Feyenoord sack Van Persie despite reaching Champions League

Feyenoord have sacked coach Robin van Persie after 16 months at the club, blaming “declining results” despite the club securing a place in next year’s Champions League.

Technical director Dévy Rigaux said it was a “difficult decision” to dismiss Van Persie from the club, but after conducting an internal review, “the conclusion was that we would be better off starting next season with a new coach”.

Van Persie, 42, took over the reins at Feyenoord, the club where he started and finished his playing career, last February, barely half a season after accepting his first managerial post at Heerenveen.

His first full season at De Kuip was characterised by patchy results and uneasy relationships with some senior players, notably team captain Quinten Timber, who left abruptly for Marseille in January after falling out with the coach in the wake of a 4-3 home defeat by Sparta.

He won 30 of his 58 games in charge but the team underperformed in Europe, winning just two matches in the Europa League group stages, a year after they famously knocked AC Milan out of the Champions League.

Ajax collapse

Their second-place finish, 19 points behind champions PSV, owed much to an even bigger collapse at Ajax, who finished fifth, while for most of the season Feyenoord were running neck-and-neck with provincial club NEC Nijmegen.

Van Persie brought veteran England international Raheem Sterling to the club to try to add a cutting edge to the forward line, but the former Manchester City forward managed just one assist in eight appearances.

Rigaux said Van Persie deserved “credit for ending a difficult season with second place, securing Champions League football, which is obviously very important.”

In the latter half of the season the club brought experienced coach Dick Advocaat on board as a mentor to Van Persie. Advocaat attacked the decision to dismiss Van Persie as a “strange situation” and ruled out a return to the club when he finishes coaching Curaçao at the World Cup.

“In the last stage of the competition he didn’t lose a match under severe pressure,” Advocaat told Voetbal International. “The Champions League should count for something.”

Van Persie’s departure could open the door to a swift return for Arne Slot, who left De Kuip two years ago to manage Liverpool, but was dismissed a week ago. Other contenders are Dick Schreuder following his successful season in charge of NEC or another former player, Mark van Bommel.