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Ajax: who’s the boss?

October 11th, 2007 | By: Jan | 9 Comments »

‘Ajax used 8 coaches in 10 years, saw a series of management people come and go and this time around, no European football. What the hell is happening in Amsterdam?

A couple of insiders talk:

JACK SPIJKERMAN
Comedian, tv-producer, member of Ajax
‘I feel there’s powers at work in the club that are more intense than in any other club. That makes Ajax a difficult club to manage. And that has always been the case. In particular the group around Cruyff. I detect annoyance with him again. The man has still a lot of say in the club. I think we should ask the question if that is a good thing. The man is a saint, he was a great player, but that’s history now. We should always honor him, but to give him all that power while he stays behind the curtains is too much to ask from the management team to cope with.”

Cruyff is from the past and his opinions are too. It’s normal when people reach that age, but that whining about the system…Can’t we stop that? You can’t play like we did 40 years ago. The game has changed. Face it. I mean, his criticism on Ruud van Nistelrooy is outrageous. That’s the type of striker modern football needs. It’s easy to criticize the board. Of course they make mistakes. And Martin van Geel is the right man for the job. Piet Keizer is technical adviser. Why? Because he was a great player. I’d suggest Foppe de Haan. That’s a realist. He can do something here. And he can bind people together. He can give Ajax a modern face, despite his age. And he knows no one within the club and that is good thing!”

ROB COHEN
Players’ manager, father in law of Ronald de Boer and Ajax-insider.
,,I say, buy a broom and sweep the whole club clean. Kick ‘m all out. And quick! People manage this club who do not have any idea how to. They were big at Unilever or Shell, so what. Now they want Van Wijk of KLM. What a bunch of crap! You need football people. Get Louis van Gaal back. I’m sure he would want to. And get ex-players back to take a position. Like Frank de Boer, Dennis Bergkamp. Like they do in Bayern Munich and FC Twente. YOu don’t want the guys that won the cup 40 years ago. There time is up. Here at Ajax there’s I don’t know how many directors now.
They act as if they’re MacDonalds. But Ajax is a small club. Make one man the boss. And that’s it. No financial directors who go to Aisa to make deals. Put your money on the pitch. As if they are interested in a bunch of losers in China!”

JAAP STAM
Ajax captain.
,,I am with the club a bit more than a year. Not long enough to comment on this. Go to the offices and talk to the people there. I am here to play football and to become champs. That is what we need to do and focus on. Life goes on. One coach has left, we’ve got many coaches still here. It doesn’t matter. We have to work for it and show it every week on the pitch. I’ve seen this so many times in football, all that talk, but at the end of the day, we need to win matches.”

MICHAEL VAN PRAAG
Former Ajax chairman.
,,Ajax is not a tough club to manage. Although I do feel this board is too much hands on and the directors aren’t happy with that. There seem to be too many captains. If there’s talk about new players, I read quotes of Van Geel, of the board and off the coach. One man needs to be boss, like they do in England. Ajax is unsteady, it’s unclear who is in charge. I saw that Van Gaal - Koeman story, Koeman won, but he left after three months. Ajax was the big loser. Same with Perez and Ten Cate. The club chose Ten Cate, three months later he walks. And the fans are tough. Johan Cruyff is not the problem, he hardly interferes. That’s all exaggerated. No, the fans are not here to support us but to check if we’re doing the right things.”

Tags: Ajax, Group C, Louis van Gaal, The Netherlands

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Comments

By Lerkot | October 11th, 2007 at 7:52 am

Source?

By Mario | October 11th, 2007 at 6:40 pm

Crazy times at Ajax!

By Jan | October 11th, 2007 at 6:43 pm

Lerkot, it’s the http://www.ad.nl again…

It does make me wonder….why is the source so important to you? You mentioned “many reasons” but I can only think of one… maybe two…

Please clarify?

Posted from Australia

By Bob | October 11th, 2007 at 8:11 pm

The experience here in the United States, as related to team dynasties, is that the only thing constant is change. In football, Green Bay was the undisputed leader in the late ’60s when coach Vince Lombardi was in charge, then fortunes changed and they disappeared for a while. In basketball, the Boston Celtics were dominant in the ’60s and ’80s, and now, they are not even competitive. In baseball, even the New York Yankees have their ups and downs, based on poor ownership decisions, mediocre players and variable qualities in managers. So, the Ajax experience is not unique. It is difficult in any sport to reach the top, then stay at the top level year after year, especially in modern times when team loyalty is almost non-existent. Once great success is achieved, two things happen–first,everything a team does is placed in a “fishbowl” environment, visible to all and with the idea that every opinion has merit. Here in the States, sport opinion shows drone on and on, ad nauseum, with everyone being an expert, especially those who once played the sport. Second, when top level success is not achieved, team supporters seem to think that the natural forces of the world have been changed. Not so, I say, but rather the rising and falling and rising again is a very natural and understandable process, which frankly makes following the sport all the more interesting.

