Director Edwin van der Sar announced the departure 45 minutes after the game to sports channel ESPN after he had spoken with the staff. The management of Ajax had lost confidence in Schreuder, Van der Sar made clear.
The collaboration with assistant coach Matthias Kaltenbach has also ended with immediate effect. Michael Reiziger and Richard Witschge will lead the training of the club from Amsterdam tomorrow.
‘Painful decision’
“It is a painful decision, but also a necessary one,” Van der Sar said in a response. “After a good start to the season, we then lost an unnecessary number of points. The game was also changeable. Due to the World Cup, there was an early and long winter break.”
Schreuder would have been given time and confidence by the club management to ‘change and improve things’. Van der Sar: “In recent weeks it became increasingly clear that he could not turn the tide, while we believe that despite the many transfers he had a strong and champion-worthy selection at his disposal. We have also lost a lot of points in recent weeks and unfortunately we didn’t see any progress.”
Supporters have been screaming for the departure of trainer Alfred Schreuder for weeks, but are also dissatisfied with the management. Spectators had used the home game against Volendam to express their dissatisfaction with the situation at the club. They heeded a call from the F-side and waved white handkerchiefs in the fifth minute of the game.
Severe flu
The supporters of the F-Side, gathered behind one of the goals, chanted ‘Schreuder rotten’. Fans in other stands also waved white handkerchiefs. The F-side had called on all Ajax fans via social media to protest. “Unfortunately, Ajax is currently suffering from a severe flu. So take your white handkerchief with you,” Ajax’s hard core of supporters wrote on social media.
