Feyenoord skipper Gio van Bronckhorst distanced himself on behalf of the whole group of the so-called crisis in Rotterdam. “Bullshit,” the Oranje captain spitted. “The media are making a meal out of it. I am saying this on behalf of all the players. And this is not rehearsed or prepared by our press people. It was the latest article in the AD that motivated me to do this. They said we took a vote and 14 players wanted Verbeek out. That is not true.”

“I know this is not standard procedure but I felt strongly that I needed to say this. These articles create negativity and pressure and we do not recognize ourselves one bit in these statements in the press. It’s all concocted to sell papers.”

“We didn’t take a vote. We didn’t even discuss Verbeek. As the players, we came forward with things we felt we needed to change. Everyone got to say their thing, the players and the technical staff. Another thing we keep reading is that there’s a rift between young and older players. Again, nonsense. And some players would have complained about the tough training sessions, but that wasn’t on our list at all. We do not want the fans to get a wrong impression.”

“This stuff will only make our problems bigger. We don’t need this. You get the idea that it’s the players versus the coaches but that’s absolutely not the case. And our focus needs to be on AZ now. We’ll play the leaders this weekend, and it’s like everyone forgot that.”

When Gio was faced with questions about how some details did reach the media, he refused to answer and left the pressroom.

The Feyenoord fans supported the coaches and the club. That became clear in the last days.

Verbeek used this to finetune his players. “They only thing you can do and must do, is work hard. Give it your all. If the fans see that you do everything you can, you will create goodwill. The game against AZ is the perfect game to do this.”

Verbeek was pretty chilled out after the press meeting. “If they say the articles in the press are wrong and exaggerated, I believe them. I never experienced any deep issues with them. We do have our discussions, but that’s good. And they don’t have to agree all the time. I do not distrust them and whenever they come out and speak their mind, I can do something with it.”

Verbeek didn’t want to blame the press. “I won’t repeat what Gio said. I can only say that all that stuff in the media is something I can’t do anything with. It’s all “anonymous sources” and stuff, so what can I do? What I can do, is work hard with the group every day. I can work with them and influence them. I can’t influence the media.”

Van Bronckhorst did confirm that there were lots of talks in the past days, between players, staff and management. Verbeek: “Those talks were very useful. Improving communications improves our cooperation and therefore the results.”

The hard-headed coach did make a bow: “I’m not saying I know it all. I work with lads who played at the highest levels and still do. I do involve them in different processes.”

Verbeek also said he listened well. “Our course remains the same, but a couple of changes left or right won’t hurt. El Ahmadi said recently he wasn’t used to training 100% the day before a game. Fine. He can say that. Others asked for different training forms before a game, we can actually work with those requests.”

Verbeek repeated that Feyenoord hadn’t “directed” Van Bronckhorst’s statement. “That was a fine initiative of the players. It’s important for Feyenoord and I support this. I am happy with their support and I can work with this. My relationship with the players is my biggest asset. Anything that impacts them, impacts me and the club. I received useful imput and I am happy with the way this process has gone.”

United they stood. Not so much on the pitch, but at the boardroom table of Feyenoord’s management in De Kuip. This can’t go on like this, the players unanimously claimed!

General manager Eric Gudde told the press: we are 100% behind Verbeek, while at the same time the whole group was huddled together in another meeting room to formulate their joint position in the case and what they want changed.

After that meeting, captain Gio van Bronckhorst and sub-skippers Makaay and Hofland spoke with technical director Peter Bosz about their dissatisfaction. Shortly before that meeting, the players briefed coach Verbeek on their grievances.

Among the rthings the players want changed is “communication”. The relationships in the group have deteriorated so much that the necessary trusts lacks to come to optimal results. The grievances about Verbeek’s training methods are closely related. Most players don’t like the way Verbeek works, which results more in injuries than in points.

Feyenoord is at the eleventh spot in the eredivisie, with matches versus table leader AZ and ruling champ PSV in the weeks to come. The chance that Feyenoord will end the season’s first half at the 15th spot are very realistic. And that in Feyenoord’s centennial year!

Kevin Hofland didn’t want to talk to the press about the meetings. “We keep the dirty linen inside, but we are clear what we want as a group. We have had a very open meeting. We all realize that we are to blame. The players fail. We know that. We know what our responsibilities are, and that’s why we asked for this meeting.”

