SC Cambuur will have to do without Henk de Jong for the time being. The head coach was already missing from the home game with Vitesse (1-6 loss) last weekend with health problems and is expected to be out of circulation for a longer period of time. De Jong is currently being further investigated and will start a treatment process from there, the club from Friesland reported on Wednesday via the official channels.
De Jong is struggling with a cyst, a blister that usually contains fluid. “It is of course very annoying not to be able to be with the team and at the club, but health comes first,” De Jong said in a comment on the club’s website. “We are optimistic and I feel fine otherwise. We are now going to look at how best to treat the cyst in my head and we assume that everything will be fine. Until then I have every confidence in the players and technical staff to continue the line that has been used.”
Cambuur reacted with shock to the news about De Jong. “It is very frightening,” said general director Ard de Graaf to Football International. “It started with some complaints, then you do not expect this to eventually come to an end. Henk and I have been working together for years, if suddenly his health is at stake, it will come. But Henk is optimistic, that is also his He always has energy. Normally he uses that energy to try to do well for everyone, in the coming period it should be all about himself. As a club, we will do everything we can to help him with that.”
It is not the first time this season that Cambuur has been hit by health problems. Earlier this season, technical director Foeke Booy was struck by a cerebral infarction. Booy was then transferred to a rehabilitation center, where he had to work on his recovery for weeks. Pascal Bosrischt, Martijn Barto and Peter van der Vlag are taking over the honors of De Jong for the time being. “That is well arranged for now,” says De Graaf. “It is not yet a sensible word to say about the longer term. In that regard, we have to wait and see how Henk continues and what further investigations show.”