'The Boss': Marco van Basten

[Kowalczyk]

He starts off saying he disagrees with people who say Rijkaard can only perform with class-players. Then he backs this up with saying he did fine at Barcelona... Am I mental or is this not a very valid argument?

Here's the way I read it: "People say Rijkaard can only win with a team full of stars. I don't believe that's true. Rijkaard did not just win games with Barcelona, he actually won the Champions League with them. Which makes him a coach from the 'exceptional category', who could do well with any team."

That's how I understood it. I disagree, by the way, but that's a different story. That's not what it's about. It's totally okay if you reply to him like you do now. Just don't jump down people's throats as if they talk complete bollocks. That's not the way to have a discussion. Anyway: we understand each other, I think.

Didn't mean to be agressive.

No worries. Not a big deal.

K.

[ajaxusa]

So he's gone, and there's no way to question the decision after reading his own comments at the press conference. I'm glad he left, for Ajax and for himself.

But let's not sully his reputation as a great player because he wasn't up to the task as manager. Coaching this current Ajax squad might be one of the toughest jobs in football. It's not like he tried to walk across the street and fell on his ass. He didn't personally let in all those goals, so it's unfair (but necessary, I know) that he climbs the cross alone.

I'm amazed at his candor. He may not be a great manager (or even a good one) but he's got a brassy pair on him, that's for sure.

All I can say is, thanks for trying, Marco.

[Ajaxfanuk]

Hmm where do we go from here, such optimism at the start of the season...and now i sense a dark period approaching. I dont see why anyone would want to come to Ajax now. But I have a solution....

Sack everybody and let the Jong Ajax and Koster become the first team... let them settle for a few years and then we'll win some stuff!!! Ok thats obviously a joke but there is soo much potential in Jong Ajax. As for the A1 I cant even stand to think about them atm, 4 - 0 to Sparta is unacceptable, I managed to make my peace with the drubbings by Heerenveen and PSV but Sparta...Christ.

I worry for the future...

[Kowalczyk]

I'm glad Van Basten took the decision now. We have a blank canvas now. A summer full of opportunities.

There are no guarantees, I know. Will we hire the right man this time? And if we do, will he be able to bring this club back to life?

What matters to me, is the fact that we might hire the right man - and that he might be able to bring this club back to life. With Van Basten at the held it surely would not have happened.

The good man is not a manager. Not a coach. Respect for the fact that he acknowledges it and has the courage to be so open and honest about it. I wish him all the best.

K.

[ozzerdibazio]

De Dominee. I said I was surprised by the general opinion of Rijkaard. Didn't say he was the best coach in the world. But a Champions League winning coach - whose approach was repeatedly praised by the star players who 'coach' themselves - should be considered.

With the Dutch national team of course there is some truth that they coach themselves. But after the poor start against the Czech's they did play well, and players always need pushing in the right direction. A coach will always have an impact. I remember Rijkaard having a strong impact concerning the players from Surinam, and being described as a positive influence on the team.

But I would prefer another coach ahead of him. The main point was to drum up opinion viz a ve Mclaren?

Would anybody consider him suitable? What do you think of him De Dominee?

[gordonvandekamp]

I'm seeing more MacLaren rumors. All I have to say is please no, unless we want to continue this next year. The main reason I don't think he'll work is that he can't handle the pressure. He's fine at a club like Twente or Middlesborough where not much was expected so it's a surprise when he does well. I see Ajax more like the England team in that there is always pressure to win and do it convincingly. I think if he were to take over at Ajax, the results would be similar to his stint in charge of England.

I don't like the idea of Rijkaard either. Now's not the time to take another chance, which I think he is based on his record with Sparta and a loaded Barca. We need to hire someone with a proven track record to get us out of this mess, not fiddle with the chance that someone might but they then bail in a year.

[ajaxusa]

KOEMAN WANTS AJAX JOB

Um, no thanks.

[Michael_B]

De Dominee. I said I was surprised by the general opinion of Rijkaard. Didn't say he was the best coach in the world. But a Champions League winning coach - whose approach was repeatedly praised by the star players who 'coach' themselves - should be considered.

