Ajax have chosen a coach and that is John Heitinga. The 39-year-old coach will take charge of the first team until at least the end of this season. This was announced by the club after having him for seven days as interim coach. This week he has been able to lead a party (against Excelsior, the first league win since October) and give a press conference in which he completely changed the speech regarding the much criticized attitude of his predecessor, Alfred Schreuder.
“We are convinced that this is the right solution. John follows a careful and gradual path, which has allowed him to develop very well as a coach in recent years. Gerry Hamstra, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and I have had various conversations, of course, some with John present as well. We are very confident in his qualities and in the vision he hasVan der Sar explained. To help him, the club has signed Dwight Lodeweges. The 65-year-old veteran coach has been on the bench as head and assistant coach since 1989 for, among others, the Dutch national team.
Van der Sar, general director of the club, has been very pointed out in recent days due to his inability to find a definitive coach. According to reports from the Dutch press, all those who have been contacted (Dalic and Gallardo among them) rejected the offer. For this reason, Ajax did not want to extend the provisional position of Heitinga any longer.