Cruyff: LVG appointment stinks

Published Nov. 17, 2011 1:15 p.m. ET

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And he says the actions of his fellow board members "stinks". The Amsterdam giants announced on Wednesday that their former coach van Gaal would return to the club in July 2012 as the replacement for Rik van den Boog, who left the post earlier this year. Cruyff and van Gaal - although briefly team-mates at Ajax in the early 1970s - have famously never seen eye to eye, and the decision to hire van Gaal to such a senior role without his knowledge has angered the 64-year-old Cruyff. "I do not know what I have to say. To start, I knew nothing, nothing, really," Cruyff told Voetbal International. "You think you are on the right road and then suddenly this happens. "Legally, they all know how it works, but of course it stinks all around." Cruyff claims he was in Barcelona when the meeting was scheduled and was unable to return to Holland in time to attend. "Until Tuesday afternoon I was still in Amsterdam, and only then did I go back to Barcelona," he said. "It is very coincidental that the next day a meeting of the board is called. "I could obviously not be there." Cruyff claims the actions of his four colleagues on the board has caused ructions at the club, and it remains to be seen whether the decision to hire van Gaal will be formally rubber-stamped. "The major shareholder must now decide what will happen. And that shareholder Ajax itself," said Cruyff. "I would also like to know what all the trainers think. It is certainly clear that a lot of people have been taken for a ride, including myself." Van Gaal admitted earlier this month that it would be "impossible" for the two men to work together at Ajax, and Cruyff fears his position could become untenable if the deal goes through. "It seems clear to me. But let's not get ahead of ourselves," he said. "Let's first see what exactly the club as a whole wants." Despite their differences, both van Gaal and Cruyff boast stellar - and comparable - managerial records. Van Gaal was coach of the Ajax team that won three successive Eredivisie titles between 1994 and 1996 and the Champions League in 1995. He went on to lead Barcelona to two Spanish league titles before guiding AZ Alkmaar to the Dutch league crown in 2009 and Bayern to the German Bundesliga title in 2010. Cruyff managed Ajax between 1985 and 1988, winning the KNVB Beker twice and the European Cup Winners' Cups, before winning 11 trophies as manager of Barcelona, including four La Liga titles and one European Cup.