Ten years after the bus arrival and the dismissal at PSV, there is still respect for Fred Rutten in Eindhoven | Dutch football

“Fredje show your head, Fredje show your head.” It is, by PSV standards, a decent club in the Netherlands, a fairly disconcerting scene that takes place in March 2012 at the ‘arrested’ team bus of the Eindhoven players. After another defeat, dozens of supporters forced the vehicle to a halt near the entrance to the training complex.

†If you’re a guy, come out now”, shouts a supporter in a shrill voice towards Fred Rutten, who is still on the bus. Several players are already talking to annoyed supporters of the club at that time and share the emotions with them after a blow at NAC. Now it is waiting for Rutten to step out, at that time the trainer of PSV and therefore ultimately responsible for the results.

PSV is currently in the semi-finals of the cup tournament, is still active in the last sixteen in the Europa League and is four points away from the top position in the Eredivisie. But they lost three times in a row and not just a little bit. It cannot go on like this, is the clear tenor. Despite those optaters, PSV is still in the race for three prizes, but Rutten is already in his third year and after the winter break it seems to go wrong again. A week before that, there was already an uproar at the Philips Stadium after a beating by FC Twente (2-6). In Valencia (4-2) and Breda (3-1) new mistakes follow, after which the most fanatical part of the supporters demands clarification. A few hit the windows of the bus that Sunday. “Hey Ruth. Yes, out Rutten.”

The trainer answers the call. With a skipping voice, Rutten tells his story and renders account to the angry supporters, who suddenly show respect because the coach moves between them. ,,These guys want to walk the grass out of the field”, says Rutten about his group of players. ,,Why don’t we see that again Fred?’, a supporter wonders. †If you can’t solve that, then you must go†

There really isn’t a solution for all of them and after about five minutes the mood changes for the better, as usually happens with this kind of bus arrivals. After a fierce start, players and supporters share their emotions, many people talk at the same time and the rows are eventually closed.

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The PSV management is not there at that time to assist Rutten and decides a day later to relieve the trainer of his duties. “It was not a difficult decision purely from a business point of view,” Tiny Sanders recalls ten years later. The general manager at the time, together with the technical person ultimately responsible, Marcel Brands, gives a press conference. ,,Of course the pressure from outside is a little bit of a factor, but we simply had the impression that the season wouldn’t be good anymore,” he says now. “Everything slipped out of our hands. That had nothing to do with the person Fred Rutten or the respect for his craftsmanship, because everyone had the latter. In addition, Fred was a beloved coach in the player group. Because of the results alone, we could not act differently than we did.”

After the dismissal, PSV will win the KNVB Cup, but the title and European success are not forthcoming. “I still think it was an excellent decision that we appointed Phillip Cocu ad-interim and a year later, and it has brought the club a lot since then, with three national titles,” says Sanders.

,,Under Fred Rutten, good things have also been achieved that the club has benefited from later, for example through the transfer of Memphis Depay.” The connection of the youth academy to the A-selection, with Jürgen Locadia as an example, became much closer. Under Rutten, Jetro Willems was also able to grow into an international from scratch. “Yet I still think the decision made at the time is justified,” says Sanders.

One of the things that surprised him afterwards is that current Ajax coach Erik ten Hag has built up such a great career. ,,He was assistant coach at PSV at the time and also left the club, because he showed solidarity with Fred Rutten. It’s not that I saw in him the coach he is now. I think it’s amazing how he has developed and is now manifesting. All praise. I can say that I saw that then, but then I would be lying.”