Tireless Advocaat backed to deliver on survival task
SUNDERLAND can expect obsessive dedication from the man tasked with saving them from relegation, veteran Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, according to one of the players who knows him best.
Advocaat, 67, was yesterday confirmed as the Premier League strugglers’ new boss, following the sacking of Gus Poyet on Monday.
Arthur Numan, who played under Advocaat for PSV, Rangers and the Dutch national team, said: “The moment he arrives the players will notice he is around. He eats, drinks and sleeps football 24/7, so he is devoted.”
Advocaat’s contract only runs until the end of the season, but Numan can see him staying on Wearside longer, despite already being the top flight’s oldest manager. He added: “It’s a challenge to keep them in the Premier League. Maybe, if that is possible, he will stay maybe for another year, or another two years.”
CV: DICK ADVOCAAT
■ Has won four league titles in native Holland, Scotland and Russia
■ International spells with Holland, Russia, Belgium, UAE and Serbia, who sacked him last year after three games