That whole season revolved around one thing really, the naive behaviour of AVB. He managed to alienate practically the entire team. It wasn't just bad football management, it would have been bad management in any business.
He gave interviews to the media saying this or that player were not part of his future plans, then proceeded to pick them because he had no alternatives. Can you imagine anyone, in any workplace, doing that and expecting to get a positive response ?
In a way, he made RDM's job very easy. Once AVB was gone, there was no need for motivational speeches. The squad breathed a collective sigh of relief, and got firmly behind club legend RDM and set out with something to prove. The rest is history, as they say.
Ironically, if AVB had done things differently, I think we probably would have struggled to a top 3/4 place, but won nothing else. The Champion's League win was a mixture of pride, along with sheer guts and bloody mindedness, mainly the result of AVB's mismanagement.