Stevens: "PSV wasn't ready for the top"

Wednesday 06 May 2009

The garden around his beautiful house is tip top, his golf handicap is acceptable again and he has even seen his southern retreat in Spain regularly over the past few months.

In the mean time he signed a new contract with Red Bull Salzburg and he saw how 'his' PSV qualified for the UEFA Cup.

The last two events were the reason for Huub Stevens to look back at the failed marriage with his big love PSV.

In his back yard there is a perfectly groomed lawn.

"At the training complex of PSV the pitches were bad. I have often asked whether they could do something about that, but they said there was no budget for it," Stevens sighs.

He is still surprised about some of the choices that were made in Eindhoven.

"In recent years Afellay, Aissati, Marcellis, Bakkal and Wuytens broke through. Finally the youth academy is flourishing and then they want to cut back on it."

For Stevens it was the next piece of evidence that they are thinking the wrong way in Eindhoven.

Even before he started his new job on 1 July 2008 he picked up signals that it would be a tough job.

"I wanted to bring together my own staff, but they said that they had made certain promises to Jan Wouters and they pointed out that Dwight Lodeweges would also be there. I was eyeing two other candidates - Adrie Koster and Erwin Koeman. One (Koster) was too expensive and the other had already said no to the club. Then I talked to Dwight and Jan and in the end agreed to work with them. I also had to agree to work with keepers trainer Flavio Tenius, as it was promised to Gomes that he would come. Flavio turned out to be a great chap who(s ideas matched mine. When Gomes left for London I had to go and find someone else."

Stevens wants to emphasize that he has worked with Wouters and Lodeweges very professional for seven months.

"But what I hear from Dwight now is not what he told me when we were working together. I understand that he said that the squad needed confidence and clarity, but it's not nice to hear when he says it only after I leave. I did not accept his offer to come and have a cup of coffee together."

A few weeks into the pre-season Stevens indicated that PSV lacked strength up front.

"Most agreed, but Jovanovic (Standard Liege) and Erding (Sochaux) were too expensive. In the winter break we could land Ola Toivonen. He should have been there 1 January, but he arrived a few days before the league resumed. That was not good."

Putting all things together Stevens says he can only conclude that PSV wasn't ready for top football.

He expects to find better conditions at his new club Red Bull Salzburg.

"The plans of Dietrich Mateschitz, owner Red Bull, were very appealing. They want to venture out beyond the countries borders and they expect me to be the right coach to lead that process. My private situation is now such that I can work outside Holland again. Otherwise I would have quit as I do not wish to work in Holland ever again. I have gotten in touch with their current coach Co Adriaanse and will let him work towards the league title in all peace and quiet. I will not show my face in Eindhoven for a while though. I had asked if someone of the board of directors could be present when I announced my departure. When I got there there was no one. For me that confirmed I had made the right decision."

Some of the players thought that too as part of the squad was very unhappy with his confronting methods and it lead to widely exposed bust ups with Carlos Salcido and Danko Lazovic.

"Yes I can be tough, but that is part of this job. They want to be improved as players no? When later I read how they feel liberated after my departure I can only laugh. The big difference is the work load. For month they have had only the league to focus on. That means one game per week and then of course it's easier. Even though I do not see it in the results."

Late January Stevens concluded that he would not get PSV moving.

"A disappointing though not a traumatic experience. A lot has happened here," he says referring to the illness of his wife.

"I just didn't feel like only thinking about PSV at home any longer."

He considered quitting a few months earlier as well and general director Reker told the press about that.

"That seriously undermines the position of the coach as does saying at a press conference that your coach needs coaching himself."

Yet he knows he too made mistakes.

"I wanted to go too fast and I should have removed Salcido from the squad. I decided with the best interests of the club in mind."

Stevens is looking forward to starting his new job in Salzburg.

"The club has made a great impression and that is why I have accepted this challenge. I have had a good conversation with the club and I have looked at their training facilities. It all looks great. All conditions to perform well seem present."

The club ended up on his doorstep through Thomas Linke, the assistant of Red Bull's Director of Football Heinz Hochhauser.

"Thomas was a member of the squad I coached at Schalke 04, that is why," says Stevens.

"I think that Red Bull will suit me. There is a lot of potential and when they win the league they will play Champions League qualifications. As that already starts - like the league - in July our pre-season starts on 15 June. I am really looking forward to it."