There’s something wrong with Martin Jol
Simon Kuper’s column in VI
Football and logic… It’s like water and fire. And that’s why it’s fascinating. Every day. But sometimes, things are beyond belief. In Holland, more than sometimes.
Why does Ajax think that a former player who only managed a youth team for one season can save the club? Why does the KNVB want to sign a coach who – despite of all the new signings at Feyenoord – hasn’t been able to perform better than last season this time around? Why are matches on tv being analyzed by a former tennis coach and the wife of a singer?
How can you explain that the two coaches who perform best in this season – at Heerenveen and NAC – are being fired? Why can the coach of the most disappointing club this season explain to the people that his team – AZ – plays great football? You can’t explain. It’s the caravan of madness, on it’s way to new adventures.
Football in Holland resembles politics. The executives plan for survival. Ajax chair Jaakke asked for applause for his coach Adrie Koster from at the new years reception after he won only one match of five in December. Most important thing for Jaakke was the fact that Koster has a better relationship with td Martin van Geel than his predecessor Henk ten Cate.
Koster doesn’t have any enemies and that’s the most important qualification for him.
And what about Henk Kesler? He appointed Marco van Basten to stop all the criticism on the KNVB. But it did take three years for our team manager to realize he had to adapt his tactical system to the players instead of vice versa. And now Kesler picks another coach who seems to have an indisputable reputation.
Somewhere above all those shenanigans, one of Holland’s best managers is available. But, there is something wrong with him. Although it can’t be on a football technical level. He turned ugly duckling RKC in a winning football machine with minimal resources. Something Frank Rijkaard wasn’t able to do at Sparta. After that, Jol pulled Tottenham Hotspur out of the swamp of mediocrity. But, that didn’t impress the top of the Dutch Eredivisie. With all sorts of weird arguments the top clubs try to keep Jol at bay.
Former Feyenoord chairman Van der Herik thought he was too fat for his club. And Kesler took him off the shortlist. Because there were rumours that Kesler wanted to hire him as Van Basten’s successor. What? With Van der Herik gone, Kesler opting for Van Marwijk and Ajax chasing Van Basten the road is open for Feyenoord to do the right thing.
Related Posts
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
|
Comments


Dear all pray well
KNVB may appoint advocate,marwijk,etc like candidates ha ha
o god save us from van gaal,advocate etc
if raijkard is leaving barca why can nt we try him as next bondscoach?




I sort of dislike Martin Jol. I dont know why, he seems like a good man but… I dont know. He bought a lot of unpleasant players at Tottenham. That could be it.




@Lerkot: I agree with you. And he treated Davids very badly. He had no success with Tottenham.




I have to disagree about there being no success at Tottenham. Sure, he didn’t win any trophies, but he brought Tottenham out of mediocrity and made them a challenger to the top 4, as well as having a good run in Europe (Uefa cup). But mostly, he made Tottenham into a great attacking team that I love to watch. For a Dutch fan, that’s almost better than winning, haha.
Posted from
Japan




I agree Caleb. I think Jol did well at Spurs and with his results at RKC season after season, the way ex-players talk about Jol etc etc I’d say he is one of the best Dutch coaches of the moment.
Posted from
Australia


Comments are closed
Send Your Tips!
Email tips[at]worldcupblog[dot]org
Netherlands Club Football News
- Let's go tie and defeat our own 31 match undefeated streak club record!
- Another PSV player in the Oranje?
- How sad... the "poor" people get to play in a friendly.
- PSV Eindhoven plans to expand their stadium!
- Let's talk about statistics...
More Europe Blogs
France World Cup Blog
790 Articles | 10,309 Comments
Croatia World Cup Blog
192 Articles | 1,821 Comments
Czech Republic World Cup Blog
196 Articles | 320 Comments
England World Cup Team Blog
811 Articles | 2,769 Comments
Germany World Cup Blog Blog
485 Articles | 3,098 Comments
Italy World Cup Blog
567 Articles | 21,784 Comments
Netherlands World Cup Blog
2,013 Articles | 26,936 Comments
Poland World Cup Blog
352 Articles | 4,198 Comments
Portugal World Cup Blog
453 Articles | 7,016 Comments
Serbia World Cup Team Blog
168 Articles | 847 Comments
Spain World Cup Blog
235 Articles | 1,926 Comments
Sweden World Cup Blog
151 Articles | 318 Comments
Switzerland World Cup Blog
217 Articles | 327 Comments
Ukraine World Cup Team Blog
120 Articles | 806 Comments
Greece World Cup Blog
142 Articles | 70 Comments
Russia World Cup Blog
81 Articles | 143 Comments
Scotland World Cup Team Blog
101 Articles | 108 Comments
Ireland World Cup Team Blog
55 Articles | 121 Comments
Norway World Cup Team Blog
9 Articles | 6 Comments
Turkey World Cup Blog
39 Articles | 293 Comments
Romania World Cup Blog
78 Articles | 281 Comments
Austria World Cup Blog
111 Articles | 117 Comments
Denmark World Cup Team Blog
8 Articles | 27 Comments
Albania World Cup Team Blog
4 Articles | 8 Comments
Belgium World Cup Team Blog
49 Articles | 59 Comments
Wales World Cup Team Blog
61 Articles | 17 Comments
Bosnia World Cup Team Blog
31 Articles | 87 Comments
Israel World Cup Team Blog
22 Articles | 18 Comments
Monthly Archives
World 