When asked whether Hofland wants Verbeek to stay, the defender refused to comment. “I play for Feyenoord and not for a coach. Whether it’s Verbeek or someone else. In two days, months or years you can have another coach. That’s how it works. As player, you need to play and give your 100%, who ever is the coach.”

Gertjan Verbeek said he was pleased that there was an open discussion about the current crisis. Before the meetings, he did say that he loathed the “anonymous” criticism that was leaked to some media. After that statement, he allowed the players to confer by themselves.

“I am for honesty and openness,” he said. “And I won’t communicate via the media. That will spoil all the confidence and trust we need. I was clear to the players about that. They came back with a clear position and summarized their criticism. I can do something with that. We all can start making progress now.”

Verbeek feels that there’s still room to work together. “Listen, the meeting wasn’t about whether the players want me out or not. It wasn’t that kind of meeting and no one said they didn’t want to work with me anymore. The intention was to come to an optimum modus operandum to work together, in the interest of the club. No one here is bigger than Feyenoord. We talked as grown ups. And they’ve shown they want to take responsibility. That’s a good thing.”

The Feyenoord fans have aimed their poisoned arrows at the players and the technical director Peter Bosz. The latter is held responsible for the dire situation at the club. “I understand that. Whenever the results are disappointing, it’s the coach or the management that cops it. The coach is new, so they pick on me. I can relate to that.”

Bosz doesn’t want to talk about his meeting with the skipper and his assistants. “We had a constructive, positive meeting. The idea is to have the faces all pointing in the same direction. And I think we managed to do so.”

As a Feyenoord supporter, you will always have something to complain about. The Rotterdam style humor has always been sarcastic, cynical, acidic, negative, etc etc. Cause or effect? We’ll never know.

But, let’s approach Feyenoord a bit positive, ok? Because good things do happen in De Kuip.

Here goes:

De Kuip is still The Football Temple of Holland.
We won’t be biting our nails when the UEFA Cup draw is on.
Young Feyenoord beat young Vitesse.
Young Feyenoord goalie Rob van Dijk (39!!) didn’t concede a goal.
Feyenoord is analyzing the injury wave with the Erasmus Medical Center.
With the new stadium, Feyenoord can offer 3.000 VIP dinners instead of 2.500!
Gerard Meier is still around.
We can focus 100% on the national league.
The negotiations with manager Peter Bosz for a new contract are going well.
Feyenoord is still the last Dutch club to win a European cup.
If we lose on Sunday against De Graafschap we can 100% focus on the national cup.
If we lose in the national cup we can 100% focus on next season.
Feyenoord is nominated as best team of Rotterdam in 2008.
We have a negative equity position of 6.5 million euros, but that’s better than…say…7.5 million.
Kevin Hofland scored against Deportivo.
The sausage rolls taste great in winter.
The players made a nice beach walk after the Deportivo defeat.
The Feyenoord Sinterklaas party was a success.
Feyenoord is looking for a tough as nails defender.
Feyenoord is still the biggest, bestest, nicest and awesomenest club of The Netherlands.

Chucking reporters into the swimming pool, laying bricks (right…turds!!) in people’s shoes, putting shaving cream on cakes instead of cream, inviting colleagues to remote restaurants to be interviewed with non-existent journalists, pouring water over John Rep’s head while he’s being interviewed for tv…

Most recently it was published that when Dwight Tiendalli was new at Feyenoord and he had to pull back from playing PSV in De Kuip due to a stomach ache, it was Pierre van Hooijdonk who hung a diaper on Dwight’s clothes hook…pushing poor Dwight over the edge…

Here’s another piece of football humor…

There is light at the end of the tunnel: Feyenoord will lead this time around next season:

Half an hour before kick off at Ajax-PSV (last week), two behemoths in goalscoring joined along the touch line: 140 international games and 72 international goals: Gary Lineker (BBC analyst) and Marco van Basten (Ajax coach). Two of the world’s best strikers ever…

Van Basten came out of the dressing room to welcome his former rival (EC1988). The Ajax players look curiously, and some don’t recognize the WC1986 top scorer.

Brazilian winger Leonardo knows who he is and immediately introduces himself to the BBC Match of the Day presenter.

