Mike Verweij and Valentijn Driessen laid into the Feyenoord board on Monday in Kick-Off from De Telegraaf. Their verdict was clear: Dévy Rigaux and Robert Eenhoorn should have handled the last transfer window better.
''Rigaux has taken a huge swipe at his predecessor Te Kloese,'' Verweij says as the discussion turns to Feyenoord. ''But now it turns out that Te Kloese, with the money for Hadj Moussa included, had 40 million. There was a bid of 25 million for Ueda, who was sold far too cheaply to Lille OSC. And Read could almost have risen to 35 million. And Hull City bid 20 million for Targhalline.''
''If they had simply done their job and sold the right players, Feyenoord would for the time being have had a great deal of financial resources. That same Te Kloese put together a squad there that was worth around €120 million. So I think Rigaux and Eenhoorn did something wrong in this transfer window. If they had sold Read immediately, they could have been much more effective in the transfer market,'' the Ajax watcher adds.
Driessen quickly follows up. ''It all comes back to the Friends of Feyenoord again. They have 49 per cent of the shares. And the moment Feyenoord pay €17.5 million, they lose 25 per cent. And in two years' time, again. But Feyenoord are also obliged to buy part of the shares if they post a positive transfer balance in a transfer window. And they certainly would have done that if one of those transfers had gone through. Then that transfer balance would have been so high that they would have been obliged to buy part of the Friends' purchases.''
He then makes a major accusation. ''But the Friends of Feyenoord do not want out. And Eenhoorn came in at the request of the Friends. He is their favourite, and became director. So he is not going to go against those Friends. Eenhoorn allowed himself to be influenced into not letting the Hadj Moussa transfer go through,'' Driessen says of Feyenoord's technical director.
For Driessen, a rejected bank guarantee is not the reason Hadj Moussa is not now an Al-Ittihad player. ''It concerns a €40 million transfer. It concerns Saudi Arabia, just ask Ajax. They have always had the money and are solvent.''
He goes further still. ''Feyenoord were also hardly reachable by phone, it was very difficult to get in touch with them. It was dragged out for a very long time, and in the end the medical could no longer take place. Robert Eenhoorn is simply an extension of the Friends of Feyenoord. He is their mate. The moment someone puts you forward and you can serve their interests, that happens nine times out of 10. He has previously made it known that he is not exactly eager to buy out the Friends. And then you remain stuck with those Friends,'' Driessen said.