Arne Slot has no understanding of his dismissal at AZ, the coach says in the podcast With open visor. The current Feyenoord trainer was fired by the Alkmaarders in December 2020 when it became known that he was holding talks with the Rotterdammers. After his resignation from the North Holland team, Slot became trainer of Feyenoord, with whom he reached the final of the Conference League last season.
“For the first time in the history of professional football, someone was fired because he had a conversation with another club while his contract was expiring,” says Slot, whose contract ran until mid-2022. “Football is full of people who holding talks with clubs with ongoing contracts. And I had a conversation with an expiring contract, and that was AZ’s reason to fire me.
Slot states that he should have informed AZ if he had an ongoing contract. “I did indicate that I was in talks with other clubs, in case we couldn’t come to an agreement with AZ,” he looks back. “Which I really wanted to extend my contract. And then Feyenoord came in between. Also because it took quite a long time from Alkmaar for me to get the offer I asked for.”
“I understand the disappointment from Alkmaar, but I cannot understand it,” says Slot when he looks back on his congé at AZ. “From their point of view, I can perhaps understand why they did that. We were in competition with Feyenoord and you want a trainer who does not go to the competitor. I just found it very difficult to experience that you are treated like this with an expiring contract .”
At that time, the children of Slot went to school in the vicinity of Alkmaar. There they received all the texts surrounding their father’s dismissal. For that reason, Slot has chosen to be on the safe side and his children do not go to school in the Rotterdam area. “That was a result of the dismissal in Alkmaar.”