Some meters further, 15 year old Harry Lineker’s eyes widen: “Hey, that’s Leonardo. Great dribbler.”

Father and son Lineker landed on Schiphol at 10 am. The former Leicester, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham and Grampus Eight striker wanted to see the two Dutch top clubs play and he will analyse the game for Dutch television.

Lineker is all smiles and his bodyguard will have an easy day. Everywhere Lineker goes, smiles and warm welcomes come his way.

Lineker smiles when he sees Van Basten and asks himself where they faced off each other last… “Oh hang on, the WC199) I guess in Palermo. That 0-0 draw. Yeah, I remember the 1988 game very well. Marco scored three against us, that was quite a lesson.” Lineker also remembers his encounter with John de Wolf, Feyenoord’s captain in the 1990s. Lineker’s other son George suffered cancer in that period. He overwon the disease, but back then, when Feyenoord player the Spurs in the early 1990s he was just diagnosed. De Wolf visited the Spurs dressing room after the game (Feyenoord ousted the Spurs from the Europa Cup 2 tournament) and presented a mini version of Feyenoord’s outfit to Lineker. “He was a beast on the pitch, that Wolf, but he had tears in his eyes when he presented the outfit to me… We still have it, you know.”

Linekers sons all play school football, but son Tobias (12) is already signed by Chelsea. In what position? Lineker grins… “They’re all strikers.”

Lineker raves about Luis Suarez. “He sees the game really well, he is constantly threatening and he moves and turns so quickly. The 1-0 was a beauty. Great touch with the left, brilliant finish with the right foot. He is clearly not bothered when he misses a chances. He’ll just try to score the next. Good strikers are like that.”

Later that day, he praises Emanuelson, the best man on the pitch. When confronted with questions about the level of quality in Holland, he says: “What do you expect, with all the best players playing in the EPL or in Madrid. But, I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. That’s what it’s all about. I will be back!”

Who saw PSV play Ajax this weekend saw one Danko Lazovic come on in the second half, to prepare the equalizer in glorious form after four minutes. Nice dummy, Danko.

But, instead of celebrating the goal with his team mates (it’s about the team isn’t it, Danko?), he ran to the bench and shouted abuse to someone sitting there? Huub Stevens? The coach that refuses to start games with Danko?

“You are a pussy! I will fuck your mother!!!” and words like that (is it Shakespeare or Marlowe…can’t remember)…

Stevens ignored the Serbian rants but a lip-reader and translator scrutinized the tv-replays and came up with these translations.

Mr Lazovic thinks he’s more important than the club and the team and the coach and feels that if he can’t play, the whole world deserves to be abused…

Good God.

I hope Huub will sack him on the spot.

Because, sure…I’d like to see PSV play more adventurous. And sure, Mr Lazovic is an ok player… But he’s not Ronaldinho/Kaka/Raul/Del Piero/Rooney/Van Persie/Gerrard/Zlatan/JC/Van Basten/Drogba is he?

So, we don’t have the world’s best players in the Eredivisie. But we might have some of the world’s best future players… And, every match day is full of surprises!

How’ bout NAC? They did very well last year, led by Ernie Brands and Leon Vlemmings. A one hit wonder? A white elephant? Coach Robert Maaskant proves NAC got it right structurally. The Breda club leads the table. I will try and write a good piece on the club from Breda soon. They deserve it.

And then Ajax-PSV. We asked ourselves, who would be scoring the goals, well…Ajax replied.

Van Basten got it right this time. And it seems Ajax is getting stronger every game. I was impressed! The organization was there, the work ethics were definitely there (Suarez!) and the skills were there. PSV had a phase in the second half where they seemed to be able to upset Ajax, but after an explosion of wonderful opportunistic football, individual skills and more control on midfield through a replacement (Gabri for Kennedy) and the game was played.

PSV came to Amsterdam to play anti-football. Was it tactics or merely fear? We’ll never know. But Ajax pushed PSV back and even with “second-rate” players like Rommedahl and Kennedy, Ajax ruled.

Suarez played for two, constantly threatening, constantly chasing the ball and what a tremendous skill when he did get the leather monster. Emanuelson used all his vision and smarts while Rommedahl maybe didn’t play great, but was constantly sharp – ready for the deep pass.

