Jan 29, 2023 at 2:52 PMUpdate: 3 minutes ago
John Heitinga says that he himself does not know how long he will be ultimately responsible on the bench at Ajax. The 39-year-old former defender, who was a trainer of Jong Ajax, has moved on after the dismissal of trainer Alfred Schreuder and it is unclear whether he will finish the season on an interim basis.
“I only have control over what happens today,” Heitinga told ESPN on Sunday, shortly before his debut as Ajax coach in Rotterdam against Excelsior.
“I’m not looking any further now,” he continued. “As long as I don’t hear from the club management, I’m Ajax trainer. That’s what I know now and so I can’t say anything about the upcoming matches.”
Heitinga has the trainer’s diplomas to lead Ajax, but it is highly questionable whether the club management also sees him as a coach of the first team in the long term. The only thing the club management has announced so far is that Heitinga is the head coach against Excelsior.
John Heitinga at the arrival of Ajax at Excelsior. Photo: Pro Shots
Heitinga was supposed to become Schreuder’s assistant
Incidentally, the plan was initially that Heitinga would move on to become an assistant to Schreuder, he said on Sunday.
Heitinga came to an oral agreement with the club management on Thursday and would be on the bench at Jong Ajax for the last time against Helmond Sport on Friday. That changed with Schreuder’s dismissal on Thursday evening.
“A few hours after I agreed with the club management, I received a call that I had to come to the club on Friday to talk. Then I was told that I was not going to be an assistant, but that I had to take over on Sunday as the person with final responsibility. So you see but how unpredictable football is.”
Image: Pro Shots
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