DIRTY DEN HAAG Pards must rebuild Dutch club after vicious bust-up
ALAN PARDEW’S first task as the new manager of ADO Den Haag will be to repair a club torn apart after a senior member of the coaching staff had a fight with a player.
Defender Donny Gorter attacked assistant boss Edwin de Graaf over a personal matter.
De Graaf was sacked, with the club already in crisis after manager Alfons Groenendijk quit over a lack of support from Den Haag’s Chinese owner.
Now Pardew’s return to football – 20 months after he was sacked by West Brom – has taken him to a club reeling from the incident and sitting second bottom of the Eredivisie with just three wins from 18 games.
He now has the winter break to prepare for the clash with bottom side RKC Waalwijk on January 19.
Pardew, 58, will take his squad on a week-long training camp in Marbella over the New Year in a bid to prepare the players for the second half of the season.
He will have to call on all the experience he has gained during a managerial career that has taken him to Reading, West Ham, Charlton, Southampton, Newcastle and Crystal Palace.
Groenendijk, the former Manchester City midfielder, walked out earlier this month after owner Hui Wang handed him a transfer budget of just £1million.
But trouble really erupted behind the scenes when former Dutch Under-21 international Gorter confronted De Graaf and the pair came to blows.
De Graaf has since left the club with Gorter given the full support of the club and his team-mates.
Former Spurs boss Martin Jol recommended Pardew for the job – but the appointment led to the resignation of chief executive Kees Jansma in protest at not being consulted.
And the owner’s decision to replace him with an inexperienced member of the club’s commercial department has led to a number of board members walking out.
Sporting director Jeffrey van As has also been sacked and will be replaced by Jol (above).
Former Charlton boss Chris Powell has also joined the club as Pardew’s assistant.
Former boss Groenendijk has backed the appointment.
He said: “For the future of ADO Den Haag, it is good that there is a change.
“A different face in front of this group of players can probably do something with the team.”