Dutch champions AZ have moved quickly to replace Ronald Koeman, sacked at the weekend following defeat at home to Vitesse. In comes the vastly experienced Dick Advocaat who was first choice to succeed Bayern-bound Louis van Gaal in the summmer, but the former Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg boss had already agreed terms to become Belgium's gaffer.
Sacked by Zenit after a run of poor results, Advocaat took up the Belgium job earlier than planned, but failed to take them to the World Cup finals. That means he'll only have friendlies to worry about on the international scene for the rest of the season which makes combining the roles significantly easier.
Advocaat takes charge in Alkmaar for the rest of the current season. In a press conference, he said "We need to get European football at AZ. If we do not achieve this, then I will have done something wrong." That's setting your stall out early. AZ are currently six points off qualifying for the Europa League and seventeen from making it into second place and the qualifiers for the Champions League. He has the talent at the club, but he'll need far more luck than Koeman was afforded.
No comments:
Post a Comment