Alfred Schreuder 'facing the sack after open dressing room revolt'
Ajax face open dressing room REVOLT against Erik ten Hag’s successor Alfred Schreuder, with ‘almost ALL’ of their players blaming staff for the club’s failings in a meeting and the Dutch champions stuck in fifth place and winless in six games
- Alfred Schreuder has struggled to replicate Erik ten Hag’s success this season
- Reported that there was in essence a vote of confidence in the dressing room
- Ajax drew the ‘Classic’ with Feyenoord over the weekend to extend winless run
Erik ten Hag’s Ajax replacement Alfred Schreuder is facing the sack after an open dressing room revolt, reports in Holland have suggested.
Dutchman Schreuder, 50, took over from Ten Hag last summer after he departed for Manchester United and has struggled to galvanise the playing squad – and supporters – under his leadership and is now facing the prospect of losing his job.
His Ajax side’s 1-1 draw in ‘the Classic’ with Feyenoord over the weekend extended their winless run to six games in the league, with the club sat fifth in the Eredivisie, five points off their great rivals who lead the table.
A reported hand-raising vote was taken ahead of the club’s clash with Feyenoord over the weekend
According to De Telegraaf, the players were asked to raise their hands if they thought the staff were the problem for the current failings. Most, if not all, did so – viewed as tantamount to a vote of no confidence in the current manager.
The report states that Joost Leenders, the club’s mental coach, asked the players to raise their hands if they thought the first team’s staff were the problem for the club’s recent failings.
It is said that ‘most, if not all’ raised their hands in response – a vote of little confidence in the man that is responsible for both the team and the figurehead for the staff members.
The majority of the playing squad raised their hands when asked if they thought the staff were the problem
Parts of the Dutch media have referred to it as a ‘fist on the chin’ for the coach, with it now public knowledge inside the club that there exists such dissatisfaction with Schreuder.
Despite this open rebellion against Schreuder and his staff, including the fitness and goalkeeping coaches interestingly, it was reported on Monday that the players showed little sign of throwing the towel in to get their manager sacked over the weekend.
De Telegraaf’s conclusion from the game against Feyenoord was that there was one question for the Ajax players to answer, whether or not they still had faith in the manager. They offered Davy Klaasen’s equaliser 20 minutes from the end, a week after they had battled to a draw against FC Twente with 10 men, as an indication that the players were still willing to fight for Schreuder.
This has been viewed by the Dutch press as tantamount to a vote of no confidence in Schreuder
Part of his issue having taken over from Ten Hag was the remarkable success his predecessor enjoyed with the club, both domestically and in Europe.
Ten Hag guided Ajax to within a whisker of a first Champions League final since 1996 while he won back-to-back league crowns in his final two years at the club.
Performances this season have not matched the lofty levels achieved by Ten Hag during his reign at the club. With the World Cup an obvious caveat, they have not won in the league since October.
It has been suggested that the club lack leadership at the top after the departure of Erik ten Hag
It has been suggested that there is a leadership void at the top of the Ajax hierarchy. Marc Overmars, who had been the club’s director of footballing affairs for 10 years, departed last February after sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues. Ten Hag’s role at the club was also all-encompassing, with the Dutchman an important figure at all levels.
Meanwhile, supporters were left extremely unhappy with the club’s showing in Europe. Drawn in a group with Napoli, Liverpool and Rangers, it was expected that Ajax would make more of a fist of it.
Instead, they only beat Rangers and qualified for the Europa League by virtue of the Scottish club’s major failings in the competition.
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