Pressure is mounting on Feyenoord head coach Robin van Persie following another disappointing result in a season marked by inconsistency. Growing unrest surrounds the former Arsenal and Manchester United star, with criticism escalating from fans and within the club itself. A recent discussion on the Hard Gras podcast revealed scathing critiques of Van Persie’s leadership and the club’s response to their struggles. According to the podcast, support for the manager has evaporated and there’s a perceived lack of internal correction despite the team’s declining performance and increasing fan frustration.
The criticism, as reported by the podcast, isn’t directed at the players themselves. The assessment is that Feyenoord possesses enough quality to perform more consistently. Instead, the responsibility is placed squarely on the technical staff. “All the supporters are angry right now, but not with the players,” one commentator stated. “Everyone has had enough of Van Persie. Feyenoord, I think, has a pretty good group of players, but Van Persie keeps making mistake after mistake.”
The podcast highlighted a particularly awkward moment last Friday when Van Persie arrived with flowers for critical journalists. “Every time tough questions came up, he was very rude to the reporters. Five days later, he shows up with flowers for Krabbendam and Gouka. It was embarrassing. Everyone’s laughing it off, but I think, just focus on the team. Someone from Feyenoord buys the flowers, and no one asks if that’s a good idea. Then you get another improbable bad match against Twente. The entire leadership team was in the stands – the financial director, commercial manager, the director himself, and the club lawyer – and they saw the same thing we all did: it was incredibly poor, and nothing was being done.”
Further concerns were raised regarding several issues within the squad. “There were conflicts with Hartman, Bijlow, Timber, and Stengs, and they’re all gone now. They could have been valuable assets. The situation with Read, letting him play although injured, was also questionable. The captaincy issue was laughable. Then, on a Friday, he decides to deliver flowers. There’s a pattern at Feyenoord, something you often see in older organizations, where people aren’t corrected internally. A manager’s basic responsibility is to address mistakes made by the coach. So far, the coach has been given a free pass on everything. I’m becoming increasingly cynical. The general and technical directors both played for Huize in the past. They probably don’t dare to correct the great Van Persie of Arsenal and Manchester United.”
The podcast also questioned the club’s overall culture. “Feyenoord’s leadership is always angry at the outside world, but never at what’s happening internally, as far as I can tell. And this is the result. Feyenoord has lost fourteen games this season. I’m not exaggerating. they’re playing really badly. They did win against Go Ahead, Telstar, and Utrecht, but the poor play continues. It just doesn’t gaze good.”
The departure of Sjaak Troost from the Supervisory Board was also noted. “He left because he disagreed with Van Persie remaining in his position, we’ve been told. Why hasn’t anyone else left? I don’t have insight into the central committee of Feyenoord, but it’s a group of people who agree with each other, for years. Those are the worst organizations you could wish for.”
Finally, the podcast drew a comparison to the successful tenure of Arne Slot. “Even sponsors are starting to think this can’t continue. Feyenoord needs to be modernized. Arne Slot showed us that the problem isn’t with Feyenoord itself, but with how it’s being run. It’s absurd how quickly things have fallen apart since Slot left just a year and a half ago. There was always a lot of irritation within Feyenoord’s leadership that we were so complimentary about Slot, but they felt they deserved credit too. They were the ones who let him go? That was Arnesen’s doing. We at AD wrote a book about Slot, and the club leadership was annoyed that we made him seem too vital. Because it’s also our fault, they thought. There is a lot on their shoulders, but not the success of those years.”
