Cruyff called in to revive Ajax

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

AMSTERDAM (AFP) — Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff has been given the job of reviving the fortunes of his home club Ajax.

The Amsterdam giants have been forced to play second fiddle to arch-rivals PSV Eindhoven in the last few years and have not won their domestic championship since 2004 and this season trail PSV by nine points.

They have also struggled to compete at the European level, their last trophy being the 1995 Champions League title.

The club's directors held an emergency meeting on Tuesday and announced less than 24 hours later that a new technical and sporting structure would be put in place, to be headed by 50-year-old Cruyff.

The existing set-up would be scrapped and its president John Jaake would leave his job before the end of the...