At the request of technical director Earnest Stewart, Fred Rutten will sit on the bench against AZ on Sunday as interim head coach of PSV, the latter reports at the inserted press conference. It will also be the last time that Rutten takes place in the dug-out of the Eindhoven team, because the coach will leave the club at the end of the season.
As an assistant coach, Rutten was at odds with Ruud van Nistelrooij, who surprisingly resigned from PSV on Wednesday. Rutten had already indicated internally that he would stop, Stewart confirms. “I asked Fred to sit on the bench next Sunday, in a difficult time for PSV,” said the technical director. Rutten, who is fixed until mid-2025, has given his commitment to this. Incidentally, André Ooijer, the other assistant coach at PSV, will also leave after the season, it was confirmed at the press moment.
PSV was overwhelmed by Van Nistelrooij’s departure. “Yesterday Ruud was with me, as often happens,” says Stewart. “We had a conversation in which we agreed to take the decision over the weekend. The full focus would be on Sunday. This morning when I arrived at the club I was in the office and Ruud came by. He surprised me with the message that he would stop immediately.”
Stewart got to work right away. “If you are surprised you are immediately busy getting everything done as well as possible. Ruud informed the group of players and staff, after which I also spoke with the group of players and staff.” Stewart briefly tried to persuade Van Nistelrooij. “His announcement was quite short. He said he would stop immediately. We talked about it very briefly. I asked him if this was the right thing to do and if he had discussed this, because otherwise we broke up yesterday That statement from Ruud was quite short and you could also see that he was determined.”