Ajax present new men at three top positions at De Toekomst
12 April: In three days' time Ajax have revealed
the names of three men who will hold three top
positions in Ajax's youth development system, as of 01
July 2007. Hans van der Zee, who worked as a scout for
Ajax rivals PSV this season, will join the Ajax scouting
team. Adrie Koster, who was fired as head-coach of RKC Waalwijk
earlier this season, is the new head-coach of Young Ajax, the
Ajax reserves team. And finally, Jan Olde Riekerink, currently
working as Co Adriaanse's assistant at Metallurg Donetsk in
Ukraine, is the new director of the club's youth
development system, in other words: 'boss of De Toekomst'.
On Monday 09 April Ajax.nl announced that Hans van
der Zee has been landed as a scout. The Amsterdam club
were looking for a new scout, as one the club's veterans in
scouting, Ton Pronk, will retire this summer. Van der Zee,
51, can be regarded as Pronk's successor. As of 01 July of
this year Van der Zee will complete Ajax's scouting team of
three man. His fellow scouts will be Fred Arroyo (scouting
co-ordinator) and Gerrie Mühren.
Hans van der Zee is a born Amsterdammer. He played for
Ajax youth teams in all age categories, but never made it to
Ajax-1. He was head-coach of professional clubs such as FC
Volendam and Sparta Rotterdam, and spent two years at AZ as a
technical director (1999-2001). In the summer of 2001 he
joined PSV as a talent scout, which is what makes his move to
Ajax a bit delicate, to say the least: Van der Zee worked
for PSV for six years. In recent seasons he was the Eindhoven
club's 'South America specialist'. Not amused by Van der Zee's
move to Ajax, and - more specifically - the fact that he
will take all of his knowledge and a long list of names
with him to Amsterdam, was enough reason for PSV to remove
Van der Zee from office immediately.
The reaction of Ajax's technical director, Martin van Geel:
"We are aware of the fact that Hans is coming from a rival club
and we gave this a lot of thought. However, given his
qualities, his experience and his Ajax background, we
decided to do it anyway. I also wish to underscore that Hans
was very keen on the job himself. After six years at PSV he
wanted a new challenge, something different. That sounds like a
healthy ambition to me."
One day after revealing the name of Hans van der Zee, Ajax
also presented Adrie Koster as the new
head-coach of Young Ajax, the reserves team currently
coached by Aron Winter and assistant Maarten Stekelenburg (not
the same man as the Ajax-1 goalkeeper; in fact, not even
related to him...). Winter will be Koster's assitsant next
season, whereas Stekelenburg will coach the Ajax B2 youth team.
The club did not give a reason for Winter's 'demotion'
from head-coach to assistant, but according to persistent
rumours in the press and within the club, Winter has
been deemed "not ready" to be finally responsible for a
team.
Technical director Martin van Geel denies that this is the
case: "I am very glad that Aron will stay with Young Ajax.
Adrie and Aron are two excellent coaches, who will
complement each other well."
Adrie Koster (born Zierikzee, 18 November 1954) played for
Roda JC (1977-1979) and PSV (1979-1983), and obtained three
caps for Oranje, before becoming one of the youngest
professional coaches in the history of Dutch football. Between
1985 and 1990 he was a coach-assistant at FC Eindhoven and
Willem II. Starting in 1990 he was head-coach of Willem II,
Roda JC, Helmond Sport, TOP Oss, Excelsior and, finally, RKC
Waalwijk. Earlier this season the Waalwijk Eredivisie outfit
fired Koster due to disappointing results.
Koster spent six succesful years at Excelsior, the
'satellite club' of Feyenoord at the time. His work over there
was similar to his new job at Ajax: at Ajax he will prepare
talented young players for the first team like he
used to prepare talented youngsters for a return to De
Kuip.
Finally, on Thursday 12 April, Ajax announced that
Jan Olde Riekerink, 44, will sign a contract
as the new director of youth development. A new 'boss of De
Toekomst' needed to be found sice the current man on the job,
John van den Brom, will leave Ajax to become head-coach of
Dutch First Division side AGOVV Apeldoorn next season.
Olde Riekerink had his best years as a player at Sparta
Rotterdam. He also played for Dordrecht '90 and Telstar in the
Dutch First Division. As a coach Olde Riekerink is very
much an Ajax man, wo knows exactly what life is like at De
Toekomst. He coached the D1, D2, B1 and A1 youth teams, before
becoming the assistant of Ajax-1 boss Jan Wouters in the
dismal 1999-2000 season. After that, Jan Olde Riekerink became
head-coach of Young Ajax, and succesfully so: he won the Dutch
championship for reserves teams with Young Ajax in 2001 and
made it to the semi-final of the Dutch Cup (named the
Amstel Cup at the time) with the Ajax reserves the season
thereafter. Everyone at Ajax was very sorry to Olde Riekerink
go in the summer of 2002, to become head-coach of AA Ghent in
the highest division of Belgium.
Olde Riekerink returned to The Netherlands after one season,
to become head-coach of First Division side FC Emmen. Last
season he was succesful as Co Adriaanse's assistant at FC Porto
(the Dutch duo clinched the Portugese title with Porto).
This summer he moved to Ukraine with Adriaanse, to become
coach-assistant at Metallurg Donetsk.
Hans van der Zee, Adrie Koster and Jan Olde Riekerink will
start their new jobs officially on 01 July 2007. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl
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