Feyenoord has finally made the decision: Zeb Jacobs will become the new head of youth training. The 29-year-old Belgian comes from Scottish Rangers FC and succeeds the departing Rini Coolen.
In the past, Jacobs was a youth coach at KV Mechelen. He then moved to Royal Antwerp FC, where he became Head Of Development. From Belgium, he moved to Rangers FC at the beginning of 2022, where he became Head of Coaching. Jacobs was promoted to Academy Director at the Scottish club. He is also a member of the FIFA and UEFA committee for youth talent development.
Feyenoord was not the only club that was in the race for Jacobs: Manchester City also recently approached the specialist in the youth training of professional football clubs. However, Feyenoord won the battle for Jacobs against The Citizens: the club simply managed to enter the negotiation process with more conviction and a better plan.
The brand new Dutch cup winner did not have to approach employer Rangers FC to pry Jacobs away. The former Academy Director of Rangers FC had a notice period in his current Scottish contract. Feyenoord had selected Jacobs through a selection committee, in which Jacobs emerged as the best option from a series of candidates.
Supervisory Board Sjaak Troost previously made a strong case internally for the return of Glenn van der Kraan, who currently works at Manchester City as Head of Coaching. He was previously a junior secondary coordinator at the Feyenoord Academy. However, Feyenoord clearly did not respond to the wishes of the former interim technical director: the club, under the current general and technical director Dennis te Kloese, engaged innovatively and decisively for the services of Zeb Jacobs.