With the Dutch national team of course there is some truth that they coach themselves. But after the poor start against the Czech's they did play well, and players always need pushing in the right direction. A coach will always have an impact. I remember Rijkaard having a strong impact concerning the players from Surinam, and being described as a positive influence on the team.

But I would prefer another coach ahead of him. The main point was to drum up opinion viz a ve Mclaren?

Would anybody consider him suitable? What do you think of him De Dominee?

Like you say, the players at Barcelona (who can coach themselves) think he is amazing. He is, at people-management. Something that is very important at a big club with a big selection of players who all 'need to play'.

Ajax however needs a coach who can tell our youthful players and wankers like Oleguer how to position themselves in the field, where to walk, how to pass etc. Same thing that was required at Sparta: where he failed miserably.

Rijkaards period at Oranje was okay, not special if you see the players that he had en the fact we had the home advantage in 2000. Also I would like to point out that Van Basten also had a good spell at Oranje.

Oranje is the same as Barca: players don't need coaching, just people-management. That's why Rijkaard would be fantastic for Milan or Chelsea, but not for Ajax.

McLaren I also have my doubts about. Didn't expect him to succeed at Twente so he surprised me there and maybe he will surprise me again. But in general I'm not very found of him.

I would LOVE Rangnick or Hitzfeld. Adriaanse would be best of the rest. I would not like Rijkaard, unless he takes Ten Cate with him. Blind and De Boer I would cry over. Blind is not good enough (by far) and De Boer will be a great coach: in 3 years or more.

Koeman I don't have to explain I think. Terrible.

[SPL]

I have been out all day and the Times states Mc Laren is favourite. He is ok with small clubs but I am not sure he could handle the pressure at Ajax.

He has a terrible press in Uk because the day England lost a game he put his umbrella up and has been treated as a wally since but he is a good coach.

[Michael_B]

I don't think the Times (the only source of the McLaren rumour) has more or better inside info then Dutch papers or websites.

For now I can't imagine he is an option. I'm guessing they contact Rijkaard first, if he doesn't want to come they go to Co (if he isn't at AZ by then) and then to Laudrup. Then perhaps McLaren, or Blind / De Boer.

Unfortunately Ajax is never very original in these things.

[DanK]

KOEMAN WANTS AJAX JOB

Um, no thanks.

Dear God! No!!!!!

[Kowalczyk]

I announced it in one of the Dutch Zones and I will announce it once again over here: if they hire Ronald Koeman my season ticket will remain unused until he's gone. I will then attend every Young Ajax and Ajax Saturday-1 home game, but ignore the stuff at the ArenA until the wanker's gone.

I can't believe they'd do that. I cannot believe it.

K.

[orange goblin]

Apart from the great Co Adriaanse, I would like (between the possibile ones) the old dear Morten Olsen.
Don't think I am crazy: the man knows Ajax, is internationally experienced and knows how to play good 4-3-3: which is our identity, if we like it or not.
don't think it will happen, though.

[bryan]

Many of the Ajax supporters found his style of football (which produced 112 league goals in a single season) to be boring. But that's a load of shite of course, Olsen is welcome back (and should never have been sacked in the first place of course). He did promise he'd come back.......

[Orange14]

I would be astounded if they brought back anyone who coached the team before with the exception of Van Gaal who is a proven winner and skilled manager of players. Don't remember much of Olsen's time. Laudrup had one good season with Getafe in Spain and resigned to move to Russia (I think) where he failed. It's going to take a special person to manage this team given the youth and pressure of the situation. I'm at a loss to come up with who would be best.

[DanK]

Apart from the great Co Adriaanse, I would like (between the possibile ones) the old dear Morten Olsen.
Don't think I am crazy: the man knows Ajax, is internationally experienced and knows how to play good 4-3-3: which is our identity, if we like it or not.
don't think it will happen, though.

I was thinking the same thing. Apart from van Gaal, he is one manager who has stuck in my mind.

