Feyenoord's Rigaux Faces Harsh Criticism from Pundits

Dévy Rigaux has barely closed his first transfer window as Feyenoord’s technical director and the knives are already out. On De Telegraaf’s Kick-off podcast, Valentijn Driessen and Mike Verweij tore into his early work, questioning both his market moves and his public performance.

Verweij didn’t bother with a warm-up. “When I look at that round-table discussion by Rigaux with several journalists, I really fear the worst,” he said, before dropping the comparison that will make every Feyenoord fan wince. “I hope this does not become the new Sven Mislintat.”

The criticism centred on Rigaux’s statements about key files and transfer etiquette. According to Verweij, Rigaux’s stance on Hadj Moussa betrayed a lack of realism. “He says: ‘No club is allowed to talk to Hadj Moussa, because he has an ongoing contract.’ Well, that is very naive, because it happens everywhere.”

The Roma case around Read also raised eyebrows. Rigaux has maintained there was no €30 million offer, only an official bid of €26 million. Verweij countered that version. “He also says there was no bid of 30 million for Read, with Rigaux hiding behind the ‘official bid’ of 26 million. But in telephone contact Roma immediately indicated they wanted to move towards that 30 million.”

That was enough for Verweij to push the Mislintat parallel even harder. “He brings in players from the second Bundesliga,” he noted, pointing to the profile of some of Rigaux’s signings. “And another similarity is that you can sense in the media that everyone is over the moon with Rigaux, as if a world wonder has walked in. That was also the case with Mislintat.”

Driessen then stepped in and turned the volume up. “It was truly a scandalous round-table discussion!” he snapped. What particularly bothered him was how Rigaux spoke about the era under Dennis te Kloese. “The way he spoke about Dennis te Kloese... He did not say it directly, but he did let all kinds of things slip about the Te Kloese period. Too many players, far too much in wages, too many write-downs... He knew what he was getting into, didn't he?”

For Driessen, Rigaux is not just rewriting the story of the past; he is gambling with the future. “Well, I'm very curious whether in that, according to him, ‘completely different way’ he is going to achieve the same results as Dennis te Kloese,” he said, clearly unconvinced. His warning about the current squad was blunt. “You can go into the Champions League with this team, but you will finish bottom without a chance. And then what is the value of Read, Hadj Moussa and Zechiël?”

The podcast circled back one more time to the Mislintat spectre. Verweij pointed to what he sees as a dangerous charm offensive. “Everyone falls for his slick talk!” he exclaimed, before taking aim at one specific signing. “Tjark Ernst, material for Die Mannschaft... Every diagonal ball is a goal conceded!”

One transfer window in, Rigaux already finds himself under heavy fire. The question now is not whether he talks a good game. It’s whether Feyenoord can afford to find out the hard way if he plays one.