Advocaat attacks take dark turn

Published on Tuesday 29 June 2004 01:27

DICK Advocaat’s status as an object of vilification for Holland’s press and public has taken such a sinister turn that the former Rangers manager claimed that his work with the Dutch national team here at Euro 2004 has put him in danger.

During a press conference in the Algarve in advance of tomorrow night’s semi-final with Portugal in Lisbon, Advocaat unnerved experienced media representatives by refusing to dismiss a comparison between his present predicament and that of the murdered Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn.

Fortuyn, at the time the most famous gay man in Holland and who promoted controversy through his anti-immigration policy, was killed two years ago, an event that remains very much in the Dutch public’s consciousness to this day.

The subject arose as a result of Holland’s prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, making a statement in defence of the coach and claiming that some of the most grotesque criticisms of Advocaat’s handling of the team could be dangerous. It had been suggested on one channel that Advocaat should be hanged, while a former player suggested that he should be stoned.

When reminded of the prime minister’s words, Advocaat said: "It is dangerous." It was a German journalist who put the case of the slain Fortuyn to him by way of suggesting how dangerous his job could be and Advocaat, significantly, did not, as anyone would normally have expected, reject the comparison as nonsense.

"I can’t say what happened in Holland about that," he said, in his limited, sometimes faltering English. "But some people don’t realise what can happen. A lot of things have happened in Holland over the past couple of weeks, but I don’t want to discuss that."

This is clearly an allusion to those who have uttered the more outrageous criticisms not being aware of the possibly inflammatory effect of their words. Advocaat then went on to refer to the possibility of serious consequences in the aftermath of the European championship. Asked if he could possibly enjoy the job, he replied: "I enjoy the job very much. The problem is that some people do not realise what can happen in your country, what can happen to yourself, after the tournament. That’s all I want to say on it (the apparent depth of public hostility towards him).

"Think about it. Criticism is part of the job. If you are the manager of a team or a country like Holland, criticism is part of it. But to break somebody? That is a different story and that is what they tried to do without knowing what happened there in Holland."

That last part seemed to be a return to ferocity of the personal attacks in the media, Advocaat suggesting that these were carried out without the perpetrators remembering what had happened to Fortuyn as a result of extreme condemnation.

Finally, he was asked if thought the flak would stop if his Dutch team were to win the tournament. "It will never be over," he said. "There is a love-hate relationship between me and the Dutch press. Expectations are extremely high in Holland.

"I sometimes have the feeling that the media think Holland only plays against amateur teams. We played against Germany, the Czech Republic and Latvia. When we came to play Latvia, it was said (by the Dutch media) that they were nobodies, but in their first two games they had been excellent (Latvia lost 2-1 to the Czechs after leading at half-time and drew 0-0 with Germany). We beat them 3-0 in our last match (a result that took Holland into the quarter-finals), but they were nobodies."

Advocaat has always been sensitive to criticism, bristling at the suggestion that an adverse result for one of his teams could be his fault. But it seems obvious that he is uncomfortably aware that the widespread opprobrium that has accompanied his efforts here in Portugal is much more serious than a series of football matches has the right to generate.