Ajax has sacked Dennis Bergkamp from his coaching role, citing “a difference of opinion about the technical policy to be implemented”.
Manager Marcel Keizer and assistant Hennie Spijkerman are also out of a job, but it is only with Bergkamp that the Dutch side have cited a difference in approach.
General manager Edwin van der Sar blamed “a bad summer and a messy start of the season” after announcing the sackings.
Ajax are second in the Eredivisie, five points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven, and failed to reach either the Champions League or Europa League through qualifying rounds at the start of the season.
General manager Van der Sar said: “We had a bad summer and a messy start of the season. That’s what everyone got. From a sporting point of view, European elimination was the low point.
“In particular Marc Overmars (technical director) and I have frequently spoken the months afterwards about the permanent volatility of the first team. We are not confident that we will achieve the level that we are striving for with Ajax in this way. I regret this.”