Feyenoord is sticking with coach Mario Been despite the team's 10-0 thrashing by PSV Eindhoven, technical director Leo Beenhakker said Monday.
League leader PSV scored eight second half goals on Sunday to condemn Feyenoord to its worst defeat in club history and underscore how far the once-powerful Rotterdam club has fallen in recent years, amid crippling debt and the departure of experienced players.
Feyenoord now stands 15th in the 18-team Dutch Eredivisie with just two wins in 10 matches this season and is 16 points behind PSV.
Even so, Beenhakker insisted the club was unified in support of Been.
"Let me say on behalf of the entire Feyenoord leadership ... that for us there is no reason whatsoever to change our (coaching) staff," Beenhakker told a press conference.
Been made no comment to the media Monday after saying in the aftermath of the defeat he would quit if his players and directors had lost faith in him.
Fans also appear to be standing by Been. Dozens of angry supporters gathered at Feyenoord's stadium Sunday night as the players' bus returned. But they also chanted support for the coach.
Beenhakker called the defeat "a historic deep point" for Feyenoord.
"But it happened and you can't turn back the clock," he added.
Feyenoord has a proud history as one of the Netherlands big three clubs, along with PSV and bitter rival Ajax.
The fallen Rotterdam giant has won the Dutch league 14 times, but its last title came in 1999. The club won the European Cup, predecessor of the Champions League, in 1970 and the UEFA Cup in 1974 and 2002.
But in recent seasons Feyenoord has been crippled by multimillion euro debt that has forced it to sell its best players and left it unable to buy replacements. That means Been has to lead a young squad made up largely of players from the team's youth training academy.
Captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst retired from club and international football after leading the Netherlands to the final of the World Cup. He passed the Feyenoord captaincy to 20-year-old Leroy Fer, who compounded the team's problems by injuring his right knee in Sunday's match. Fer is likely to be sidelined for weeks.
"We knew at the start of the season that this would be a tough year because we lost a lot of experience, partly because of the financial situation," Beenhakker said.
"We have a lot of talent in this squad, let there be no misunderstanding about that," Beenhakker said. "But talent is different to quality."
Feyenoord now has to regroup for what is being billed - even this early in the season - as a relegation battle with 17th-placed VVV Venlo on Wednesday.
