Board to resign; Cruijff to re-design Ajax
Coronel Committee report: Everything Must Change
20 February: In November 2007, the board and Members’ Council of AFC Ajax decided to appoint an independent inquiry comittee for a thorough and critical analyses of the club’s policy of the past ten seasons. The committee, presided by former board member Uri Coronel, observed the club for three months, studied ten seasons of documentation and conducted 42 interviews with prominent club people. They presented their report, entitled Ajax, The Road To Victory on Friday 17 February. A one sentence summary: it’s time for major, major changes.
The committee delivers its report in the Ajax ArenA press room. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
The Coronel committee had eight members, including former Ajax players Stanley Menzo and Theo van Duivenbode, Daniël Dekker (chairman of the official Ajax Fanclub) and Roger van Boxtel, a former member of the Dutch parliament, minister and member of AFC Ajax. They presented their report at the press room of the Amsterdam ArenA.
A number of the most noteworthy conclusions and recommendations...
- The Board of Directors of Ajax NV must be in charge of Ajax as a professional football club, not the board of AFC Ajax
- The general director of Ajax NV must be the visible main man, not the chairman of AFC Ajax. He must be a man with a football background, a people's manager and a warm personality who also has the support of sponsors, fans and other stakeholders.
- The Board of Commissioners (allowed to dismiss and appoint directors) must observe the Board of Directors from a distance. That is their only job. They must stay out of daily affairs.
- There is no real reason for Ajax to still be quoted on the Stock Exchange. It would be best if Ajax bought back all of its stock and withdrew their Stock Exchange quotation. Ajax must investigate this option.
- On a number of occasions in the past ten years, the technical director was only in theory the direct executive of a strong head-coach, who was allowed to bring his own coaching staff. The technical director must always be appointed before the head-coach. In practice Ajax must choose one of the following models:
- A model in which the positions of technical director and head-coach are combined in one powerful persoon with undisputed managerial qualities, who is in charge of the entire technical policy of the professional football club and directly above a head of scouting in the technical hierarchy. In this model the general director must be a 'football man' (this is, essentially, the 'Van Gaal model' of 1991-1997).
- A model with a powerful technical director, who is – in the hierarchy – placed directly above the head-coach. In this model, the executive boss of Ajax's technical policy is the technical director. In this model, the general director does not necessarily have to be a 'football man'.
- The quality of the youth system as such is high enough and the structure does not need to change, but a number of youth coaches are sub-standard and must be replaced.
- There is insufficient 'inspirational leadership' from the current Board of Directors. The Board of Directors does not operate as a 'team' and the level of collegiality is too low.
- There must be a clearly defined responsibility for the relationship between club and supporters. This relationship must be given a higher priority. The supporters deserve clear communication: yes is yes, no is no and promises must be kept – or not be made in the first place.
- The large part of the players on the first team must have come through the ranks of the youth system. Ajax should only buy players who are either young and talented, or of such quality that they can lift the team to the next level.
- Member of the board, or the Board of Commissioners, must stay out of transfer procedures.
- The role of 'technical advisor' for the first team must be abolished.
The board of AFC Ajax discussed the report with the club's Members' Council and members of honour on Tuesday evening. Much to everybody's surprise, member of honour Johan Cruijff showed up at De Toekomst.
The outcome of the meeting was surprisingly spectacular: the club's executive structure will be changed in accordance with the report. The board of AFC Ajax (chairman John Jaakke, board member of technical affairs Hennie Henrichs and board member of finance Joop Saan) will step down at the end of the current season.
The Members' Council asked Johan Cruijff to effectively re-design the club's technical policy and appoint people for the key positions. Much to everybody's surprise, Cruijff said 'yes': 27 years after he returned to the club as a player, and 20 years after he left the club as a head-coach, Johan Cruijff will do official executive work for Ajax. He will not be the new chairman or technical director, but he will totally re-design the club's technical structure on a 'project basis'. In other words: Johan Cruijff will be the architect of the 'new Ajax'.
The future of the current Board of Directors is highly uncertain. Remarkably, general director Maarten Fontein was not there when Uri Coronel presented his report. According to his lawyer, Fontein was "not invited" for the presentation. Chairman John Jaakke denied that Fontein will be fired, but on the same day football magazine Voetbal International published a draft for Fontein's notice, which was 'leaked' by an unknown employee of the club.
Johan Cruijff can fire technical director Martin van Geel, but refused to comment on the positions of Fontein and Martin van Geel. "They're not in my way," he said. (Menno Pot)
Sources: Ajax.nl, de Volkskrant, Algemeen Dagblad, Het Parool, Voetbal International
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