Henk ten Cate

Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player.

In this Dutch name, the surname is Ten Cate.
Henk ten Cate
Cate with Al Jazira in 2016
Personal information
Full name Hendrik Willem ten Cate[1]
Date of birth (1954-12-09) 9 December 1954
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Position(s) Left winger
Team information
Current team
 Suriname
Youth career
Ajax
De Volewijckers
1973–1975 Vitesse
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1977 Vitesse 4 (0)
1977–1979 VV Rheden ? (?)
1979–1985 Go Ahead Eagles 132 (21)
1980 → Edmonton Drillers (loan) 21 (5)
1981–1982 → Telstar (loan) 30 (7)
1985–1986 Heracles 19 (1)
Total 206 (34)
Managerial career
1990 Go Ahead Eagles
1990–1992 Heracles
1992–1993 VV Rheden
1993–1995 Go Ahead Eagles
1995–1997 Sparta Rotterdam
1997–1998 Vitesse
1998–1999 Uerdingen
1999–2000 MTK Budapest
2000–2003 NAC
2003–2006 Barcelona (assistant)
2006–2007 Ajax
2007–2008 Chelsea (assistant)
2008–2009 Panathinaikos
2010 Al-Ahli Dubai
2010–2011 Umm Salal
2012–2013 Shandong Luneng
2013 Sparta Rotterdam
2015–2018 Al Jazira
2018–2019 Al Wahda
2019–2020 Al-Ittihad
2021 Al Wahda
2023- Suriname (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. He then served as manager of Ajax until October 2007 and won three trophies for the Dutch club.

Ten Cate joined Chelsea on 11 October 2007 as assistant manager[2] but stepped down after the defeat of the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final on 29 May 2008 just 5 days after the departure of manager Avram Grant.

Playing career

Ten Cate started his football career at amateur side FC Rheden before signing his first professional contract at Go Ahead Eagles. He made his Eredivisie debut in the 1979–80 season and earned himself 27 appearances throughout the season in which he scored four goals. These performances earned him a transfer to NASL side Edmonton Drillers in Canada.

After the North American season he returned to Go Ahead Eagles and continued his Eredivisie campaign. He became however unsure of his position and was sent on loan to Eerste Divisie side Telstar where he was one of their key players. After the season at Telstar he returned to Deventer and became a first team regular for Go Ahead Eagles again for three more seasons. In 1985, he switched to SC Heracles where he ended his professional career as a player.

Managerial career

After his playing career Ten Cate became assistant manager of Fritz Korbach at Go Ahead Eagles, playing in the Eerste Divisie. When Korbach moved to SC Heerenveen in February 1990 Ten Cate took over as a manager. He managed to win period title, which earned an Eerste Divisie side a place in the promotion play-offs at the end of the season. In these play-offs Go Ahead Eagles placed equal with Korbach's SC Heerenveen, but Heerenveen promoted to the Eredivisie on goal difference.

Ten Cate left Go Ahead Eagles and returned to one of the other teams he was active at during his playing career, SC Heracles where he became the assistant of manager Henk van Brussel. When Van Brussel was unable to finish the season due to health problems in November 1990 Ten Cate became the first team manager and led SC Heracles until 1992, when he was told his contract would not be extended. He moved to the club where his football career started, amateur side FC Rheden and managed them for one year.

In 1993, Go Ahead Eagles appointed Ten Cate yet again as their manager, this time to replace Jan Versleijen who left the club to manage De Graafschap. In his first year, he did well, but when Go Ahead Eagles was at the bottom of the Eerste Divisie during the winter break of the 1994–95 season he was fired. Eredivisie side Sparta Rotterdam offered him a contract and he led the team to a sixth position in the Eredivisie in 1996, they also reached the final of the KNVB Cup that year, which was lost to PSV Eindhoven 5–2.

In the 1997–98 winter break Ten Cate switched to manage Vitesse Arnhem, which he led to their best Eredivisie ranking in their history, a third position with records in both the number of points won as the number of scored goals. After a disappointing start in the following season he left Vitesse and led KFC Uerdingen 05 until March 1999 without success. In the 1999–00 season he managed Hungarian side MTK Hungária FC to win the Hungarian Cup and a runners-up place in the PNB League. He returned to the Netherlands and became manager of NAC Breda which he led until 2003 earning them a spot in the UEFA Cup for the 2003–04 season.

In June 2003, Ajax gave him an offer as a manager, however, he decided to join Frank Rijkaard at FC Barcelona and became his assistant manager because Frank Rijkaard had the lack of experience as a top manager at that time. Thus, Frank Rijkaard believed that Ten Cate was able to compensate for his weak points as a manager. Rijkaard explained that "I was a motivator, Henk [ten Cate] was a strategist for the team". Indeed, Ten Cate was responsible for strategies and tactics of FC Barcelona during its training sessions. Together they managed Barça to a Champions League Trophy and two La Liga titles. In 2006, he replaced Danny Blind as a manager at Ajax, where he won the Johan Cruijff-schaal in 2006 and 2007 and the KNVB Cup in 2007. Ajax finished equal on points with PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie in 2006, only to be denied the championship by a single goal in goal difference.

Chelsea
Ten Cate with Chelsea.

In early October 2007, Ten Cate was strongly linked to taking over as assistant manager to Avram Grant at Chelsea because owner of the English club, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich had a high opinion of Ten Cate as a great tactician. On 8 October 2007, Ajax announced on their website they had reached an agreement with Chelsea about Ten Cate's immediate transfer to the London side, noting also the deal was still to be finalized.[2] Ten Cate officially joined Chelsea on 11 October 2007 as assistant first team coach.[3]

Following the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, Ten Cate expressed his disappointment with Didier Drogba for his sending-off (if Drogba had not been sent off, he would have taken the fifth penalty). Drogba's expulsion led to John Terry taking Chelsea's fifth penalty, which he failed to convert as he slipped on the rain-soaked turf. Had he scored, Chelsea would have secured their first Champions League Title.[4]

Ten Cate was sacked from his role at Chelsea on 29 May 2008,[5] two days after being told the sacking of Avram Grant would not affect his position.

