He is currently best known as ‘Xavi’s father’, but he is also working hard on his own career. Regillio Simons, together with Michael Dingsdag, has been appointed as the new coaching duo of FC Volendam. The two bring some laughter back to the fishing village. “He was a kicker and I wasn’t,” says Simons with one big smile over his right hand.
It feels like a breath of fresh air and hope in anxious days. With the arrival of Simons and Dingsdag, it is noticeably more relaxed within the club than exactly three weeks ago. Jaap Veerman, chairman of the Supervisory Board, then gave the speech in the business lounge controversial press conference.
The tension was palpable. The club was in ruins with the dismissal of Jan Smit and the board and what followed was the resignation of Team Jonk. Three weeks later, Simons and Dingsdag are in the same room and things are a bit relaxed again at Volendam.
Text continues below the read-too.
On paper, Simons is now the boss, but in fact he and Dingsdag form a duo. Simons has the highest trainer’s diploma and Dingsdag does not. After the departure of trainer Matthias Kohler the duo was already the temporary successor, but that is now permanent. This was the only form in which the club could appoint the duo for a longer period of time. However, there is no question of a straw man construction. “We are both trainers enough not to want that. We don’t do those kinds of scenes.”
Amsterdam connection
Simons proves that things can go quickly with a coaching career. At the beginning of this season he joined Jong FC Volendam together with Dingsdag. The two didn’t have a connection yet, but they quickly hit it off. “We are both from Amsterdam and played football at DWS,” says Simons about the link between the two.
Last year, Simons was head of youth training at ASV De Dijk and Michael Dingsdag was assistant coach at Telstar and trainer of the Under-23s. In terms of characters, Simons and Dingsdag complement each other. “We are very different in personalities. Michael is very direct and I am very indirect. I am more of a specialist, he is more of a strategist.”
Text continues below the video.
231222_SIMONS_VOLENDAM_SIMONS_DUO – NH News
In return for Feyenoord (3-1 loss) and sc Heerenveen (2-1 win) Simons and Dingsdag were also in charge at FC Volendam. Dingsdag was ultimately responsible for those matches, but only on paper will the roles be reversed.
“We have no essential division of tasks,” says Simons. Yet it is emphatically expressed to the outside world as a duo. “On paper, there should always be one person ultimately responsible. We are inexperienced enough that we need each other’s support.”
Michael is very direct and I am very indirect. I’m more of a specialist, he’s more of a strategist”
Simons simply wants to continue the path he has taken and the word that is frequently used is ‘realistic’. “You’re going to see what you can play with the selection,” says Simons. In the past two matches, the duo opted for a five-man defense and often gave the opponent the ball. It was certainly not dominant, but it was effective. “Everyone wants to play attractive football, but is that desirable, requested and possible at that moment?” Simons wonders out loud.
Realism
“Realistic football, but always for the result” is the style of play that will be used. Volendam is currently in seventeenth place in the Premier League and regularly made a naive impression in the first half of the season. “Enforcement remains the objective,” said Simons.
Text continues below the video.
Simons goes for realistic football at FC Volendam – NH Sport / Stephan Brandhorst
The FC Volendam selection will leave for a training camp to Belek in Turkey on January 2. There, the duo Simons-Dingsdag will prepare for the second half of the season, which immediately starts with an important series. Almere City, Heracles Almelo, Fortuna Sittard, FC Utrecht, PSV and Vitesse are the next opponents. With the exception of the Eindhoven residents, they are all direct competitors The New Orange and so there is a move to be made.
On January 14, FC Volendam will resume the competition against Almere City. The kick-off in the fishing village is at 12.15 pm on Saturday afternoon.