'J.C.' - The Omnipresent Oracle

[bryan]

Also, maybe there is some reason why this maneuvering has to happen now, but why couldn't all this have unfolded during the summer, as opposed to in the middle of the season? If Cruijff really had the club's best interests at heart he could just as easily have waited a few months rahter than disrupt the season.

Because if he postponed it to the summer there was always a slight risk that Ajax might win the title and nobody would listen to Cruijff then. Cruijff always waits until the shit hits the fan and then takes advantage of the situation. He's like a vulture circling the wounded prey, you hear his call and the sound of him swooping in from Barcelona when things are going bad. God how he must have hated it when Louis van Gaal was leading us to consecutive European Cup finals.

If Ajax want to get back to basics then we need people who have achieved things in life from nothing. People who toiled and built up organisations from nothing using blood, sweat and tears and know how to punch above their weight with limited resources. The reality of modern football dictates that Ajax are up against it and we need people who know how to operate in that situation. The last thing we need is a collection of retired, spoiled footballing superstars who have been raking it in since they were 17 years old and quite frankly know fuck all about how to run an organisation.

[Orange14]

If Ajax want to get back to basics then we need people who have achieved things in life from nothing. People who toiled and built up organisations from nothing using blood, sweat and tears and know how to punch above their weight with limited resources. The reality of modern football dictates that Ajax are up against it and we need people who know how to operate in that situation. The last thing we need is a collection of retired, spoiled footballing superstars who have been raking it in since they were 17 years old and quite frankly know fuck all about how to run an organisation.

Aren't you describing Danny Blind? (not meant as a joke but he sure fits this description and I'm not sure we want to go there)

[Tom_]

Cruijff always waits until the shit hits the fan and then takes advantage of the situation.

…

The reality of modern football dictates that Ajax are up against it and we need people who know how to operate in that situation. The last thing we need is a collection of retired, spoiled footballing superstars who have been raking it in since they were 17 years old and quite frankly know fuck all about how to run an organisation.

+1

Don't know enough about the current board to say where they fall in this scheme. But Cruijff (as far as I can tell) is a bit of a moron. There, I said it.

[Manneken Pis]

The reality of modern football dictates that Ajax are up against it and we need people who know how to operate in that situation. The last thing we need is a collection of retired, spoiled footballing superstars who have been raking it in since they were 17 years old and quite frankly know fuck all about how to run an organisation.

As Arigo Sacchi said when people questioned his ability to be a manager because he had not been a professional footballer: "I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first".

[rjf1]

The last thing we need is a collection of retired, spoiled footballing superstars who have been raking it in since they were 17 years old and quite frankly know fuck all about how to run an organisation.

The last thing we need is a board that doesn't care a whit for the tradition of Ajax football, and are only concerned with maximizing shareholder profits. To them running Ajax is no different than running a shoe factory. Good riddance to the lot of them.

[Orange14]

The last thing we need is a board that doesn't care a whit for the tradition of Ajax football, and are only concerned with maximizing shareholder profits. To them running Ajax is no different than running a shoe factory. Good riddance to the lot of them.

Now this is about the funniest post I've read all week. Have you not looked at the club's balance sheet? They are not turning a profit at all! What the Board has tried to do (and every future Board will have to do) is make sure that the club's finances are in balance. Prior to this Board taking over about 3 years ago, all of the proceedings from the public stock sale were pretty much squandered. As I noted earlier on this thread, the Board is not playing computer "Football Manager" here but trying to keep things in balance. I'm sure that you and others don't want to see this club go down the same road as our rivals in Rotterdam. Like it or not, the balance sheet must be balanced.

[Manneken Pis]

"Ex-rivals"

;o)

[Philippe]

A balance sheet indicates both assets and liabilities. Debts are part of liabilities. Many healthy companies have debts.

[Orange14]

A balance sheet indicates both assets and liabilities. Debts are part of liabilities. Many healthy companies have debts.

Yes, but unless you can go into the bond market and fund debt (and I know of no football club that can do this) you are left with an untenable situation where the debt increases until the club is no longer viable. Look at NAC right now, they got penalized points and are only a month or so away from total insolvency. Several Dutch clubs have gone out of business in the last couple of years and Feyenoord is a financial train wreck. Even PSV needs CL football next season to balance things off. You cannot have long term debt and succeed unless you can get a sugar daddy (and we saw what happened with AZ when Scheringa went bankrupt). Believe me I don't like the way some of the personnel decisions have gone and I do think the outgoing administration was doing things correctly FROM a fiscal point of view (in contrast to the Jaake administration which refused to acknowledge any reality).