It has also been the American experience that once great players or coaches, who retired or out of the active participation in the sport, become the “experts” of almost any subject, more often than not they become liabilities to the team they advise. I agree with Mr. Spijkerman’s thoughts on the confusion created by any word that comes from the mouth of Mr. Cruijff. The idea often presented is that if a team does not do it “like we did in the good old days”, they are somehow incompetent. I have written this before– watch the films of the Cruijff teams of the ’70s–the game of football was very different then. There was much more space, the pace was significantly slower, the body contact was much less and referees simply did not allow the quantity and quality of “rugby” soccer that has so become the norm in the modern game. While recognizing that Cruijff is a Netherlands icon ( and I was an avid fan of his during his time ) it is not necessary for every word he utters to be considered sacred and indisputable. Based on his recent comments as reported in the press, Mr. Cruijff seems to have lost his way a bit, which is Ok because he is, like the rest of us, human and fully capable of erring. The Ajax management needs to bring in the best talent it can, train and play the sport based on modern principles and strategies, and not worry about what every former superstar thinks about every aspect of Ajax life.

Amsterdam is a great city, and Ajax will survive and thrive. It may take some time to achieve new success, but the fun is in the journey. As fans, let’s just enjoy the ride.

Posted from United States

By Lerkot | October 12th, 2007 at 12:14 am

Jan:
1. Im a journalist. I wouldnt like to find an article by me on the Internet without being referred to, and if I was the owner or chief of a newspaper I wouldnt like to see an text that we’ve dug to light translated on a site where they dont refer to us.

2. Football blogs and sites might be skeptical to link here when there is no source whatsoever, and that wouldnt be good since it would be nice if more sites could find this site. I know a guy who has a site about Ajax in Sweden who thinks your stuff is very helpful and he would sometimes like to quote the stuff you write, of course with a link to you as well, but thats hard to do without source.

3. It would be very sad if you or Bob got in any troubles because of the juridical aspect of not mentioning source. Translating whole articles arent very popular with the papers either I think but they might see more lightly on it if they are mentioned as the source.

By goose | October 12th, 2007 at 2:32 am

@Lerkot; i knew it!!! i knew you were some kind of journalist….way too much knowledge!! haha

so Lerkot; sports journalist????

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | October 12th, 2007 at 5:05 am

Hi Lerkot, well thanks for the explanation. You are very right of course. I see what you mean. I will definitely try to not forget to name the source of my articles.

Bob, what you’re saying makes a lot of sense. Still, I don’t see Ajax’ fall as “just another cycle in sports” as you explained with the Yankees and all (although there is some of that I guess) but it’s also the position of Dutch football in the bigger picture. Twenty years ago we could compete. After the Bosman arrest we couldn’t anymore. And on top of that, it’s a numbers game. The English tv payments for the clubs are way way much higher than in Holland, because the UK has bigger population. That makes it hard to compete and therefore Dutch football needs to reposition itself. Don’t claim to want to be top of Europe. But become the main “supplier of talent” for the really big boys. Instead of Ajax opening branches in South Africa, Ajax should strike deals with Barca, Juve and Man United. Have them invest in Ajax’ youth development.

Posted from Australia

By Bob | October 12th, 2007 at 11:44 pm

Jan and Lerkot,

Yes, I understand the concern but not the context. Blogging is, by definition, a group of emailers getting together on the internet to “rap” about a subject of their interest. Jan obviously has a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding Netherlands football, and apparently also has some informed sources of information regarding current football issues. The rest of us, I believe, are “amateurs” who have an interest in the subject and simply want to read the opinion of others and share our own thoughts. I can assure anyone who is interested that my only “source” is my interest in Dutch football since 1974, which includes watching matches, videos, reading magazines and books about the sport and “listening” to colleagues such as those who contribute so well to this blog. If I express an opinion, it is simply that–my opinion, for better or worse. It is an “informed” opinion only to the extent that my activities expressed above and related to Dutch football properly understand or interpret what I experience. Further, it seems to me that there is no “right or wrong” to any of our opinions, but simply expressions of how we see the subject. To imply that we might “get in trouble” for expressing these opinions while participating in a voluntary, non-professional blog is, frankly, irritating. If the football press in Europe has any interest in what I, an American attorney, think about Dutch football based on my love of the sport and country for many years, then that press “needs a life”, as we say here in the US. So, I will continue to offer my opinions and comments to the ideas expressed by others on this blog, will continue to enjoy what all of the other contributors have to say,and will not be limited and squelched because of any concern regarding “sources”.
Jan, you have a great blog going and I hope you continue. It is informative, thoughtful, thought-provoking and, best of all, great fun. I am grateful for your efforts.

Posted from United States