The Dutchman Jaap Stam, who was one of the best defenders in Europe, was fired on Monday as coach of FC Cincinnati of the North American Football League (MLS) after 16 months in office.
“FC Cincinnati has relieved head coach Jaap Stam of his duties, effective immediately,” the franchise said in a statement.
As part of a redesign of its sporting management, driven by poor results, FC Cincinnati announced in August the departure of its Dutch general manager Gerard Nijkamp, who was responsible for the May 2020 hiring of Jaap Stam, a former Manchester United player. and AC Milan.
“We believe that a leadership change is the best for the club at this time, and a new general manager will lead the search for the new coach,” said team president Jeff Berding, thanking the outgoing coach.
FC Cincinnati is second to last in the MLS Eastern Conference with 20 points from 25 games. In Stam’s first season as a manager, the franchise finished last in the conference.
In his 15 years as a player, Stam played for some of the best teams in Europe. As the head of Manchester United’s rear, the Dutchman lifted three English leagues and the Champions League in 1999, being voted best defender in this competition twice.
After hanging up his boots in 2007, Stam began his coaching career two years later as an assistant at EC Zwolle.
He was coach of the English team FC Reading from 2016 to 2018, then he moved to PEC Zwolle and in 2019 he jumped to Feyenoord but, with a few months in office, he resigned due to poor results. (AFP)