Van Persie fired by Feyenoord despite second place finish

ROTTERDAM, June 7 : Robin van Persie has been fired as coach of Feyenoord after only one full season in charge and despite the club finishing second in the Eredivisie standings, the Dutch club confirmed on Sunday.

The 42-year-old former Arsenal and Manchester United striker was sacked despite having one more season on his contract.

"Robin van Persie has given everything for the club over the past 1.5 years. He certainly deserves credit for concluding a difficult season with a final second-place finish. This secured Champions League football, which is of course very important," said the club's newly appointed technical director Devy Rigaux.

"We conducted a thorough internal analysis. In this, we took into account, among other things, the development of the style of play and the declining trend in terms of points total, both in Europe and in the Eredivisie. The conclusion was that it is better to start the next season with a new head coach."

Van Persie's future at the club where he began his playing career had been in peril since the appointment of Rigaux and new general manager Robert Eenhoorn two weeks ago.

Rigaux warned they would be reviewing Van Persie's work.

Feyenoord finished 19 points behind runaway winners PSV Eindhoven and were inconsistent throughout the season with Van Persie being criticised for run-ins with players and persistent tinkering with the team, amid reports he had a chaotic management style.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)