Coolen slutter i Rosenborg

Rosenborg og Akademileder Rini Coolen er enige om å avslutte arbeidsforholdet 31. mai – sju måneder før kontrakten går ut.

- Jeg er veldig glad for min tid i klubben og alle folkene jeg har blitt kjent med. Nå ser jeg frem til å tilbringe mer tid med familien i Nederland, sier Rini Coolen.

- Rini har gjort en god jobb på SalMar Akademiet. Men ikke minst vil han bli husket for sin jobb som hovedtrener høsten 2018 hvor vi ble seriemester og cupmester. Etter snart tre år i Trondheim uten familien er det fullt forståelig at han vil tilbake til Nederland. Ikke minst med tanke på tiden vi alle har vært gjennom de siste månedene, sier daglig leder Tove Moe Dyrhaug.

Coolen kom til Rosenborg som Akademisjef for SalMar Akademiet januar 2018. Et halvt år senere ble han utnevnt til midlertidig hovedtrener for Rosenborg. Coolen ledet laget til seriegull, cupgull og til gruppespill i Europa League.

Her er Rinis egne ord om tiden i Rosenborg:

Under the special circumstances the society live in these days, I have made arrangements with Rosenborg BK to leave the club May 31st by mutual consent, seven months prior to the expiring date in the contract (December 31st).

I am very grateful for my time working at the club and all the people I have got to know. But now I look forward to spend more time with my family in the Netherlands.

I came here with a plan to challenge and push for the best possible youth development program. It has been a privilege to be the academy director in such a big club. I have had two and a half exciting years in Trondheim and Norway.

I think the club has made great progress with the youth development program, where the win in the Norwegian FA U19 Cup competition in 2019 was a good achievement. This will enable our young players to get more European experience during the upcoming season. The promotion with RBK 2 (second team) with such a young and prosperous team, give good hopes for the future.

Most of my time as the academy director, I worked in the framework of the club. My personal vision regarding youth development and associated responsibilities of the academy director in the organization is not one the board of directors fully shared with me. We come from a different background and have different experiences.

There is no conflict regarding this. In a professional football club different opinions are part of driving the organization forward and to develop!

I have enjoyed us having many constructive disagreements and arguments along the pathway. With the obvious differences between the Norwegian model and the Dutch model of talent development, there would always be things to discuss. I would like to refer to Nils Arne Eggen that was very often quoted in expressing that progress at the club often started by people having different opinions. But if there are mutual understanding and respect for each other’s position, there will always come something positive out of such processes.

I want to thank the club for a constructive process that ended up in us coming to good terms in the termination of my contract with Rosenborg BK.

I am also grateful for the confidence the club showed in me, when they appointed as the caretaker manager for the first team in the summer of 2018. Qualifying for the European group stage, and winning the double is the best experience in my carrier.

I have made friends for life at Rosenborg BK , in Trondheim and other parts of Norway. Now  I look forward to the day I can come back and visit the city and the club when things are back to normal.

Trondheim, May 25th 2020

Rini Coolen