Shock in Amsterdam as Frank de Boer resigns
Fans of AFC Ajax woke up this morning to find that club legend Frank de Boer has resigned from his post as manager. It is understood that de Boer had persistent trouble with the board room and was keen to see some of them removed from their positions. A source close to the club said it was due to them constantly allowing the clubs best players to leave for such low prices.
Problems finally hit rock bottom in the summer when the board allowed Christian Eriksen to move to Tottenham for only €13.5 million. That kind of money can do wonders for a club like Ajax but de Boer believes he was his main man and would have never allowed him to leave for anything less than €20 million. Frank de Boer wanted to build his team around Eriksen and felt the board had went against his wishes 1 to many times when allowing him to leave, just as they did in previous years with the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.
The news surely comes as a great shock as many believed de Boer was the man to bring back the glory years to the city of Amsterdam. One fan said "I am angry that the club could allow such a legend as de Boer to so easily walk out of the door. For years we have built great players from such a young age and many of them are sold within years for only a few million. This must change"
Frank felt he had no choice after he gave the board an ultimatum, either sack the money hungry members of the board or he would clear his desk first thing. History has shown that the board members of Ajax are keen to allow their best players to leave if it makes them richer. For de Boer this was the last and the board would not give him 100% control of the clubs transfers in and out.
Fans all over Amsterdam will be waiting anxiously to find out who will be the new boss. It will surely have to be somebody special to replace Frank de Boer but you never know with Ajax, anything can happen.
The board have drawn up a shortlist of names which are thought to consist of; Dutch football god Johan Cruyff, Heerenveen manager Marco van Basten, ex players and club legends Danny Blind, Patrick Kluivert, Johan Neeskens and Dennis Bergkamp who is currently with the club as a coach but may well look to take his first steps into management.
The bookies have Marco Van Basten as favourite to take the job with odds as short as 4/5, Johan Cruyff second favourite at 2/1, Patrick Kluivert 5/1, Dennis Bergkamp 6/1, Johan Neeskens 8/1, Danny Blind 12/1 and also long shot Arthur Numan at 25/1.
