Ron Jans - Coaching Career

Coaching Career

Ron Jans joined FC Groningen on 2002, and is currently the longest-serving head coach in the whole Eredivisie, being instrumental in the club's recent successes, including two consecutive UEFA Cup qualifications in 2005 and 2006.

On November 2009 he announced he will leave FC Groningen at the end of the 2009–10 season, after eight years in charge of the club, citing his desire for a new experience as the main reason behind his choice.

Jans is known for his witty comments during press conferences and his positive attitude towards the press. He was formerly active as a German language teacher. He also appears regularly in the Dutch television channel Nederland 3 as a UEFA Champions League analyst for the 2009–10 season.

In February 2010 SC Heerenveen officials have agreed terms with Groningen coach for next season, the 51-year-old will join his new club at the end of the season to replace Jan de Jonge. The move was quite a controversy as SC Heerenveen and FC Groningen are great rivals in the Dutch Eredivisie. Ron Jans was seen as a Groningen FC ace and the supporters did not think much of his step to the rivals. After the news came out, the fans showed a banner saying, "You never knew how to replace someone." With this message they showed their dislike of the move of the manager on the one hand and sneered at how he sometimes substituted players that hardly made any sense.

Jans' first season in charge of Heerenveen was mostly considered as disappointing, as he only managed to achieve a unimpressive twelfth place in the league table and was also criticized due to a number of controversial choices. His second season turned out however to be much better, thanks to his ability to get the most out of forwards Bas Dost, Luciano Narsingh, and Oussama Assaidi and drive the team into the battle for the league title by April 2012. On January 2012, it was revealed Ron Jans would depart from Heerenveen by the end of the season, with former Dutch superstar player Marco van Basten taking over from him. He led Heerenveen to direct UEFA Europa League qualification by the end of the season. He signed to Standard Liège on the 29th of May 2012, but agreed with the club to end his contract on October 22 after Standard was at that time 12th in the Belgian Pro League.