Today was the day. In just under four hours I'd be making history in Moscow. No, fuck that, I'd be making international footballing history. I'm not going to play it down.
I'd already signed my contract in secret the day before and the Russian media had no idea that I was going to be the new manager of CSKA Moscow. I was terrified. Russia in western media are not portrayed as being overly welcoming to people like me. And by that, I don't mean women.
I'm Juliet Roberts, born James Roberts, and I'm 24. I'm going to be the world's first transgender manager, and I stupidly agreed to do it in one of the least understanding countries in the world. The club have been incredibly welcoming and have offered various means of protection for me and I'll be more than happy to oblige in accepting.
They believed I was the most qualified person for the job and wanted to make history and potentially open up a whole new era for football in not only Russia, but the whole of Europe. The thing that worries me the most is winning the players over, but I'm not going to let them push me around.
If I go in holding my head high, and command them with all sense of tyranny that my soul can muster, I think I'll be alright. Then, I've just got to deal with the media.
It's a good thing I speak fluent Russian, eh?