[martinkohout]

I'm definitely not qualified to venture an opinion here - well, except to echo those who deplore the mere notion of hiring Koeman - but I've been struck by the depth and breadth of knowledge of the recent postings. Yeah, there are disagreements, of course, but to someone like me, who's still a relative newcomer (and hasn't yet made it to Amsterdam!), y'all are absolutely amazing. Thanks to one and all!

That said, I like the sound of Olsen, if we can't get Van Gaal. And, God, if it's McLaren, can... we... please... get... him... speech... lessons?

[SE6Ajacied]

OK, my first words on the subject and it's the frightening McLaren prospect that forces me into print. An over-rated period as a club manager, an at best mediocre period as national coach and one good season in a poor Eredivisie does not make a good coach so don't do it Ajax.

Sad to see Marco go but I think it was inevitable after the weekend, just a question of time and whether he jumped or was pushed and he did the honourable thing in the end by resigning at the time and in the way that he did.

No real thoughts over his replacement but other than Van Gaal who won't come anyway, please lets look forward rather than backwards....

[ozzerdibazio]

"Same thing that was required at Sparta: where he failed miserably"
By that rationale Ten Cate would have made a good Ajax coach. Ron Jans would already have had a shot and Foppe De Haan would be chairman. Henk Ten Cate suceeded at the challenge that Rijkaard failed at; the challenge that you set to define our next Ajax coach: the team builder, the man outside the media scrum, the 'Ajax' man.

Frank Rijkaard would have no trouble guiding younger players; telling 'wankers' like Oleguer what to do. He literally guided Ajax - as a player - to the European Championship in 94.

If what you say is true, and Rijkaard can only mould talented players, rather than be a team builder like Ten Cate was at Sparta and NAC he could be what we need.

Suljemani, Bodul, Suarez and Aisatti are potential stars who may benefit from the Rijkaard touch; just like eto'o etc at Barcelona. Barca were on their knees when Rijkaard took over.

Hitzfeld. Rangnick. I would LOVE them too, but I feel it is unlikely. Which is a shame.

Still see Mclaren as the best of the rest; a Suarez dribble ahead of - one season and i'm out - Adriaanse.

[aveslacker]

I would love to see Co back at the helm. He said last year he wasn't interested, but I wouldn't be surprised if he would secretly be pleased to come back.

I would also love to see Olsen come back. Van Gaal will one day come back, but not for a while yet, I would think.

Ajax at this point need a manager who can handle the talented youth coming up through the ranks. I have no idea who that person is.

[rjf1]

I don't think he'd like Ajax though. He says the reason he chose Ipswich was because they had a stable board who leave the manager in peace. Compare that to the Ajax board of directors...

And that is the reason why no manager has been successful at Ajax -- and why the job has been a revovling door -- and why Louis left the second time he was here -- and will probably be the reason why we will never see him -- or anyone as good as him -- at Ajax again. Or at least until they banish the board to the woodshed.

[Orange14]

I don't think he'd like Ajax though. He says the reason he chose Ipswich was because they had a stable board who leave the manager in peace. Compare that to the Ajax board of directors...

And that is the reason why no manager has been successful at Ajax -- and why the job has been a revovling door -- and why Louis left the second time he was here -- and will probably be the reason why we will never see him -- or anyone as good as him -- at Ajax again. Or at least until they banish the board to the woodshed.

Isn't this what happened last year with the Cornell (sp??) report and the resignation and reorganization of the Board? Can we jump to any conclusion at this point in time when that new approach has only been in place for a single year?

[bryan]

It's looking more and more like that whole report was just a tool for Coronel to make himself chairman.

[Neefkens]

No way, he did it because there wasn't anyone else who wanted to do it. And you can say what you want, but he is a real AJACIED.

He just reorganised the whole club. Everything is better organised, "de ledenraad" doesn't interfere with the day-to-day-business. The chairman is only present in the backseat. van de Boog is the man now, who is in charge. The only thing that is still left to be done from the recommandations of the Coronel report, is that the trainer is a man of great experience. Now they can fix the mistake made by the former board as well.

[bryan]

I thought Van Basten was appointed under Coronel's watch, after the report was published...