Panathinaikos

On 13 June 2008, Ten Cate signed a two-year deal with a Greek Superleague team, Panathinaikos FC.[6] Ten Cate gave the following statement on his appointment:

"Panathinaikos' history, ambition and attitude towards football in general match those of the greatest football clubs in Europe. "I've been used to working at the highest level and that's why I consider this a great challenge."

Ten Cate's Panathinaikos managed to qualify for the last "16" Phase of UEFA Champions' League in the 2008–2009 season, where Panathinaikos were eliminated by Villarreal CF. However, they won the Europe Cup Play Offs, winning the second seed for the next year's Champions League Playoffs. In his first year to the club, Ten Cate built Panathinaikos to play an attacking style of play based on possession in 4–2–3–1 and 4–3–2–1 formations, and they scored the most goals in the league.

The Panathinaikos board kept Ten Cate in his position for a second year, in which the club managed to achieve its best start in the League since 1996, with 9 wins and 2 draws in 11 matches. However, the Greek club suddenly got worth of their financial situation because of the financial crisis in Greece and was revealed unpaid wages (€4 million) of Ten Cate. Afterwards, Ten Cate decided to step down as its manager on 8 December 2009.

Middle East and Asia

On 6 February 2010, it was announced that Ten Cate signed a 6-month contract with the UAE champions Al-Ahli Club (Dubai). Only one month later he quit Al-Ahli, after a 5–0 defeat against Al-Sadd.

In April 2010, Umm Salal hired the Dutch coach as a replacement of Gerard Gili. Ten Cate worked as a manager of Umm Salal until February 2011. [7]

On 5 January 2012, Ten Cate became the manager of Shandong Luneng Taishan in China.[8] However, as Shandong Luneng Taishan spent most of the season struggling at the edge of relegation, ten Cate resigned on 6 September.[9]

On 4 April 2013, he shortly replaced the sacked Michel Vonk as manager of Sparta Rotterdam on a contract running until the end of the season.[10] He returned to the Middle East in December 2015 after signing for UAE club Al Jazira,[11] with whom he won the domestic league title in his second (and first full) season.[12]

In April 2017, he was reportedly offered the job of managing of the Dutch national team, only for him to back out after it appeared the Dutch FA suddenly preferred to give the job to Dick Advocaat.[13] At the same time, Ten Cate was subject to a legal investigation into certain business interests.[14]

He left Al Jazira in May 2018.[15]

On 4 November 2019, ten Cate was announced as Al-Ittihad's manager.[16] He signed a contract which is due to keep him at Al-Ittihad until the end of the 2019–20 season, but with a possibility to extend the contract at the end of the season. However, he was dismissed on 11 February 2020 after a defeat against Damac.[17]

In March 2021, ten Cate returned to Abu Dhabi to manage Al Wahda again.[18] He would get sacked in October after a disappointing start to the season.[19]

Playing career statistics
Season Club Competition Apps Goals
1979–80Go Ahead EaglesEredivisie274
1980Edmonton DrillersNorth American Soccer League215
1980–81Go Ahead EaglesEredivisie193
1981–82Go Ahead EaglesEredivisie10
1981–82TelstarEerste Divisie307
1982–83Go Ahead EaglesEredivisie3110
1983–84Go Ahead EaglesEredivisie242
1984–85Go Ahead EaglesEredivisie302
1985–86SC HeraclesEredivisie191
Total20234

Honours

Manager

MTK Budapest

Ajax

Al Jazira

References
  1. "Henk ten Cate: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. "Ajax and Chelsea agree about Henk ten Cate". Ajax Amsterdam. 8 October 2007. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  3. "Ten Cate arrives". Chelsea FC. 11 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
  4. tribalfootball.com – Chelsea No2 Ten Cate: Terry should never have taken penalty Archived 10 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Ten Cate sacked as Chelsea coach". BBC Sport. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
  6. Ten Cate is the new Panathinaikos coach
  7. Trainer Ten Cate ontslagen in Qatar
  8. 鲁能召开2012赛季新外教见面会 (in Chinese)
  9. 鲁能官方宣布滕卡特辞职 吴金贵任代理主帅签两年 (in Chinese)
  10. Ten Cate to coach Sparta Rotterdam until end of season
  11. Ten Cate blaast trainerscarrière nieuw leven in bij Al Jazira – Voetbal International (in Dutch)
  12. Ten Cate sleept landstitel binnen met Al-Jazira – NOS (in Dutch)
  13. KNVB herkent zich niet in uitspraken Ten Cate – AD (in Dutch)
  14. Juridisch onderzoek naar zakelijk handelen Henk ten Cate – NOS (in Dutch)
  15. "Henk ten Cate leaves role as Al Jazira manager after two and a half seasons in charge". The National. Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  16. "الهولندي تين كات مدرباً للاتحاد حتى نهاية الموسم".
  17. "Ten Cate gooit handdoek in de ring na zoveelste tegenslag bij Al-Ittihad" (in Dutch). Goal. 11 February 2020.
  18. "HENK TEN CATE KEERT ALS TRAINER TERUG BIJ AL WAHDA" (in Dutch). elfvoetbal.
  19. "Al Wahda sack Henk Ten Cate following disappointing results". Kingfut. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
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