Dutchman John van ‘t Schip has been reinstalled as head coach of Melbourne Heart FC for the remainder of the 2013/14 Hyundai A-League season, the club has announced.
It’s been 4 years, 2 months and 18 days since the announcement of van ‘t Schip as Heart’s first ever head coach in their inaugural A-League season, but the club has once again turned to the 50-year-old coach in its time of need.
van ‘t Schip’s appointment on an interim basis comes after the sacking of John Aloisi following an 18-match winless streak.
The former Ajax and Genoa player is due to arrive in Australia on Thursday and will take charge of the team for Sunday’s game against Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
“We made contact with John on Sunday and he was immediately receptive to the proposal of returning as interim coach,” Melbourne Heart FC CEO Scott Munn said.
“John knows our players, understands the club and has been following the team very closely this season, given his role as Technical Manager. We have no doubt he is the best person to take assume the day to day coaching of the team and take the Club forward.”
van ’t Schip joined Melbourne Heart as head coach from AFC Ajax in late 2009, before leading the club to its first and only Finals appearance in season 2011-12.
The former Chivas manager said he was excited by the assignment and is committed to changing the team’s fortunes.
“Melbourne Heart is a Club that means a lot to me and deserves to be challenging for the finals,” van ‘t Schip said.
“I firmly believe we can turn the current situation around and produce some good results. There is still a lot of time left this season to change things and I am confident that we have a squad that can do that.”