Ajax to turn Blind corner

By Daniel Ruiz

Danny Blind was as surprised as anyone to see Ronald Koeman end his three-and-a-half year reign as AFC Ajax coach last month.

Shock decision
With PSV Eindhoven poised to take their Dutch title and the Amsterdam outfit failing to make it past the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, the hope was that Ajax might challenge for the UEFA Cup. However, as they bowed out to AJ Auxerre in the last 32, Koeman quit, leaving Blind to take his place.

Unplanned change
"It was unexpected," Blind told uefa.com. "The hope within the club was that Ronald would see out his contract which still had eighteen months to run, but sometimes things don't work out as you plan. Certainly things deserved to end in a better way for Ronald after all the good work he'd done here."

Academy role
Blind, who captained Ajax as they won their fourth European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1994/95, had been working as the head of Ajax's youth academy for two-and-a-half years when he was named as Koeman's replacement, having decided to stay at the club after hanging up his boots in May 1999.

Stuff happens
"I didn't expect nor plan to become first team coach this early on," he said. "I was happy with the work I was doing and if this had to happen, you would prefer it to happen at the end of the season. But it's happened and we have to get on with things now."

Bad defeats
The Blind era opened with two successive defeats, Mark van Bommel's hat-trick helping league leaders Eindhoven to a record 4-0 win in the Amsterdam ArenA, a crushing loss that was followed up with another morale-sapping defeat at SC Heerenveen.

PSV humiliation
"I wasn't surprised by the defeat," says Blind of the PSV game. "But maybe I was surprised by the extent of the defeat. You hope to never lose 4-0 at home. But at the moment there is a big gap between Eindhoven and ourselves. They have a good mix of young and experienced players."

Feyenoord success
Blind finally got a win at the third attempt against Willem II two weekends ago, and things improved even more for Blind when his side ran out as 3-2 winners in their recent meeting with arch-rivals Feyenoord in Rotterdam, a result which lifted them above UEFA Cup contenders AZ Alkmaar and into second place.

Improbable outcome
With a Dutch Cup semi-final against Willem II to come later in the month, Ajax now have the chance to steal their way into next season's Champions League as Eredivisie runners-up - something that Blind had all but abandoned hope of achieving after their mauling at the hands of PSV.

Looking ahead
However, despite the league and cup intrigue, Blind is keen to look ahead to next season as soon as possible. "From the moment we make sure of qualification, then we can start working on the team rather than thinking about the points," he explained.

Experience required
While this has been a difficult season for Ajax, Blind is sure that the current side were not a lost cause. He is looking to bring some experienced players in during the summer to complement the youthful verve of the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Steven Pienaar.

Dutch hope
"I think we still have enough quality in the ranks to be a good side and challenge for the Dutch title," he said. "But it's a very young, inexperienced side and we must change that."