Dutch Pundits Critique Rigaux: Is He Feyenoord's New Mislintat?

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

Verweij did not bother with a soft opening. He pointed straight at Rigaux’s recent round-table session with journalists and said it filled him with dread. “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 any Dutch director wince. “I hope this does not become the new Sven Mislintat.”

The criticism centred on two key dossiers: Hadj Moussa and Read. Rigaux had stated that “no club is allowed to talk to Hadj Moussa, because he has an ongoing contract.” Verweij called that view hopelessly unrealistic, arguing that such approaches happen across the football world regardless of contracts.

Then came the Read saga. Rigaux insisted there had been no bid of 30 million euros, only an “official” offer of 26 million. Verweij countered that in phone conversations Roma had immediately indicated they wanted to move towards that 30 million mark. For the journalist, Rigaux was hiding behind semantics.

The Mislintat parallels did not stop there. Verweij pointed to the profile of players Feyenoord are now bringing in. “He brings in players from the second Bundesliga,” he said, again evoking the ill-fated Ajax spell of the German. On top of that, he sees a familiar media dynamic: “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.”

At that point Driessen jumped in, and his tone was even sharper. He called the round-table “truly a scandalous” performance and accused Rigaux of indirectly discrediting his predecessor Dennis te Kloese.

According to Driessen, Rigaux hinted at a problematic legacy: too many players, an inflated wage bill, excessive write-downs. The suggestion, in his eyes, was clear – that Te Kloese had left a mess. Driessen was having none of it. “He knew what he was getting into, didn’t he?” he snapped.

The real test, Driessen argued, will be whether Rigaux can match Te Kloese’s sporting impact with what he calls a “completely different way” of working. He does not like what he sees so far. “You can go into the Champions League with this team,” he warned, “but you will finish bottom without a chance. And then what is the value of Read, Hadj Moussa and Zechiël?”

The concern is not just about style or PR. It cuts to Feyenoord’s sporting and financial core: squad quality at Champions League level and the resale value of key assets if the team underperforms on Europe’s biggest stage.

Verweij then landed a final blow with a fourth comparison to Mislintat. He accused the outside world of being seduced by Rigaux’s rhetoric. “Everyone falls for his slick talk!” he said, before turning to new goalkeeper Tjark Ernst with a brutal one-liner: “Tjark Ernst, material for Die Mannschaft... Every diagonal ball is a goal conceded!”

For now, Rigaux’s reign in Rotterdam is only just beginning. But with this kind of fire coming from the country’s biggest newspaper, he will have to prove quickly that he is building a Champions League side – and not the sequel to one of Dutch football’s most infamous failed projects.