Feyenoord decapitated

Wednesday 14 January 2009

What started as the first day of Feyenoord's recovery ended with the decapitation of the club, as the coach got fired and and as a consequence both his assistant and the Director of Football decided to quit.

After only six disastrous months at the helm of one of Holland's most illustrious clubs Gertjan Verbeek decided to quit this morning.

His assistant Wim Jansen and Director of Football Peter Bosz also resigned.

Verbeek's second assistant Leon Vlemings will take care of business until someone has been appointed to finish the season.

Verbeek explained his decision Wednesday night at a press conference.

"When I walked onto the training ground this morning I sensed that something had happened in the squad. None of the players looked me in the eyes. As the training session was very disappointing as well I met with the Board of Directors afterwards and told them I would stop," Verbeek said.

Although it was clear that there were many problems between Verbeek and a number of players, today's developments still come as a surprise.

At yesterday's New Year gathering coach and board members spoke about 2009 being the year of Feyenoord's recovery.

Verbeek even said he had "noticed some new verve in the squad" during a training camp in Turkey.

The news of his resignation has caused a wave of indignation among fans of the club, who have always supported Verbeek and who mainly hold the older players in the squad responsible for the poor results.

Reading through the different forums it is clear that the fans do not agree with Verbeek's resignation and that they feel players such as Roy Makaay, Kevin Hofland, Tim de Cler and Theo Lucius should go instead.

Without leadership it is hard to see where the ship Feyenoord, adrift and with no money to spend, will go from here.

What is clear is that the future holds some serious challenges for chairman Gudde and Board of Directors.