On Thursday, John Heitingaโs second spell as Ajax head coach came to an end. It was not a surprise that Ajax made the move to remove Heitinga after another Champions League defeat. The side lost 3-0 at home to Turkish side Galatasaray to remain bottom of the league phase with four defeats and just one goal scored. According to ESPN, Heitinga was shocked and disappointed by the news.
Yet, with fans fully turning against the former Everton defender, it was only a matter of time before Ajax simply had to make a change. Despite some progression last season under Francesco Farioli. Yet when he departed Ajax at the end of last season, it raised eyebrows that the club then settled to bring Heitinga back again as head coach.
Now they are in the market for a new head coach. Fred Grim, perhaps too aptly named given the situation at Ajax, will take over as interim head coach for the time being. His first task in charge of Ajax will be to try and get their Eredivisie campaign back on track. The Amsterdam club travel to Utrecht at the weekend hoping to end a run that has seen them win just one of their past five games, with only one of those being a draw. They are eight points adrift of the top two in the Eredivisie.
One man who does not look set for an imminent return is former head coach Erik ten Hag. The former Manchester United head coach made his name with Ajax but after a disappointingly short spell in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, ten Hag is holding off on jumping in to a ne job just yet.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
