Former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat joins Feyenoord as advisor

Former Rangers and Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat has joined Feyenoord in an advisory capacity. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire

The vastly-experienced 68-year-old has agreed to assist head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst until the end of the season, the Rotterdam-based club have announced.

Feyenoord have slipped to sixth in the standings after suffering seven successive defeats, with their last victory coming back at the start of December against Heracles.

Advocaat, who will not sit on the Feyenoord bench for matches and has told the club he does not want to be paid, said on www.feyenoord.com: “When (technical director) Martin van Geel approached me on Monday morning asking if I wanted to take on this role I immediately had a positive feeling about it. That feeling has only grown after a number of meetings.

“I’m doing this first and foremost because I have a bond with Giovanni.”

Van Bronckhorst played under fellow Dutchman Advocaat at Rangers as well as for the Dutch national team.

Advocaat’s last post was in charge of Sunderland, who he left in October after seven months in charge. He quit the Stadium of Light after a poor start to the season which saw Sunderland fail to win any of their first eight Barclays Premier League fixtures.

Advocaat brings to Feyenoord a host of coaching experience at both international and club level, having been in charge of the likes of Russia, Serbia, PSV Eindhoven, Borussia Monchengladbach and Zenit St Petersburg. He won a domestic treble in his first season in charge at Rangers in 1998-99 and followed it up with a double the following season.

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