Ajax manager John Heitinga will not be fired after Tuesday's UEFA Champions League loss against Olympique Marseille, Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported on Wednesday.
Ajax have had a disappointing start to the season with barely any convincing halves of football and dropped points in both the Dutch Eredivisie and UEFA Champions League. Inter handed the Amsterdam giants a hopeless 2-0 defeat in Amsterdam before Olympique Marseille blew Ajax out of the water on Tuesday, when the French outfit won 4-0.
Pressure on Ajax manager John Heitinga reached a high point after last weekend's 2-1 win over NAC Breda - a win considered lucky by media and fans. Following Ajax's record-equalling 4-0 away loss in Marseille, fans took to social media to call for Heitinga's sacking.
The Ajax board will not intervene just yet, however. Johan Inan of Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported on Wednesday that the board will give Heitinga time after a difficult transfer window.
"After the embarrassment (in Marseille), the management sees no reason to part ways with the young head coach, who was brought back this summer," Inan writes.
"The management urges calm and, after a new transfer window in which considerable savings were made, still preaches realism. Ajax may be back in the Champions League after three years, but immediate results against more financially powerful clubs should not be expected. The fact that Ajax almost won the Dutch championship last season does not alter the fact."
Heitinga "not to blame"
Ajax have not won the Dutch Eredivisie since Erik ten Hag left the club in 2022, after which the club experienced a spectacular decline. Last season, under Italian manager Francesco Farioli, Ajax nearly won a surprising 37th league title, but failed to do so after a late-season collapse.
Heitinga, who took over from Farioli after the latter's sudden departure in May, had little to no experience as a head coach, having only managed Ajax on an interim basis between February and May 2023.
"The management is not blaming Heitinga for defeats against Inter, a European powerhouse that kept its squad together, and Olympique Marseille, which spent more than it earned," Inan continues.
"No goals, no points and second-to-last place in Europe's premier competition are therefore no reason to take action."
Ajax continue their season away at Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday.