“The club should have asked me to become a trainer”

Jan van Dijk is disappointed in FC Groningen. The former trainer and player of the club had expected a call from the club management after the dismissal of Frank Wormuth asking if he wanted to wave the scepter, he says in the podcast Radio Milko van Newspaper of the North. Van Dijk wore the shirt of Groningen between 1975 and 1992 and was later at the helm as head coach between 1998 and 2001. He also served as an assistant coach the Pride of the North.

Van Dijk had contact with general manager Wouter Gudde about two months ago to talk about the club. “FC Groningen is more than just the club,” says Van Dijk in the podcast. “It is also the city and the province. Wouter Gudde has that less and I don’t blame him. Of course that whole feeling is not there with those guys, but that is not surprising of course. But I think they should have asked to become a trainer, then I would have thrown out the entire staff. Now they are not performing at all and then it is too late for me. “

During the conversation with Van Dijk, Gudde wanted to know how the club lives. “He called and asked if he could come over. I said: ‘You are welcome, but the conversation can go both ways. Either you will be outside again within two minutes, or we will have a good conversation with a few I’ll tell you what I think about it.” He ended up being there for a few hours. Why did I say that? I don’t have to beat around the bush. I know everything about this club and I wanted to tell him. If he doesn’t like it, good friends.”

Van Dijk also blames Hans Nijland for something. “That’s okay, don’t blame Hans Nijland. I think he should have trained his own director. He is really capable of training his own director, then he would have had a director from his own environment,” says Van Dijk, which is not only negative. “I think it is very good that Henk Veldmate is back. That is Wouter Gudde’s salvation. I am not here to say bad things about Gudde, but he also needs help. Veldmate is a textbook example of how things should go. “

In the past, Van Dijk played more than five hundred matches for FC Groningen. After his active career he was assistant coach and head coach. Subsequently, Van Dijk was at the helm of Roda JC, FC Emmen and VVV-Venlo, among others. The last professional club he served was Helmond Sport in 2016. In recent years he has been a trainer in amateur football. Because of his merits at the club, Van Dijk is also called Mister Groningen named. He now lives in Limburg.