In midfield, new signing Enoh showed the world why Van Basten picked him over Gabri. He’s been compared to Makelele already and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see him play in the EPL in two years, wearing Chelsea’s or Arsenal’s colors. Van Basten doesn’t really seem to have any issues. Vertonghen, Vermaelen, Lindgren, Van der Wiel… They all stepped up to the plate and made PSV look like a struggling provincial team. Even Afellay couldn’t escape mediocrity.

Ajax won 4-1. A wonderful first by Suarez, a Sulejmani sitter after a great Emanuelson trick, an own goal by Pieters (forced by Suarez) and a late counter-attacking goal by sub Leonardo. A moment of genius by sub Lazovic brought PSV level after the 1-0, goal by Afellay, but it wasn’t to be for PSV.

Huub Stevens: “This was painful. We intended to attack, but we were pushed on the backfoot early in the game. We didn’t start well and that haunts you the whole game. I don’t know why they didn’t show more initiative. We did better later in the game, but when you look at the way we defended when the score was 1-1… Pfff, they scored three easy goals. You see, defending is an art. If you defend like this against Ajax, well, what can you expect.”

Van Basten: “It’s great to see that some of our injured players are back and helped us to make the difference. We’re gaining strength and confidence. I brought three subs today and they all made a difference. This is good to see. We dominated most of the game and when PSV’s pressure was worse, we scored the 2-1. Those are ideal scenario’s.”

Feyenoord had to visit FC Twente and did so with seven youngsters in the group, ready to replace the many absentees. Twente ruled the game and scored the 1-0 after Tiendalli illegally stopped danger man Elia: penalty Twente. Feyenoord fought itself back into the game and it was again an individual action that resulted in a goal. And again, a penalty. Makaay scored after youngster Luis Pedro got fouled in the box. Michael Mols had to leave the pitch with a hamstring injury, which meant Feyenoord had to finish the game with ten players. Henk Timmer dislocated a finger in the game, but finished the match as one of the outstanding players, stopping several great goal attempts. FC Twente deserved the win, but was unable to kill the game off.

Verbeek: “I think Feyenoord on paper has good quality individually, but as a team FC Twente is stronger. They’re more developed. I think we were lucky this time around, but it’s wonderful for us just the same. We had to play a couple of youngsters again and this was a good experience for them.”

McClaren: “I think we played well. We should be proud, although the victory would have been deserved. But, you create opportunities, and that’s good, but you need to finish them too. And we had some moments where we lost concentration and in those phases a team like Feyenoord will benefit.”

Vitesse hosted AZ, who could join Ajax and NAC at the top, but in a most impressive and spectacular game, AZ had to be satisfied with a draw: 1-1. This game had it all… Blistering free kicks, disallowed goals that should have been allowed, challenges deserving red cards that weren’t spotted, penalty kicks that weren’t awarded…the works. Ari scored for AZ and Santi Kolk scored for Vitesse. Both clubs shared the points and the coaches were mature enough not to complain about the ref too much. Van Gaal: “That’s football. We have replays and all sorts of technical tricks to check whether it’s really offside. Linesmen don’t have that luxury. We should move on.”

Whatever their positions in the table or apart from the old rivalry between the two clubs, Ajax-PSV will always be an intriguing match. And the question that comes to mind is, who the hell will score a goal this match?

Both teams have their worries. Ajax is one of the most prolific clubs this season, but their lead striker Huntelaar is absent, leaving a huge gap. And, Ajax is fighting against a bizarre statistic: they hardly ever win against PSV at home! Ajax only won once in the Arena, in 2004. PSV won nine games in Amsterdam since 1996.

In Eindhoven, they have their own issues. They have trouble finding the net. They scored 17 goals in ten games and 5 of those in one game, against Utrecht. So, 12 goals in nine games. Not too good for a champ.

Captain Timmy Simons: “We need to focus on creating and scoring goals. We can dominate the game, control the game, but we need to finish!”

Phillip Cocu is pushed to the fore in Eindhoven and yesterday he spent a lot of time working on finishing off crosses. After the training, he spent a lot of time talking to Danny Koevermans, the man who will need to lead PSV in opening their bank account.

Koevermans: “I find myself isolated upfront. I’m not a striker who creates stuff by myself. It’s cool that someone like Cocu supports me in that.”

