Hans Nijland would advise FC Groningen coach Dick Lukkien against moving to Ajax. Recently Tijmen van Wissing, reporter of… RTV Eastthat he would rather see Lukkien at Ajax than John Heitinga. According to Nijland, the 53-year-old coach should simply stay at FC Groningen.
‘Hans Nijland visited the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam this week. He learned one thing: Ajax is a snake pit and FC Groningen coach Dick Lukkien should not go there,” Nijland’s column begins in the Dagblad van het Noorden. The former general manager of FC Groningen was present in the Johan Cruijff ArenA for a ‘panel discussion’.
‘It will not surprise anyone that the Ajax level was high. Nevertheless, I felt like a fish in water there in Amsterdam,” said Nijland, who said he handed out “pinpricks.” ‘It is doom and gloom at Ajax at the moment. It is a wandering team, there is no visible line in the game. It’s as if they were walking through the Pyrenees and carrying a map of the Alps.’
Nijland points to the words of Johan Derksen, who recently said that Ajax’s selection is currently at the level of FC Groningen. “Well, even the Ajax supporter will admit that it is more fun to watch the FC at the moment than their own club,” said the columnist. ‘Ajax, once a superpower, is also not doing well in other areas. The annual figures for the past season were recently presented. A loss of 37 million has been made.’
However, Ajax still has an equity of 189 million euros. ‘It is never pleasant for a company to rely on its own assets,’ says Nijland. ‘The shareholder will be horrified by it. As if the above were not enough, there is also talk of a farce in the Supervisory Board of Ajax.’
Nijland is referring to the departure of Carolien Gehrels and Hermine Voûte from the Supervisory Board of Ajax. ‘The question arises as to how it is possible that two people who are so successful in business can afford to take on a job within the Supervisory Board of a football club,’ writes the columnist. ‘Last week I was asked in the Radio Milko podcast whether Dick Lukkien would be a suitable trainer for Ajax. My advice: it’s a snake pit, don’t do it, stay where you are. Let Lukkien become the Sir Alex Ferguson of the FC.’
