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John Heitinga is facing calls to lose his job as Ajax manager after the team lost a fourth successive game in the Champions League.
Ajax has lost all of its games in the competition since the start of the season and sits bottom of the 36-team league phase, with one goal scored and 14 conceded. The Amsterdam club also sits fourth in the Eredivisie standings – eight points off league-leading Feyenoord – having won five its opening 11 league games.
AFCA Supporters Club, one of Ajax's leading supporter groups, issued a statement in the wake of Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Galatasaray calling for Heitinga to be replaced with a more experienced manager. Heitinga left Liverpool for Holland during the off-season, with the Reds replacing him with Giovanni van Bronckhorst
"Tonight's match against Galatasaray was another dismal performance, marking our fourth consecutive Champions League defeat," the statement said. "With zero points, we sit dejectedly at the bottom of the Champions League standings.
"The AFCA Supporters Club has enormous respect for Johnny Heitinga as a player. This will always be the case; he remains a child of the club. But now we evaluate him as the manager of Ajax 1.
"After 11 league matches with 13 losses and an 8-point deficit to the top spot, the dismal performance in the Champions League, and a style of football that constantly brings tears to your eyes, we can only come to one conclusion: Johnny is not the right manager for this Ajax 1. It's time for a new, experienced manager!
"We urge Alex Kroes and the other technical policymakers to immediately come up with a solution and take action. This is no longer sustainable. The decline in sporting performance must be halted now."
Former Everton defender Heitinga, who was Arne Slot's assistant at Liverpool last season, signed a two-year contract with Ajax in May, ignoring advice from Slot, who had advised the 41-year-old to continue his development as coach at Anfield for one more year.
“If Ajax would be smart, they would consider him. He is ready to take on a job like that,” Slot told reporters ahead of Heitinga officially accepting the job. “If John is smart, he would stay one more season.”
After recording three wins in its opening five games of the season, Ajax has won just two of its last 10 in all competitions, heightening the pressure on the Dutchman.
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