Dutch Premier League football club Feyenoord parted company with coach Gertjan Verbeek after a disappointing first half of the season, the club said at an emotional news conference on Wednesday.
Gertjan Verbeek (left) and Peter
Bosz at Wednesday's press
conference
The 46-year-old coach joined the Rotterdam club in July 2008, but never got the team on track. Feyenoord are 12th in Dutch premier division, 22 points behind leaders AZ Alkmaar and only five points above the relegation zone.
Ironically, despite the poor results, there weren't many people who wanted to see the back of Verbeek. The former successful Heracles Almelo and Heerenveen coach still enjoyed the support of his technical staff, of Feyenoord general director Eric Gudde, and of most of the club's loyal supporters.
But, more importantly, he didn't seem to get on with key players, who blamed Verbeek for gruelling training sessions and a lack of consistency. One of the group, Kevin Hofland, told Feyenoord president Dick van Well on Monday, that "things couldn't go on like this".
It was a conclusion that Verbeek subscribed to when he saw the attitude of some of his players on the training pitch on Wednesday. He noticed "a sudden change, with some of his team ostensibly not looking him in the face." The troubled coach went straight up to Feyenoord management to inform them that "the situation had become unworkable."
Chemistry
"To my regret, our roads have separated," Feyenoord general director Eric Gudde told reporters on Wednesday evening. He explained that Verbeek had "no chemistry" with some his players.
| Verbeek's supporters have blamed the club's poor form on the absence of several players due to injury. Jon Dahl Tomasson, Kevin Hofland, Ron Vlaar, Tim Vincken, Danny Buijs, Denny Landzaat and Jonathan de Guzman have all been out of action with injuries while Tim de Cler only returned to training on Wednesday. |
| Feyenoord travel to Verbeek's former club Heerenveen on Friday for a league match and host them on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Dutch Cup. |
The solution may not be so costly, claims the sports supplement of the Rotterdam-based AD daily on Thursday. It says Feyenoord might and should be trying to persuade the club's former star and current NEC Nijmegen coach, Mario Been, to replace Verbeek. Reportedly, he'll cost the club no more than 750,000 euros in compensation to NEC
In the most ideal scenario, he'd be supported by another football and media wizard, veteran Poland coach Leo Beenhakker. Their experience, expertise and stature is undisputed. And with these two mighty men at the helm, the players will no longer have any excuse.
Tags: Gertjan Verbeek