Earnest Stewart feels put on the block by the sudden departure of Ruud van Nistelrooij from PSV. The technical director of the people of Eindhoven acknowledges this at a specially inserted press conference. According to Stewart, he and Van Nistelrooij agreed on Tuesday evening that the decision about a possible exit would be ‘lifted over the weekend’. However, Van Nistelrooij packed up the next morning.
Van Nistelrooij announced on Wednesday morning that he would immediately resign from his duties as head coach of PSV. The former striker would no longer feel enough support within the club. “He was very firm in his decision,” Stewart said of the moment he was briefed. That happened at 9.40 am, while the selection was already informed five minutes later. “Then you can imagine that it goes very quickly in four to five minutes,” said Stewart.
Stewart hadn’t seen the announcement coming in particular because of the night before. Van Nistelrooij then agreed with the 54-year-old driver not to make his decision until after the last round. “It does make me feel pushed, yes,” admits Stewart. “We’ve had a lot of conversations since I’ve been here. They’re sometimes about the players, sometimes about the staff, but they’ve always been harmonious in the good sense of the word. To make sure you move forward with each other. But if It’s not nice to see things like this happen.”
It has been rumbling at PSV since The Telegraph revealed that Van Nistelrooij was at odds with assistants Fred Rutten and André Ooijer. A little later it was also announced that some players, including Xavi Simons and Luuk de Jong, had complained about the performance of the coach. Ooijer had previously announced that he would leave at the end of this season. At the press conference it also became clear that Rutten will no longer continue in Eindhoven next year. Rutten is still on the bench against AZ next Sunday.