I don't think we are ever going to be able to agree on this.

[Manneken Pis]

A balance sheet indicates both assets and liabilities. Debts are part of liabilities. Many healthy companies have debts.

Debt is ok if you have a semi guaranteed income stream (like governments).

Ajax's problem is that their income stream is highly variable due to two non-guaranteed sources;
- Champion's League participation
- Major transfers

Hence, major debt in our case seems far more risky.

[bryan]

Yes, I think the current administration had done their best to steady the good ship Ajax. After the stock market float in 1998 the club started handing out 5 year contracts like candy and starting up satellite clubs all over the place. Then we decided, under Cruijff's direction, to give a big wad of cash to Marco van Basten. All this wasting of money has now been reigned in and a platform is being built for the future. A steady financial basis is now there. No, a football club isn't a shoe factory, but both are a form of business. Both need to avoid losing money in order to stay afloat. This is called reality.

Yes, there are still problems. For clubs like Ajax, who can't buy whoever they want, scouting for talent should be a top priority. Clearly Ajax has fallen behind PSV, Twente, Heerenveen, AZ, etc. in this field. I also disagree with selling Suarez mid-season and that he should have been sold for more, but I can see why they did it. It could have been done better and I was very annoyed at the board, but it was at least a somewhat logical decision.

The main thing is that the current board took a long-term financial view, which was correct. That's never popular with the supporters of course, who want instant success. The platform for improving the club is there. The books are pretty much balanced. So we need to build on the current platform. Yes, we can tinker with the youth setup and improve scouting, improving the club step by step. Working together, improving the club step by step and building on the foundations that have been laid by the current board. Cruijff doesn't want this. Cruijff wants to come in, tear everything up and start again. Like a bull in a china shop. It's stupid.

[Orange14]

Yes, I think the current administration had done their best to steady the good ship Ajax. After the stock market float in 1998 the club started handing out 5 year contracts like candy and starting up satellite clubs all over the place. Then we decided, under Cruijff's direction, to give a big wad of cash to Marco van Basten. All this wasting of money has now been reigned in and a platform is being built for the future. A steady financial basis is now there. No, a football club isn't a shoe factory, but both are a form of business. Both need to avoid losing money in order to stay afloat. This is called reality.

Yes, there are still problems. For clubs like Ajax, who can't buy whoever they want, scouting for talent should be a top priority. Clearly Ajax has fallen behind PSV, Twente, Heerenveen, AZ, etc. in this field. I also disagree with selling Suarez mid-season and that he should have been sold for more, but I can see why they did it. It could have been done better and I was very annoyed at the board, but it was at least a somewhat logical decision.

The main thing is that the current board took a long-term financial view, which was correct. That's never popular with the supporters of course, who want instant success. The platform for improving the club is there. The books are pretty much balanced. So we need to build on the current platform. Yes, we can tinker with the youth setup and improve scouting, improving the club step by step. Working together, improving the club step by step and building on the foundations that have been laid by the current board. Cruijff doesn't want this. Cruijff wants to come in, tear everything up and start again. Like a bull in a china shop. It's stupid.

Good post and you have hit on all the issues the club faces. Why didn't we discover Suarez in Uruguay? Probably because we don't scout there. We have done well in getting some good young Danish players into our system and the link up in Belgium was good also. I don't see many young players from elsewhere. Agree with you that whatever Cruyff proposes is likely to be marginal at best and disruptive at worst.

[rjf1]

I agree that you must run the club with a responsible fiscal policy. I disagree with the way they have gone about it -- which is to use the academy as a talent factory, and the first team as a salesroom showcase -- and make the entire purpose of Ajax be to generate revenue in this manner for the ultimate benefit of the shareholders. There was an article about a year ago where they blatantly stated this was their policy (I posted a link to it at the time). Ajax as a proud football club is nowhere in this picture.

There is a reason why even the Dutch league minnows have better scouting than we do and are able to sign better players than we do and for less money than we do -- and it all comes down to this board's ignoring the football part of the name Ajax Football Club. To them, they only see a footballer as a commodity to be manufactured in the academy, showcased on the field, and sold off for the maximum profit as quickly as possible. This may be the way you run a shoe factory, but it is not the way to run a football club -- especially one with a history like Ajax.