The pressure is on. Van Basten: “I do think PSV will be in trouble if they lose here. But I don’t want to talk about PSV. I have my own worries…”

The big riddle in Amsterdam is, who does Van Basten play? After the deception against Volendam, he said: “I don’t think we’d ever score a goal here, no matter how much extra time we would have gotten…” It seems the Ajax coach will bench Sno and use Suarez as deepest striker. “Suarez didn’t listen to his team mates. Lindgren and Gabri constantly yelled at him to come a line back, but he kept playing next to Sno. That didn’t work.”

Sulejmani could be the trump card. He just returned from injury and is keen to make his mark, but Van Basten is very careful of throwing him before the lions.

Leroy Fer, Diego Biseswar and Luigi Bruins aren’t available against FC Twente. This means that Feyenoord could well start in Enschede with three A-junior players in the line-up. Forced, because normally no coach would throw his talents off the deep end like this. “But these lads are doing so well, and that’s a huge compliment for the youth development and the scouting!” Verbeek said.

Luis Pedro made his debut last Thursday as replacement for Bruins. The A-junior did so by scoring two goals and playing really well. His first Eredivisie game is waiting. “Our team will be different against Twente than last week’s against Utrecht. If I have to play more A-juniors, so be it.” Verbeek added.

Verbeek doesn’t have much choice and can’t change the situation. Although he does want to protect his youngsters as much as possible. Pedro is able to do this, he thinks. “I wish I had the chance in the past at that age to play two games for Feyenoord in only four days.”

“I think McClaren won’t change much,” he looked forward to the game. The former England team manager has a good solid team, with a lot of ingrained players. “Their midfield has changed a bit, but their defense and offense is really stable. And Elia is the danger man, at the moment.”

However, the issues for Twente are up front. The Tukkers only scored 12 times in ten games. “Hey, as the coach of their next opponent, I won’t comment on that. I have to be careful. If I say they don’t score a lot, I am inviting them to change that pattern against us. So I’ll wisely refrain from commenting…”

Presumed line-up Feyenoord: Timmer; Tiendalli, Bahia, Hofland, De Cler; Pedro, El Ahmadi, Wijnaldum, Van Bronckhorst; Makaay and Janota.

Van Basten knew before the match against Volendam that his team was in trouble. Ajax manages to create a lot of chances, but with KJH first lacking form and now injured until 2009 and his normal replacements injured or not yet fit, he wondered…who’s gonna score the goals?

Evander Sno was the man to replace the Hunter upfront but like many other great players on in Ajax’ squad, he lacks the finesse and cool to do what Hunter does best: finish.

And “the ball is round”, also against Volendam, meaning that anything can happen. And it did.

Jack Tuyp, mentioned in my yesterday post on the match as the only real striker on the pitch, did what strikers need to do: score…

Ajax started with Kennedy, Sno and Zeegelaar up front. Kennedy was told pre-season that he was allowed to leave, Sno was signed as a midfielder and Zeegelaar is the left winger for the A1 youth. Emanuelson couldn’t play due to groin issues (Van Basten wanted to rest him for the big games ahead against AZ and PSV) and Leonardo was benched.

In the first half, Ajax’ pace was much too low and in the second half Ajax did everything right bar score goals. There were too many chances to mention: Sno (who couldn’t keep his footing on the slippery pitch and seemed to think off side was canceled for this match), Suarez (4 chances), De Jong, Leonardo, Gabri… The list is endless.

Worries for Ajax, in the run up to the big games. Ajax can now focus on the title and their European ambitions, but it will need to put balls away if they want to win matches. The big question, after Sno’s failing, remains: who will replace Huntelaar in the coming weeks…

PSV had to take on title contender AZ. Louis van Gaal had some striker worries like Ajax, but the flow of AZ’s play was still intact. PSV’s coach Huub Stevens had changed the team around again, offering Kromkamp another chance to show himself. The latter got injured in the match and was taken off the pitch by stretcher. Not looking good for the former AZ man.

In the second half, it was all AZ doing the football, pushing PSV on the back foot. Demy de Zeeuw came closest to scoring when he hit the post.

It took AZ until late in the extra time to finish the game off. It was David Mendes Da Silva who passed judgement over PSV, defeating them for the third time in a row (NEC, Olympique and now AZ).