With a somewhat flattered defeat (3-0) at leader Bloemendaal, HDM’s men concluded the most turbulent week of the season. On Tuesday, the men from The Hague were told that Richard Smith had to leave as head coach at the number nine of the Tulip big league. ‘We were given space, but needed toughness.’
Just after the ninth defeat of the season, HDM captain Cédric de Gier walks to the sidelines, where top hockey administrators Tom Pijpers and Nicole Heupers are standing. Leaning on the fence, the midfielder talks for a few minutes with the two pedigreed HDM players, who used to play in the first teams themselves. ‘Do I often, though,’ grins the midfielder, himself a figurehead of the club. ‘We were talking about the upcoming season. How we look at it as a team. And how we can best work together with the board.’
That things are puzzling at HDM right now is logical. It is a consequence of the hard decision the club made last Tuesday. The day that started with Smith as head coach. The relatively inexperienced Englishman was appointed in the summer to succeed club icon Erik van Driel, who brought the Hague club back to the big league. In short: not the easiest shoes to fill.
The Brit even led a training session on his last HDM day. A few hours later, the group was told that the cooperation between the former international and the club had broken down. ‘Let me first of all say that we didn’t rush into this,’ said Heupers, who has only been in technical charge at HDM since this season. As such, she was not involved in Smith’s appointment. ‘Something had to happen. We’re heading toward a critical phase in the league.’
We neglected some things at times, like not going to the gym enough once. We have to have that discipline Cédric de Gier, captain HDM
Heupers tries to explain the drastic decision. A decision that goes back to the era before Smith’s arrival. To the years when Van Driel was in charge of the Hague men. ‘Erik trained the boys for eight years. His approach was very task-oriented. With a lot of structure. Under Richard it was much freer, with a lot of individual responsibility. Unfortunately, the gap between those styles turned out to be too big. We also heard from the players that there was more need for clarity. It needed to be a little tighter.’
De Gier leads the way against Bloemendaal. Photo: Koen Suyk
De Gier can agree. ‘We got a bit spoiled under Erik,’ he echoes honestly. ‘Without that clarity, we were sometimes swimming a bit. Richard is a very good person, with his heart in the right place. He wanted the best for everyone, just let us loose to be a little more creative. But the team needed more handles. Struggled with that freedom. We were given space, but maybe needed more of a certain toughness.’
The midfielder talks, as he plays field hockey. Direct and driven, straight to the point. ‘It’s not just the coach, of course. We also have our share in this story. We can really take a good look at ourselves in the mirror. We told each other that – before the news about Richard came. We sometimes neglected some things, like not going to the gym enough times. We have to have that discipline.’
HDM hockey executives Nicole Heupers and Tom Pijpers over coffee at ‘t Kopje. Photo: Koen Suyk
Lucas Judge’s help
During the winter break, HDM already made an attempt to pull the strings a little tighter. The Hague team received help from none other than Lucas Judge, former coach of the ladies of SCHC and the men of Oranje-Rood. The Eindhoven native has been leading a field training session once a week for a month and made plans with Smith as a kind of mentor. ‘We hoped this was enough to create more clarity,’ Heupers said. ‘But the unrest remained. So we had to take a step anyway, which we really didn’t want to.’
Because HDM doesn’t really have time to fiddle any further. The team is in a particularly dangerous ninth place after fifteen duels. That’s not even a surprise, because that’s where they finished last season as well. More exciting is the small difference in points with the three teams below them. HDM currently has ten points. Hurley (eight), SCHC (seven) and Nijmegen (five) – now in the places that lead to play-outs and relegation – smell the connection. ‘Our margin is not very comfortable,’ observes Heupers. ‘And an upward trend in terms of play was also difficult. We wanted to see more field hockey.’
That should happen initially under Pieter Pieterse. The 41-year-old coach, with his wonderful, comic book-like name, was assistant to Smith and came over in the summer from Cartouche, where he was head coach a few years back. He coached his first big league game Sunday at ‘t Kopje pardantly. Extraordinary, Pieterse himself realized. ‘I went to HDM to learn and make steps. That is going pretty fast now, much faster than planned. I said this week: if people want it, I’ll do it now as head coach for a while. I don’t want to run away from that responsibility. And yes, I want to provide the structure the group needs.’
Pieter Pieterse made his debut as head coach in the big league on Sunday. Photo: Koen Suyk
Why there is no permanent solution on the bench yet
Solution found, you might say. But there is a hefty snag under the turbulent Hague grass. Pieterse: “As head coach, you have a lot to deal with. A lot of hours go into all the analyses and discussions. I also have a busy job in the organization of a high school. During the season it is difficult to permanently rearrange this. In the short term I can shift my schedule, but the way the tasks are divided now, it’s too much for me toward the end of the season.’
Judge is also not an option as head coach, Heupers contends. ‘Lucas is on a sabbatical. We are already happy that he can assist us during the week. Maybe a staff member will join us, to help Pieter with the duties. That’s a possibility. Or will someone else come in as the person ultimately responsible for the group. We don’t have a definite preference right now. Above all, we want to do it as well as possible.
by Hockey.nl