There is no disagreement with fiscal responsibility, but we are talking about the Ajax Football Club -- not the Ajax Shoe Factory. The board's unwillingness or inability to recognize the difference and find a way to maintain fiscal responsibility without sacrificing the heart and soul of Ajax as a football club is the reason I am happy to see them go.

[aveslacker]

But what guarantee do we have that Cruijff will be any better? It's not like he's putting his own neck on the line here. He won't have any official position with the club, after all. And it's not like it's rocket science here. Everyone knows we need better scouting. Why does Cruijff have to shake the board up just to tell us that we need better scouting?

The club just went through a big shakeup with the Coronel report. Implementing that report has put us on the right track: our youth system is producing Ajax players, our financial situation is nowhere near as dire as it was even two years ago and we're playing Ajax football again. What is the value in breaking everything again and starting out from scratch?

And the fact that Ajax is now a selling club has nothing to do with how poor the board is. That's just the reality of the way the game is nowadays. If anyone in position to have any influence over the club's transfer policy really believes otherwise, I want him nowhere near the club. It is a fact and the only way Ajax will get to the top of the Eredivisie will be if the powers-that-be acknowledge this and make the best of it.

[Tom_]

And the fact that Ajax is now a selling club has nothing to do with how poor the board is. That's just the reality of the way the game is nowadays.

Yeah that's a good point actually. We tried to be a buying club for a while there (Sulejmani and friends) but it didn't really work for us.

Does anyone have a clear idea of what exactly the prophet is suggesting we change?

[bryan]

I agree that you must run the club with a responsible fiscal policy. I disagree with the way they have gone about it -- which is to use the academy as a talent factory, and the first team as a salesroom showcase -- and make the entire purpose of Ajax be to generate revenue in this manner for the ultimate benefit of the shareholders.

How do you propose to do it differently? Force the players to see out their contracts and then have them leave for nothing?

[Orange14]

The reality is that we generate a significant amount of club income from transfers. I'm tired of continually reposting 'The Swiss Ramble's' analysis of the club; you can google it if you want but he breaks down the balance sheet very carefully and shows how things work for this club. We won't get much more in income from other sources and in order to maintain the current club budget we must sell players at an "appropriate" time. The only way that we could possibly make more money would be to have an Internet TV station that would show matches but even that is probably precluded by the new Eredivisie Network that shows all the league matches. Running a football club in today's world is a complicated deal and I think we will see some real problems coming on down the road with clubs that have overextended themselves (do you think the fine citizens of Valencia were happy to see Villa and Silva leave the club last summer?). Unless you are willing to see a gazillionaire foreign owner running this team the current reality is what you will be faced with.

BTW, I just saw a tweet from Ernst Bouwes that we are looking to extend Siem de Jong's contract and perhaps also go after Luuk (who I think is a better player). I'm sure we will have to pay a lot of money for him.

[souras84]

where can I read about ajax? any good sites, in english?

[rjf1]

But what guarantee do we have that Cruijff will be any better?

None -- except there will be an emphasis on football -- which has been sorely lacking with the current board. Football counts for nothing with them.

...Everyone knows we need better scouting. Why does Cruijff have to shake the board up just to tell us that we need better scouting?

Because the board either is too lame to know how badly we need scouting or (more likely), could care less about scouting -- because as long as they could churn out product from the factory (oops, I mean footballers from the academy), that they could sell for profit, that was all they cared about. Who needs scouting when you don't care about results on the field.

The club just went through a big shakeup with the Coronel report. Implementing that report has put us on the right track: our youth system is producing Ajax players, our financial situation is nowhere near as dire as it was even two years ago and we're playing Ajax football again. What is the value in breaking everything again and starting out from scratch?

The Coronel report fixed half the problem -- it put our financial situation on the right track. Our youth system may be producing Ajax players (if Ebecilio is our best example, then heaven help us), but the board is only interested in showcasing them and selling them off as fast as possible -- I can see where this helps on the finances, but fail to see how this helps us on the field of play. And I don't know what your definition of Ajax football is, but I haven't seen 25% of the level of passing and movement and creativity that makes up my definition of Ajax football. Just putting out an "Ajax formation" doesn't automatically equate to Ajax football. The quality just isn't there.

