Gullit leaves Feyenoord

Coach Ruud Gullit has quit Feyenoord after less than a year in charge. The Rotterdam-based club won their final match of the season 6-3 against ADO Den Haag on Sunday to finish fourth in the table, 25 points behind champions PSV.

Club officials met yesterday to discuss the future and Feyenoord said Gullit and his assistant Zeljko Petrovic had left because of the "disappointing results during the season".

"It is always depressing when trainers leave," said chairman Jorien van den Herik on the club's website. "But things didn't work out at all like we had hoped."

A former manager of Chelsea and Newcastle, the 42-year-old took over at Feyenoord in July 2004.

In recent months, Gullit had complained about the lack of quality players at Feyenoord and at yesterday's meeting he had wanted assurances that the directors would invest in new talent.

At Sunday's match fans had chanted that Gullit should "leave with his garbage".

"I wanted to know if Feyenoord was able to fulfil my plan for the season and I already had my doubts that would be possible," Gullit told reporters.

"Zejlko and I often had the feeling that we had to do it all alone. We felt gloomy and helpless.

"I stood firm this season even when I knew that information from inside the club was being passed on to the media.

"Unfortunately, nobody stood up and ended that situation and so things remained turbulent."

Gullit's team started the season well before poor defending let them down. However, they scored the most goals in the division.

Feyenoord were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in February by Sporting Lisbon after the home leg was twice interrupted by crowd trouble.