Ajax to act on report Coronel

The committee Coronel has taken a critical look at Ajax. ,,It was quite a difficult day”, John Jaakke said. ,,But we are glad that the report has been published.”

It was busier than ever in the press room of the Amsterdam ArenA on Sunday. Everyone was curious about the report of the committee Coronel, that was published earlier in the day. Uri Coronel (chairman of the committee that investigated ten years of policy at Ajax), Ajax chairman John Jaakke and Cor van Eijden (chairman Members' Council) all took their time to answer questions of the media.

The findings of the committee are not mild. The management model has to change: the managing director has to be the figure head of the club, the Board of Governors has to operate more in the background, the relationship with the grassroots (supporters, sponsors and other stakeholders) needs to be improved and Ajax should consider leaving the stock exchange. ,,Going to the stock exchange offers no more added financial value'', said Uri Coronel.

In the technical area the committee advises to choose for a clear model: a strong coach, who also serves as technical director (the 'Van Gaal model') or a strong technical director, who is in charge of the coach and decides all football-technical appointments. The committee thinks the current division of roles too vague.

The media representatives labelled the report as 'very critical'. They wanted to know of John Jaakke which steps are going to be taken. ,,First we have to see what exactly the report says”, the chairman said. ,,Then we are going to see what it all means and finally we have to decide what to do wit the conclusions and recommendations.” The press wanted to know if people will be fired because of the report. There is much criticism in the document of managing director Maarten Fontein. ,,Maarten Fontein is still employed at Ajax'', said Jaakke. ,,Of course talks will be held with the people mentioned in the report. But if we have anything to say about personnel changes, we will do this in the usual way.”

The committee advises the management of Ajax to act quickly. ,,Firstly, there has to be clarity about the coaches model that is going to be used”, said Uri Coronel. ,,That is something that can be decided upon shortly. Also, steps can be taken quickly when it concerns the role of the Board of Governors and Ajax's position on the stock exchange.”

John Jaakke emphasised that Ajax, despite the criticism, still has much to be proud of. ,,Ajax is a fantastic club, with fantastic supporters. Many things are going well at Ajax, other things can and must be improved."

Regarding the coaching model, I read book written by a French manager who travelled all over the world to study the work of other manager and his report about the ajax school of football/youth training is fascinating. The book is a bit old as it was written in 97 but you learn stuff like this :

Recuitement for the young players depends on 4 paramaters known as TIPS
technical intelligence personality and sneldheid, if a player does not have those 4 ingredients they are not selected. I guess some english club should select the same criteria at youth level.
All youth theam play the same 3-4-3 tactics to educate them on the way the Ajax football should be played
Players are taught to play in a "task orientated" way in opposition to "ego-orientated " way i order to develop and improve his personnel level.
Youth teams play regularly against older teams to avoid easy victories against team the same age for example E2 teams 8-9 years old play against D2 teams 10-11

I don't now if this is still up to date but I find this school of football a formidable example.