Feyenoord today announced that coach Fred Rutten would leave the club at the end of the season. Michael Bell takes a look at the candidates to replace Rutten at De Kuip.
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It has been coming for weeks, but Feyenoord finally announced on Monday that Fred Rutten’s expiring contract would not be extended, and the coach will leave Rotterdam after only one season in charge.
Feyenoord now have until the end of the season to decide on a successor and below are the four candidates who’s names have already been put forward by the media for the job.
Jean-Paul van Gastel
Currently assistant coach to Rutten, Van Gastel is the favourite to step into the head coach role according to many media outlets in Netherlands.
The former midfielder spent five years at the club as a player, making over 100 appearances and winning the league championship in 1999. After retiring Van Gastel joined Feyenoord as a youth coach and has worked his way up to become assistant to Ronald Koeman in 2011.
After Koeman left last summer the club deemed Van Gastel too inexperienced to take over, but now that he has spent another year as assistant coach to Fred Rutten, it may be the perfect time for Feyenoord to hand him the head coach role. Van Gastel has worked with many of the current first team Feyenoord players through the youth ranks which would make the transition to the head coach role very simple.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Both PSV and Ajax have had success after handing the reigns of the club over to club legends Phillip Cocu and Frank de Boer, and if Feyenoord were to follow suit then crowd favourite and former captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst could be the perfect man to lead the Rotterdam side.
Currently an assistant to Fred Rutten, Van Bronckhorst would be a risky option, and it is more likely that the 40-year-old would be an assistant to the new boss before stepping up to the plate in a few years. However his station among the fans would mean that Van Bronckhorst would be a very popular choice if he was selected.
Peter Bosz
Peter Bosz represented the club he loves as a player between 1991 and 1996 and returned for a three year spell as a director in 2006, but would he take the opportunity to coach Feyenoord?
As coach of Heracles, Bosz gained a reputation for playing attacking football and he has continued this style with Vitesse, who he took charge of in 2013. After gaining criticism for a poor start to the current campaign, Bosz has turned around Vitesse’s form and the club are currently charging up the table and sit fifth.
Bosz may be out of contract in the summer, but he is currently in talks with Vitesse over a new deal and stated at the weekend he is not concerned by the Feyenoord rumours.
He said, “I am only concerned with Vitesse. We are in consultation with each other on a new contract. Vitesse is the only thing that interests me at the moment, let’s leave it at that.”
Ron Jans
After steering PEC Zwolle to KNVB Cup success and their first ever appearance in the Europa League, Ron Jans has become one of the most respected coaches in the Eredivisie, and it comes as no surprise that his name has been put forward for the Feyenoord position.
The 56-year-old would be a great appointment by Feyenoord, but having only signed a contract extension in February, Jans would be very unlikely to leave PEC Zwolle at the moment. PEC Zwolle would also demand a fee for their coach to leave, which makes it even more unlikely for money conscious Feyenoord.
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