Adelaide United has announced Dutchman Rini Coolen will be the club’s new head coach after signing a two year deal on Monday.
Coolen replaces the outgoing Aurelio Vidmar who has taken up a post with the Socceroos.
Following an extensive selection process, the relatively unknown Coolen edged out the Reds assistant coach Phil Stubbins who had been in charge since returning from the offseason.
Coolen comes from RBC Roosendaal in the Dutch 1st Division where he has coached for last two years, while his coaching CV also includes a stint at FC Twente in the Eredivisie between 2004-2006.
The 43-year-old led a rather young and inexperienced FC Twente to sixth place in the Dutch Premier League in his first year in charge and he has also been involved with practical periods with Guus Hiddink at PSV, former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier and Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona.
Coolen also carried out some recognisance for former Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek, scouting some of Australia’s Asian opponents like Qatar and Bahrain.
The former Go Ahead Eagles, Heracles Almelo and AZ player will fly back to the Netherlands on Tuesday to tidy his affairs before returning to Adelaide on July 16.
