February 7 – Ronald Koeman, a legend in his playing days but whose two managerial spells in the English Premier League with Southampton and Everton ended with him being sacked, has taken over as head coach of his national team with a view to restoring credibility after the failure to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
Koeman has been out of work since leaving Everton in October while the Netherlands have been without a manager since Dick Advocaat stepped down the following month.
Koeman will become the Netherlands’ fourth boss since Louis van Gaal left after leading the country to a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup.
Koeman, who won 78 caps between 1982-94 and won the European Championship in 1988, will ironically take charge for the first time against England on 23 March. “I’m really positive about the future of the team. We have enough talent but we have to change some things, which I will talk about at a later stage,” he said.
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