Martin Jol, a successful trainer who worked for Ajax for a year and a half, is leaving a club in crisis. He had a rough start with Ajax last season, but after the winter break the team put on an impressive spurt and ended the season just one point behind the Premier League champions, FC Twente.

The record-breaking Amsterdam club (29 times league champions) also made into the UEFA Champions League - where they received an unceremonious drubbing. Whatever happened to the days of Michels, Cruijff and Van Gaal, when Ajax were the leaders in attacking football and collected endless trophies?

Martin Jol turned out not to have the magic touch Ajax had hoped for. A dramatic run of eight matches with only two wins proved fatal. The supporters were relatively forgiving. They decided the players were largely to blame, although there was, of course, criticism of Jol. "He didn't improve the players' performances, failed to turn the team into a unit and recruited the wrong kinds of players" according to the fans.

Fly in the ointment
Doing well at Ajax is no easy task. The supporters are spoilt and demanding. They don't just want victories, they want them achieved with dominant and attractive football. In this respect they follow the gospel according to Johan Cruijff, patron saint of Ajax and all-round fly in the ointment.

Ajax's former number 14 grasps every opportunity to express his displeasure with the club. The performances on the pitch are dreadful and the directors are not fit for their task. The departure of Martin Jol has not brought the solution any closer from Cruijff's point of view: the roots of the malaise lie much deeper.

Reforms
Cruijff has started a lobby to recruit more former players to the members' council, the body which chooses the club's management. Eight of the 24 council members are standing for re-election next week. With more former players in leading positions the sorely-needed reforms can begin, says Cruijff.

It's anybody's guess what role Cruijff himself will play in that process. Since his period as trainer in the 1980s, he has not had any official role at Ajax.

Losses
The vacancy left by Jol will be filled by Frank de Boer, assisted by Danny Blind, at least until the winter break. These two are former players of the Cruijff persuasion, but their influence will be minimal for the time being. A more interesting consideration is who will fill the post in the long run. And what will await the new trainer.

One thing he won't have is money to buy new players. Ajax booked a loss of over 22 million euros last season and a shortfall of 13 million is expected for this season. The tens of millions the club made from lucrative transfers involving Wesley Sneijder and others in 2007 and Klaas Jan Huntelaar in 2008 have evaporated amid bad signings and sky-high salaries.