John van ‘t Schip will serve as Ajax’s head coach until the end of this season. He is the successor to Maurice Steijn, who left the Amsterdam club last week after a dramatic start to the season.
Since then, the group has been led by assistant coach Hedwiges Maduro. Under his leadership, they lost 2-0 to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Europa League and 5-2 to PSV in the Premier League on Sunday.
Van ‘t Schip previously confirmed that he was negotiating with Ajax to become interim manager. The former player was initially set to return in an administrative role but will be seen on the field for now. Van ‘t Schip will take part in the technical management next season.
“Get up quickly”
Van ‘t Schip: “I have a very good feeling after discussions with everyone involved. “Ajax needs to progress rapidly on the sporting path and I am happy to be able to contribute to this.”
“John is a natural Ajax player who has gained a lot of experience both on and off the field,” Ajax interim general manager Jan van Halst said on the club website.
“From our point of view, he is now the right person to influence performance positively,” Van Halst said. “First of all, as the Coach of the A Team. He has another technical role ahead of him in the long run. “John has previously worked well with Michael Valkanis as assistant coach and we believe Michael will be a welcome addition to our coaching staff.”
Valkani’s assistant
Van ‘t Schip brings with him as assistant coach Australian Michael Valkanis, with whom he worked at Melbourne City, PEC Zwolle and the Greek national team. Valkanis was the head coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv until Monday. Maduro and Said Bakkati will also remain as assistants, and interim assistant coach Dave Vos will return to Jong Ajax.
Van ‘t Schip took over Ajax Amsterdam, which was in crisis. The club is in last place in the Premier League after the defeat against PSV. We still have two matches to catch up on, but if both get three points the gap to the top four will remain large. Ajax will play under the new coach for the first time in the Premier League match against FC Volendam on Thursday.
Temporary coach again
This is not the first time Van ‘t Schip, 59, has been in a temporary role at Ajax. He served as interim coach for one match following the sacking of Marco van Basten in May 2009. Ajax finished this season in third place. Van ‘t Schip was also active at the club as a youth and assistant coach.
Van ‘t Schip’s last job was two years ago. He was the national coach of Greece from 2019 to 2021. Under his leadership, the national team failed to qualify for the European Championship and the World Cup.
He previously served as assistant coach to national coach Van Basten of the Dutch national team and head coach at FC Twente, Melbourne Heart, Chivas, Melbourne City and PEC Zwolle.
Van ‘t Schip played more than 300 times for Ajax’s main team during his playing career. He won four national championships and the UEFA Cup, now the Europa League, in 1992. He also played 41 international matches for the Dutch national team.
Source: NOS
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