Ajax appoint former player Van't Schip as interim coach

The Hague, Oct 31 (IANS) Dutch soccer club Ajax unveiled John van't Schip as interim head coach for the rest of the season.

The 59-year-old former player signed a deal until mid-2025, having agreed to continue the second year of his contract as technical manager to make room for a new head coach. Van't Schip succeeds Maurice Steijn, who was fired last Monday after only four months at the helm due to a string of historic bad results, Xinhua reports.

Ajax are currently 18th and last place in the Eredivisie, for the first time in the history of the four-time winner of the European Champions Cup/Champions League. Last Sunday, Ajax lost 5-2 to leaders PSV in Eindhoven.

Australian Michael Valkanis, 49, left his job as head coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv and joined Van't Schip's staff as assistant. Hedwiges Maduro, who led Ajax on an interim basis for one week, returned to his role as assistant.

From 1981 to 1992, Van't Schip played in the first team of Ajax, after which he moved to Genoa in Italy. In 1988, he was part of the Netherlands squad that captured the European title.

After his active career, Van't Schip had several functions within Ajax, from coach at the youth academy to assistant of the first team. He also was head coach at FC Twente, Melbourne Heart, Melbourne City, Chivas Guadalajara, PEC Zwolle and, from 2019 until 2021, head coach of the national team of Greece.