Feyenoord Rotterdam: The Demise of a Struggling Patient

My beloved Feyenoord Rotterdam passed away today, after a long and struggling battle with the disease called mismanagement. Feyenoord had just reached the century mark on Mar. 19, 2008. I am not amused, to say the least.

As explained in my previous article, Feyenoord have performed way below their supposed standard due to multiple factors, the main factor being technical mismanagement.

The person who was the least criticised, was manager Gert-Jan Verbeek. Whatever people would say about bad results, injuries and irritated players, it was in no part because of him, according to the fans.

Today, it became public that the Feyenoord direction fired coach Verbeek, due to the ongoing struggles between him and players. That is why his name was not mentioned in the new year’s speech of general manager Eric Gudde a day earlier, when that man compared Feyenoord to other teams that would have benefited from a change in direction, like Arsenal with the arrival of Arsène Wenger.

Not only is this comparison too ridiculous to even think about, but it also states that Feyenoord has something more than what they have now, potential quality players.

Besides that, Wenger, and a couple of other examples, were given the time to create a good atmosphere, to get everybody together and create a team spirit. Verbeek was not given any time at all.

He was given the opportunity to reshape the dressing room, building a fitness centre directly next to it, so players could more easily make the transition to physical exercise. The cost of that should be estimated at a couple of million euro’s. The Feyenoord board must have thought that Verbeek was an instant guide to success.

The truth is, results do not come at once. It takes time to get to know your players, to guide them in an appropriate manner, to motivate them properly.

It is ironic and sad at the same time to see the Feyenoord board make the same mistakes all over again. No manager is given time to settle, and therefore no player is given time to reach his full potential.

In the meanwhile, the people who are responsible for yet another rash decision protect each other and continue to drain the club from every form of respect possible. For example, what has Wim Jansen actually done between the time he arrived as a “technical adviser” and now? If anyone has the answer to that, please, enlighten us.

As for my previous article, let us hope that the fans make it known that we do not want these kind of selfish, arrogant and sneaky people such as Peter Bosz working for the club. Then, Feyenoord may have a chance to revive itself.

Until then, Feyenoord is no more.