And the fact that Ajax is now a selling club has nothing to do with how poor the board is. That's just the reality of the way the game is nowadays. If anyone in position to have any influence over the club's transfer policy really believes otherwise, I want him nowhere near the club. It is a fact and the only way Ajax will get to the top of the Eredivisie will be if the powers-that-be acknowledge this and make the best of it.

The fact that Ajax -- as a selling club -- is not making the best of it has exactly everything to do with how poor the board has been regarding the football side of their job. The fact that PSV and Twente are every bit as much selling clubs as Ajax -- yet still manage to come up with better football teams than we do year after year -- in spite of our famous academy -- should tell you that the problem doesn't begin and end with the fact that we are a selling club. Ajax will never get over being a 3rd or 4th place team (with maybe an occasional 2nd if we are lucky) with the attitude toward Ajax as a football team that this board has.

[Philippe]

But what guarantee do we have that Cruijff will be any better?

None -- except there will be an emphasis on football -- which has been sorely lacking with the current board. Football counts for nothing with them.

Precisely. I share this feeling.

[bryan]

The fact that Ajax -- as a selling club -- is not making the best of it has exactly everything to do with how poor the board has been regarding the football side of their job. The fact that PSV and Twente are every bit as much selling clubs as Ajax -- yet still manage to come up with better football teams than we do year after year -- in spite of our famous academy -- should tell you that the problem doesn't begin and end with the fact that we are a selling club.

The reason P$V and Twente have been more successful is because they have adjusted to the new reality. They have accepted that they will never do well in Europe ever agian and have embraced mediocrity. They try to get players that will improve the team, but will also be affordable and hang around for a while.

Ajax still dream of being European Champions. The sad reality is that we will never be European Champions again under the current system of grossly unequal TV money, we won't even come close. Ajax and its fans exist in a fairy tale land where we think we are so good that we can refuse to offer players over the age of 30 a contract longer than 12 months. So we lost Pantelic, who would have come in fucking handy this season. Seriously, who do we think we are? Of course, like all self-perceptions regarding Ajax, this dream of having no older players (why?!) totally goes against reality. Because ironically, we won in 1971 with a 31 year old Serb at the back. And in 1995 we had Blind and Rijkaard, who were 33 and 32.

Ajax need to take a cold bath in the pool of reality and build from there. There will be no reality bath with Cruijff. Cruijff is away with the birds. He thinks we can become world beaters again because he has made a flow chart of the youth system with a big arrow pointed at the period between 8 and 18 years old with "intervene".

And so we limp on into next season.

[souras84]

The fact that Ajax -- as a selling club -- is not making the best of it has exactly everything to do with how poor the board has been regarding the football side of their job. The fact that PSV and Twente are every bit as much selling clubs as Ajax -- yet still manage to come up with better football teams than we do year after year -- in spite of our famous academy -- should tell you that the problem doesn't begin and end with the fact that we are a selling club.

The reason P$V and Twente have been more successful is because they have adjusted to the new reality. They have accepted that they will never do well in Europe ever agian and have embraced mediocrity. They try to get players that will improve the team, but will also be affordable and hang around for a while.

Ajax still dream of being European Champions. The sad reality is that we will never be European Champions again under the current system of grossly unequal TV money, we won't even come close. Ajax and its fans exist in a fairy tale land where we think we are so good that we can refuse to offer players over the age of 30 a contract longer than 12 months. So we lost Pantelic, who would have come in fucking handy this season. Seriously, who do we think we are? Of course, like all self-perceptions regarding Ajax, this dream of having no older players (why?!) totally goes against reality. Because ironically, we won in 1971 with a 31 year old Serb at the back. And in 1995 we had Blind and Rijkaard, who were 33 and 32.

Ajax need to take a cold bath in the pool of reality and build from there. There will be no reality bath with Cruijff. Cruijff is away with the birds. He thinks we can become world beaters again because he has made a flow chart of the youth system with a big arrow pointed at the period between 8 and 18 years old with "intervene".

And so we limp on into next season.

Sad but true... most of it

[aveslacker]

But what guarantee do we have that Cruijff will be any better?

None -- except there will be an emphasis on football -- which has been sorely lacking with the current board. Football counts for nothing with them.

