attending coaching workshops.A few days later, Frankie Kent, a centre-half signed on a free from Hearts and the only summer recruit Oxford made before the transfer ban hit, damaged cruciate knee ligaments in training and underwent an operation that will rule him out for most of the season.Ramsey could have been excused for checking the small print in the contract.’Absolutely not,’ he said at a press briefing on Friday, as he confirmed more injury setbacks with left back Ruben Roosken and South Korea international striker Jeon Jin-woo both ruled out for two to three months. ‘We’re fully committed, me and my staff. We came here to work with these players and our focus is on them.’Ramsey says he has not spoken to Mikel Arteta, his friend and former Arsenal teammate, since taking the Oxford job, although they share a similar manner in front of the cameras. Aaron Ramsey is looking forward to his first managerial role at Oxford United despite the club being placed under a transfer embargo just weeks after his appointment Oxford have also seen their preparations for the new season hit by a series of injuriesLike Arteta, Ramsey is perfectly polite and yet guarded and brisk. He moves quickly through the room to his seat with a flurry of handshakes, fields the questions without giving much away, smiles, says thanks and disappears with even greater speed.Perhaps this is the survival mode for modern managers. It hasn’t done Arteta any harm.Ramsey has worked out his own protection techniques having spent 20 of his 35 years amid the glare of expectation.He was a wonderkid who made his Cardiff debut at 16. He had played in an FA Cup final, joined Arsenal and won his first Wales cap before he was 18.He was still only 19 when his career was almost ended by a horrific leg break, an impact so painful he revealed this week that he dislocated his jaw screaming.Ramsey will always have a metal rod in his right leg as a reminder of that day in Stoke, but his recovery and success at Arsenal, winning the FA Cup three times and scoring the winner in the final twice, and 86 international caps, helping Wales reach the last four of Euro 2016, testify to his quiet determination.’I’m immensely proud of what I achieved, especially since what I had to overcome,’ said Ramsey. ‘You don’t always get the fairytale endings you want but if I look back at my career that’s been a fairytale in itself.’Seven years since leaving Arsenal, however, have been disjointed. A lucrative move to Juventus brought more medals but few plaudits and as he moved into his 30s, he became increasingly plagued by muscle injuries he suspects can probably be traced back to the broken leg. Ramsey won three FA Cups during his time at Arsenal after recovering from horrific leg break he suffered at 19, which led to him having a metal rod inserted into his right leg His former team-mate and current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had encouraged Ramsey to take his coaching badges early, helping him build towards a career in management Ramsey had two years back at hometown club Cardiff, which ended with him injured and taking caretaker charge for three matches as they were relegated to League One A loan to Rangers will be defined by his missed penalty in the shootout of the Europa League final. There was a season in France with Nice, two years back at Cardiff which ended with him injured and in caretaker charge of his hometown club for the last three games as they were relegated to League One. THREE TIES TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND West Ham v PortsmouthNine thousand Pompey fans are expected to make the trip to their first game at West Ham since a 4-3 defeat at Upton Park nearly 15 years ago. It could be a record first round crowd for the Carabao Cup with much attention trained on the directors’ box however with David Sullivan expected to attend the game. Sullivan still owns a 38.8 per cent stake in West Ham but stepped down as co-chair in June after historical allegations of sexual misconduct were aired as part of a BBC Panorama investigation. He denies the allegations.Mansfield v Sheffield UnitedMansfield humbled the Blades in the FA Cup in January. Nigel Clough’s League One team were 4-1 up inside an hour at Bramall Lane. They resisted a fightback to win 4-3, then knocked out Premier League Burnley out before giving champions-to-be Arsenal a scare in the Fifth Round. Can the Stags do it again?Salford v ShrewsburySalford City will be a little less Manchester United and a little more Dundee United this season after finally relenting to pressure from supporters to revert to their original orange-and-black home colours, 12 years after the Class of 92 takeover changed the colours to red. <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/football/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
And last season in Mexico where he suffered the ordeal of losing his beloved dog Halo from the family ranch before his decision to retire in March.Little wonder he is relishing this new direction with the chance to sink his teeth into coaching challenges.’It’s something I’ve been building up to for a few years off the field,’ said Ramsey. ‘I had a conversation with Arteta when we were playing. He did his coaching badges towards the end of his career and said he wished he’d done it earlier because he started to see the game differently.’So, it was important for me to take that advice at the time and do my badges in the last years of my career, which I did. And I’m grateful for opportunities I’ve had to coach in and out at Cardiff U18s in an unofficial role and in and around the Wales camp with Craig Bellamy allowing me to gain experience.’That confirmed to me the direction I wanted to take. I’m more than ready for this.’I think one of my strengths as a player was that I didn’t get too high or too low. I’m fairly level, consistent in what I want to do and how I handle emotions. I’m calm but confident.’After four wins in four pre-season friendlies, Oxford’s season starts with a Carabao Cup tie at Leyton Orient before a League One opener at home to Milton Keynes Dons.’I’m very excited to get stuck into the season,’ said Ramsey, despite the complications.Oxford expect to be compliant with the new salary rules and out of the embargo by January at the latest and the new boss swears there is no way he will be tempted to pull his boots on again. Not even if injuries continue to bite.’Absolutely not,’ said Ramsey. ‘No, my playing days are firmly finished.’