Robin van Persie has been sacked with immediate effect by Feyenoord.
The Premier League great was coming off a poor campaign where he took the side to second in the Eredivisie, but only with a record-low points tally for a runner-up.
However, it looked like Van Persie would be kept around at the club with a contract until 2027.
Yet, in response to a dire season, Feyenoord made sweeping changes at executive level, including new technical director Devy Rigaux from Club Brugge and general manager Robert Eenhoorn.
The latter was only allowed to officially start his job on July 1st, and less than a week later he and Rigaux decided to move on from ‘RVP’.
Feyenoord management slammed
Rigaux’s actions have already drawn scorn from club great Dick Advocaat, who worked as an advisor when Van Persie was struggling last season.
The Curacao coach certainly won’t stay having given a tough critique of the new executive’s press conferences.
“I thought it was ridiculous,” he said. “A technical director is a glorified head scout.
“Now they are going to make him the deciding man. General Manager Robert Eenhoorn should be the deciding man.
“The technical director must decide which players come in together with the head coach, but the most important man is the coach, not the technical director and not the general manager.
“Now the roles have been completely reversed. Eenhoorn is really the kind of man to step in at that. He didn’t.”
Feyenoord announce Van Persie sacking
Explaining his call in a statement, Rigaux said: “Robin van Persie has given everything for the club over the past 18 months.
“He deserves credit for guiding the team through a challenging season and ultimately securing second place.
“That ensured qualification for the UEFA Champions League, which is of great importance to the club.
“We conducted a thorough internal evaluation in which we looked at several factors, including the development of the team’s performances and the downward trend in points collected, both in Europe and in the Eredivisie.
“The conclusion was that it would be better to start the new season with a new head coach.”
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