...Everyone knows we need better scouting. Why does Cruijff have to shake the board up just to tell us that we need better scouting?

Because the board either is too lame to know how badly we need scouting or (more likely), could care less about scouting -- because as long as they could churn out product from the factory (oops, I mean footballers from the academy), that they could sell for profit, that was all they cared about. Who needs scouting when you don't care about results on the field.

The club just went through a big shakeup with the Coronel report. Implementing that report has put us on the right track: our youth system is producing Ajax players, our financial situation is nowhere near as dire as it was even two years ago and we're playing Ajax football again. What is the value in breaking everything again and starting out from scratch?

The Coronel report fixed half the problem -- it put our financial situation on the right track. Our youth system may be producing Ajax players (if Ebecilio is our best example, then heaven help us), but the board is only interested in showcasing them and selling them off as fast as possible -- I can see where this helps on the finances, but fail to see how this helps us on the field of play. And I don't know what your definition of Ajax football is, but I haven't seen 25% of the level of passing and movement and creativity that makes up my definition of Ajax football. Just putting out an "Ajax formation" doesn't automatically equate to Ajax football. The quality just isn't there.

And the fact that Ajax is now a selling club has nothing to do with how poor the board is. That's just the reality of the way the game is nowadays. If anyone in position to have any influence over the club's transfer policy really believes otherwise, I want him nowhere near the club. It is a fact and the only way Ajax will get to the top of the Eredivisie will be if the powers-that-be acknowledge this and make the best of it.

The fact that Ajax -- as a selling club -- is not making the best of it has exactly everything to do with how poor the board has been regarding the football side of their job. The fact that PSV and Twente are every bit as much selling clubs as Ajax -- yet still manage to come up with better football teams than we do year after year -- in spite of our famous academy -- should tell you that the problem doesn't begin and end with the fact that we are a selling club. Ajax will never get over being a 3rd or 4th place team (with maybe an occasional 2nd if we are lucky) with the attitude toward Ajax as a football team that this board has.

I agree with a lot of the problems you've pointed out here. Maybe we're not playing like we did under Van Gaal, but we're playing a lot more like it than we did under any of the last 5 or 6 coaches we've had, in a system that we're known for. Sure, it could get better. But it get a whole lot worse in a hurry. And I have no confidence that Cruijff, who has made a habit of sniping from the shore without getting his feet wet, will make anything better. And if the shit truly hits the fan, he'll just walk away and blame someone else. I could do without that.

[bryan]

the board is only interested in showcasing them and selling them off as fast as possible

This is not true. They try to offer the players new contracts but once the players reject new contracts and decide to leave you have to sell them sooner or later, otherwise they will leave for nothing. Stekelenburg has repeatedly extended his contract and the board haven't tried to sell him off as fast as possible, now have they?

They tried when the Bosman ruling first came in to offer almost every single 18 year old youth player a five year contract. Trouble is you don't know at that age for sure which ones will turn out to be good. The result was that we had almost 50 players on contracts and the wage bill spiralled out of control.

[Dubbel]

I agree with a lot of the problems you've pointed out here. Maybe we're not playing like we did under Van Gaal, but we're playing a lot more like it than we did under any of the last 5 or 6 coaches we've had, in a system that we're known for. Sure, it could get better. But it get a whole lot worse in a hurry. And I have no confidence that Cruijff, who has made a habit of sniping from the shore without getting his feet wet, will make anything better. And if the shit truly hits the fan, he'll just walk away and blame someone else. I could do without that.

It could get worse??? I guess we could go from being #3 to being #7 but would that matter much? Had you grown up with Ajax you'd know the last decade has been the darkest Ajax era ever. Yet we have people here saying that many things are going right... Not. Having to purchase 90% of our star players is not good. Qualifying for CL once in 5 years is not good. Playing a 442 or 352 isn't either etc etc. Our club is dying in a hurry. FDB is trying hard but he simply lacks the right level players. Cruijff sees a way out and is willing to put his reputation on the line to get us to a point where we'll top AZ, Twente, Psv and the likes again and make name in Europe with Ajax style play and players. I think his plan is great and we should implement quickly with the people he suggests (Bergkamp, Jonk, De Boer) whilst getting rid of people like VDB who are mostly interested in selling players to pad their bonuses. The latter being a extra win since that was never Cruijff's intention.