Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 4:56 PM• Last update: 17:00

Maurice Steijn remains trainer of NAC Breda. In recent days it seemed that the coach was on his way to the exit at the Rat Verlegh Stadium, but a statement from the club from the Kitchen Champion Division shows that Steijn is staying. The Supervisory Board wants a solution to the unrest and has given general manager Mattijs Manders a clear assignment: “Hold on to the goals of the club, while retaining both the technical director and the head coach. Provide an environment in which that is possible,” it sounds.

BN DeStem recently announced that Steijn has major problems with Lokhoff’s appointment. Two days after the lost final of the play-offs against NEC, the coach boarded a plane to Ibiza, without waiting for the evaluation meeting with Lokhoff. Steijn thus undermined Lokhoff’s authority. Moreover, the trainer and the technical director do not agree on potential reinforcements. NAC wants a solution. “Our approach requires flexibility from Ton and Maurice. We are fully aware of this. We are also aware that this approach goes against the expectations expressed by third parties via the media.”

Steijn has already had introductory talks with technical director Ton Lokhoff. According to NAC, these discussions were positive and both have expressed confidence in their mutual cooperation. However, that collaboration has not yet come to fruition. “We believe that it is up to the protagonists themselves to resolve the differences between them, as adults. We want to break the pattern of dismissal in the event of disagreement or pressure from outside. That seems to have become a habit in football and unfortunately also at our club, but that is not a sustainable approach. It is expensive, damaging and deteriorating the performance of our club,” the club said.

“Over the past few days, we have set expectations in our conversations with Mattijs and there are clear deadlines. The interests of NAC Breda must always come first for everyone, so the time of arguing must be over, there must now be cooperation. Ton and Maurice are tasked with creating the right conditions for good performance. These must be realized no later than the start of the preparation at the end of June 2021,” according to NAC.

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