Dirk Kuyt’s start to life as manager of ADO Den Haag has not gone well so far, with police presence required at training as fans address their concerns.
After training with Quick Boys and Feyenoord in his native Netherlands, Kuyt took up his first managerial job running ADO Den Haag in June.
Signing a one-year deal with the Eerste Divisie club, the former Liverpool striker took it upon himself to settle the club after a tumultuous spell that included a spell with Alan Pardew in charge.
However, with ambitions to climb back into the Eredivisie, Kuyt has found it difficult to live up to expectations so far.
Six games into the second-tier season, ADO have only won once, a 4-0 victory over Jong Ajax in late August, with one draw and four losses, leaving them in 17th place.
A 2-2 draw with Jong AZ Alkmaar on Friday night spurred fans into action, with a meeting with Kuyt at the club’s training ground on Sunday as they aired their grievances with the Dutch legend.
A group of ADO Den Haag supporters gathered this afternoon at Sportpark Prinses Irene on #Schaapweg in #Rijswijk. The group of 25 supporters came to speak with head coach Dirk Kuijt. The police were present in great numbers. pic.twitter.com/GkkNvDvxhe
— District8.net (@RedactieD8) September 11, 2022
As reported by AD, the police were called in to attend, but the situation “developed calmly” after Kuyt agreed to speak to fans, before the session went ahead as planned.
Edwin Reijntjes, the club’s general manager, accepted that “the fans want to make a statement”, and although he denied that Kuyt was under pressure, he admitted: “Dirk knows that if he takes too long in football, there can be consequences. ”
“I am still confident that he will be fine,” Reijntjes continued.
“If we beat Jong FC Utrecht [on Monday] and PEC Zwolle [on Friday]the world can immediately look very different.”
It’s not the first time ADO has seen their fans confront a manager at their training ground, with a protest during a session led by Pardew in February 2020 making headlines.
Alan Pardew is not doing very well in ADO so far…
A group of hardcore fans interrupted a training session because they weren’t impressed with his tactics.
Den Haag is currently ranked 17th in the Eredivisie, having won just once in the league since getting the job. ? pic.twitter.com/TpWfEADgey
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) February 27, 2020
That came days before the COVID-19 lockdowns across Europe began, with the Eredivisie campaign canceled in April, and although that saved ADO from relegation, Pardew left the club soon after.
Meanwhile, earlier this summer, another former Liverpool player, Albert Riera, was forced by Olimpija Ljubljana ultras to walk out of a news conference about his introduction as manager.
However, Riera remains in charge of the Slovenian club, overseeing eight wins and one loss in their nine games in 1. SNL so far, with Olimpija Ljubljana at the top.
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