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Ron Jans

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Ron Jans
Jans as Utrecht head coach in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth (1958-09-29) 29 September 1958 (age 66)
Place of birth Zwolle, Overijssel, Netherlands
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Utrecht (head coach)
Youth career
RKSV Zwolle
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976–1983 PEC Zwolle 157 (44)
1982–1984 Groningen 63 (16)
1984–1987 Roda JC 99 (10)
1987–1988 Mazda Motors 16 (1)
1988–1991 BV Veendam 54 (5)
Total 389 (76)
Managerial career
1991–1993 SJS Stadskanaal
1993–1996 ACV
1996–2000 Achilles 1894
2000–2002 BVO Emmen (assistant)
2002–2010 Groningen
2010–2012 Heerenveen
2012 Standard Liège
2013–2017 PEC Zwolle
2019–2020 FC Cincinnati
2020–2023 Twente
2023– Utrecht
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ron Jans (Dutch pronunciation: [rɔˈɲɑns]; born 29 September 1958) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player, who is the head coach of Utrecht.

Coaching career

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Groningen

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Born in Zwolle, Overijssel, Jans joined Groningen on 2002, and was 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. During his time at Groningen, Jans was 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 appeared regularly in the Dutch television channel Nederland 3 as a UEFA Champions League analyst for the 2009–10 season.[1]

In November 2009, he announced he would leave 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.[2]

Heerenveen

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In February 2010, Heerenveen officials agreed terms with the Groningen coach for next season, the 51-year-old joined his new club at the end of the season to replace Jan de Jonge.[3] The move was quite a controversy as Heerenveen and Groningen are great rivals in the Eredivisie. Jans was seen as a Groningen 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 an 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. In January 2012, it was revealed that Jans would depart from Heerenveen at the end of the season, with former Dutch superstar player Marco van Basten taking over from him.[4] He led Heerenveen to direct UEFA Europa League qualification by the end of the season.

Standard Liège

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He signed to Standard Liège on 29 May 2012,[5] but agreed with the club to end his contract on 22 October after Standard was at that time 12th in the Belgian Pro League.

PEC Zwolle

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Jans joined PEC Zwolle in 2013. In his first season, he won the KNVB Cup after beating Ajax 5–1 in the final. In the 2014–15 season, he led PEC Zwolle to the cup final once again, and also winning the Johan Cruijff Schaal

FC Cincinnati

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On 26 July 2019, The Athletic reported that Jans had been hired as the head coach of American club FC Cincinnati, and would replace interim coach Yoann Damet as soon as he obtained a work visa.[6] FC Cincinnati officially announced the hiring on 5 August 2019, ending a months-long coach search that began with their firing of Alan Koch in May 2019. This was Jans' second time working with FC Cincinnati general manager Gerard Nijkamp, who had hired Jans in 2013 when he was technical director of PEC Zwolle.[7] Jans' contract was set to expire on 31 December 2020, with Nijkamp having previously indicated that their coach hire would be a "short-term solution" to be re-evaluated ahead of the 2021 season.[8][9]

On 17 February 2020, Jans resigned from his head coach position at FC Cincinnati amidst an investigation into his alleged use of a racial slur.[10]

Twente

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Jans was appointed as head coach of Twente on 17 June 2020. Upon the expiration of his contract, along with that of technical director Jan Streuer, the pair was released from the club. His final game saw the team qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round with a 2-1 aggregate score against Sparta Rotterdam in the final of the European competition playoffs on 11 June 2023.

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 4 December 2024[11]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nation From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Groningen Netherlands 21 October 2002 30 June 2010 310 128 66 116 455 435 +20 041.29 [12]
Heerenveen Netherlands 1 July 2010 29 May 2012 75 33 21 21 164 122 +42 044.00 [13]
Standard Liège Belgium 29 May 2012 22 October 2012 12 5 1 6 24 23 +1 041.67 [14]
PEC Zwolle Netherlands 30 June 2013 20 June 2017 159 61 36 62 251 244 +7 038.36 [15]
FC Cincinnati United States 4 August 2019 17 February 2020 10 1 4 5 8 20 −12 010.00 [16]
Twente Netherlands 17 June 2020 30 June 2023 116 56 31 29 194 128 +66 048.28 [17]
Utrecht Netherlands 11 September 2023 present 49 26 13 10 84 64 +20 053.06
Total 731 310 172 249 1,180 1,036 +144 042.41

Honours

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Manager

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PEC Zwolle

References

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  1. ^ "Been, Jans en Beenhakker als NOS-analitici" (in Dutch). Het Parool. 8 July 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  2. ^ "Jans to end long Groningen reign". UEFA.com. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  3. ^ Ron Jans named as new boss of Heerenveen – Europe – ESPN Soccernet
  4. ^ "Ron Jans weg bij Heerenveen" [Ron Jans leaves Heerenveen] (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad.
  5. ^ "Ron Jans aan de slag bij Belgische topclub Standard Luik" [Ron Jans hired by Belgian top club Standard Liège] (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  6. ^ Rueter, Jeff; Stejskal, Sam (26 July 2019). "Sources: FC Cincinnati to hire Ron Jans as next head coach". The Athletic. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  7. ^ Baer, Benjamin (4 August 2019). "FC Cincinnati name Ron Jans head coach". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  8. ^ Pfahler, Laurel (5 August 2019). "'It can only go better': FC Cincinnati confident new coach...". The Athletic. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  9. ^ Brennan, Pat (5 July 2019). "FC Cincinnati GM Gerard Nijkamp: Next coach to be 'short-term solution'". Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  10. ^ Brennan, Pat (18 February 2020). "FC Cincinnati: Ron Jans resigns as head coach". Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Ron Jans career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  12. ^ "FC Groningen: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  13. ^ "SC Heerenveen: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Standard Liège: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  15. ^ "PEC Zwolle: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  16. ^ "FC Cincinnati: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  17. ^ "FC Twente: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
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