Verbeek Dismissed By Feyenoord

Gert Jan Verbeek has been fired as the coach of Feyenoord, abruptly ending his seven month tenure in Rotterdam. The 46-year-old has paid the penalty for guiding Feyenoord to a derisory twelfth place in the Dutch Eredivisie, a season which has also brought the degradation of an early elimination from the UEFA Cup and five league victories out of seventeen contributed to losing the dressing room.

Unforeseen injuries have helped little in their hunt for improvement and consistency but, in the words of the club director Eric Gudde, “It is a law in football that if a large part of the players do not want a coach, there is no way to continue other than to install a new man.” The fallen Dutch giants, who are a sombre reflection of their glorious past, will look to emerge from the wilderness by seeking the services of another figure in the managerial turnstile.

Feyenoord’s home form has been startling in comparison to their fortunes last season. In 2007-2008, Feyenoord enjoyed unprecedented success in their home fixtures, winning 39 points from 17 fixtures but already this season they have lost three matches and have picked up only fourteen points from nine matches – the sixth worst in the division. (Home table of this season's Dutch Eredivisie below).



Latest Eredivisie Transfers
FC Twente have acted immediately to replace the Ajax-bound Rob Wielaert by signing Peter Wisgerhof from NEC for €800,000 on a three-and-a-half-year contract. Elsewhere, Vitesse Arnheim have signed winger Julian Jenner and midfielder Rogier Molhoek on permanent deals after both failed to impact entirely at AZ Alkmaar. The two signed a one-year loan deal at Vitesse last summer and Jenner has agreed a contract that will expire in 2012. Relegation-threatened ADO Den Haag have reinforced their squad for the battles ahead through the capture of Feyenoord midfielder Danny Buijs. Finally, PSV have signed 22-year-old Swedish attacker Ola Toivonen from Malmo in the region of €4.2 million.