Today, Sparta Rotterdam replaced Michel Vonk as head coach with experienced head Henk ten Cate in his second term in a managerial role with the club. Ten Cate lead Sparta to sixth in the Eredivisie back in 1996, in a season where the Rotterdam side were defeated by PSV in the KNVB Cup final.
After sixteen years Ten Cate now returns at Sparta as successor of Vonk, who was fired on Tuesday, after three defeats in a row Sparta dropped to the fourth position in the Jupiler League. The club’ s aim is to secure the championship and direct promotion to the Eredivisie this year, the year of the club’ s 125th anniversary. Although, Ten Cate’s reign may be short after it was announced he has only signed a contract until the end of this season.
The 58-year-old Dutchman has been out of work since he quit as coach of Chinese club Shandong Luneng Taishan in September last year, following disappointing results in the Chinese Super League. Among other clubs Ten Cate had previously been manager of Ajax and Greek side Panathinaikos as well as assistant at Barcelona and Chelsea.
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