JAN Versleijen is set to become the sixth Dutch coach at Ajax Cape Town when he is handed the job as expected this week.
The 56-year-old looks to be ahead of current caretaker boss Jan Pruijn in the race for the position, with Ajax staying with their current ethos of only hiring Dutch coaches, even though they have never won a trophy with one in charge.
It was the thinking when the club was formed in 1999, with Leo van Veen leading the side in their first campaign in the PSL.
They finished fourth that year, but Van Veen left at the end of the campaign to take up the assistant coach role at Ajax Amsterdam.
He was replaced by Henk Bodewes for a spell that was cut short when he returned to Holland to receive treatment for cancer.
South African Steve Haupt took up the reins and led the side to the Rothmans Cup that year, beating Pirates 4-1 in a replayed final. There followed a succession of non-Dutch coaches - Rob McDonald, Gordon Igesund, Muhsin Ertugral (twice) and Craig Rosslee - over the next nine years. Foppe de Haan's introduction midway through the 2009-10 campaign took time to bear fruit, but ultimately he turned them into the most exciting side in the country, though they lost the league title on the final day of the season to Pirates.
Ertugral led them to the 2007 Absa Cup and 2008 Telkom Cup, making him arguably the most successful coach in Ajax's history.