Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 4:15 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 16:26

Danny Buijs returns to the FC Groningen bench on Wednesday evening, when he and his team compete against his old love Feyenoord. The coach, who had to miss the game with sc Heerenveen (1-1) last weekend after he had been in contact with someone with the corona virus, often thinks back to his time as a supporter and player in Rotterdam-South. He has slowly let go of the dream of one day being at the helm of Feyenoord as a trainer.

As a young boy Buijs did not miss a duel from Feyenoord. He attended home and away games and was part of the youth academy of the Rotterdammers. These are moments that Buijs still regularly thinks about today. “Then a lot of great memories come to the fore, because I was busy with the club every day for a very large part of my life,” says the former midfielder in conversation with the club. NOS. “Even in a period when you are being formed. If Feyenoord had lost certain matches, it would evoke so many emotions. You could argue, you could cry. That bothered me in extremes at the time. ”

Buijs himself wore the Feyenoord shirt for three years, between 2006 and 2009. “I was not good enough. I do think I had the qualities and talent to make it good enough, but mental guidance was limited at the time. I think I could have benefited a lot from that, ”says Buijs. “I had a lot of trouble to give a proper place to the responsibility I felt, which is why I sometimes passed myself. If things don’t go well then, you go hide. Because you are afraid of making crucial mistakes. Because you don’t want the people you love, where you have shared your joys and sorrows, that you let them down because of your mistakes. You want to give them something positive. ”

As a player, Buijs could be used in several places. He was officially a defender, but in Groningen he was used as a midfielder and even as a forward for a while. Nowadays he is making fame as a trainer and he does well with Groningen with a sixth place in the ranking. For Buijs it no longer feels like a long-cherished dream to one day stand for the group at Feyenoord as the person with final responsibility. “It is no longer the case that for me it is really a dream that has to come true. That does not mean that I have no ambitions, because I absolutely do. ”