NAC has not been at the top of the rankings of the first and premier league for years. But on one list, the team from Breda score the best of all Brabant clubs. No fewer than 12 trainers were worn out in ten years, which means that NAC is untouchable at the top.
Robert Molenaar is the last trainer who can close the door behind him. He had only been there for five months and just made it to Christmas, but the board did not have much leniency with him, although under Molenaar’s leadership arch-rival Willem II was beaten this month. NAC is fourteenth and so Molenaar can leave.
If he had looked closely at the club’s coaching history, he would have known that he would not have a long and happy life. Edwin de Graaf preceded him and he also lasted less than a year. The other fallen: Maurice Steijn, Peter Hyballa, Willem Weijs, Ruud Brood, Mitchell van der Gaag, Stijn Vreven, Marinus Dijkhuizen, Eric Hellemons (twice), Robert Maaskant, Nebosja Gudelj.
Of this list, Vreven is the only one who has lasted longer than a year, although 1.5 years is not a particularly long employment.
PSV
In comparison: top club PSV only wore out six trainers in ten years. Philip Cocu in particular lasted for years and the list of coaches also includes Dick Advocaat, Van Nistelrooij, Roger Schmidt, Ernest Faber and Mark van Bommel.
Hope for the future: that sentiment dominates every time a new trainer is appointed somewhere. It often involves long-term contracts. But the practice is stubborn. Both Willem II, FC Eindhoven and Top Oss wore out ten trainers in ten years. And then Jürgen Streppel was at the helm at the Tilburg club for another five years. A small side note: Danny Landzaat and Gery Vink were both only there for a few days, to give the club the opportunity to find a ‘permanent’ trainer. The same applies to Pascal Maas at FC Eindhoven.
RKC
At FC Den Bosch and Helmond Sport, trainers are a bit more certain of a job (9 trainers in 10 years), although this calendar year there were already three different coaches (Bob Peeters, Tim Bakens, Sven Swinnen) for the group in Helmond. RKC does better, which has worn out seven trainers, including Erwin van Breugel, who was only at the helm for a week.
The conclusion: a new trainer should not buy a house in the municipality of his ‘new’ employer, unless it is in Waalwijk.