Hard criticism of Dick Advocaat: "It had more to do with homesickness"

After weeks of discussions, former PSV coach Dick Advocaat returned as head coach of Curaçao and replaced his successor, Fred Rutten, who was also a former PSV coach and who was born in The Hague. As a result, Advocaat will travel with the island to the upcoming World Cup, where Curaçao will make its debut at the global final tournament.

The way one former PSV coach replaced the other was badly received by analyst Johan Derksen. Derksen also believes that the journalists played an unsavory role in the dispute surrounding the national team coaching position in Curaçao.

This is what De Snor said on Tuesday evening on Vandaag Inside in Curaçao. We made major journalistic mistakes by supporting him, without having any arguments. We did that only because we like him. That was wrong,'' begins the analyst.

Nevertheless, Derksen is of the opinion that Advocaat has shown his worst side during a press conference. ''Now there has been a press conference and, of course, people ask about that affair. Then he wants to let it slide off him by saying: I don’t look back anymore; I only look ahead. But Dick Advocaat has seriously damaged Fred Rutten with his Heintjes David-like behavior'', the bearded analyst says firmly.

After that, Derksen continues with his criticism and returns to the fact that Advocaat initially distanced himself from the national team coach position because of family circumstances. ''Advocaat has left that team in the lurch twice. The urgency was always attributed to serious family circumstances. I have heard from well-informed sources that it was not that bad. It had more to do with homesickness than with tragic family circumstances. And once he has calmed down again, he wants to go back and starts persuading people at home. Public opinion then turns and they go and chase Fred away. And Dick doesn’t want to provide any explanation. I think he has behaved scandalously!'', concludes De Snor.

Derksen is therefore also very disappointed in the way Advocaat has acted towards Rutten. ''Of course, the chairman and everyone has gotten involved. But Dick is the man who is responsible! He has fled twice and Fred has taken over. Then you have to accept it and not go messing around behind the scenes, so that Fred gets sent away and he gets his way. This really disappoints me a lot about Dick Advocaat'', continues the analyst.

Only Kees Jansma, former press chief for Oranje and Curaçao, still gets support from De Snor. ''The only one who has behaved properly is Jansma, because if you treat people like that, then you shouldn't want anything to do with them'', according to Derksen.