Pastoor hails Sparta Rotterdam

Sparta Rotterdam head coach Alex Pastoor admits he still can’t believe his side achieved promotion to the Eredivise after their 3-1 win over Jong Ajax on Monday.

The oldest club in the Netherlands secured the Juplier league title after the win and now Pastoor has challenged his squad to take things to the next level and establish themselves as an Eredivisie club after six years in the second division.

“It is just sinking in,” Pastoor told NOS. “A great achievement, one factor in our successful campaign was our home form nobody has beaten us at home so far this season and we still have one game to play here.”

The former Slavia Prague boss claims they’ve already studied the previously promoted sides, and have established a plan on how to build their squad for the return to the Dutch top-flight. Pastoor has also committed his immediate future to the club.

“What we have done is we have studied the teams that have gained promotion from the Jupiler league in the last 5 or 6 seasons for example what they have done well and also what they forgot to do,” the 49-year-old added.

“Most of our squad that played this season are still under contract which is a good position to be in although you must also be aware that because we have played such a good season that maybe 3 or 4 of our players might be wanted by other clubs.

“We are going to make sure that we have from now until 31st August a competitive squad to be able to compete in the Eredivisie.

“It is very important for us to become an established Eredivisie club again we always had the goal of getting promoted but not just for the sake of it but also with a view to being able to stay up so we must now stabilize and not become confused and lose our heads if we lose a few games which will happen.

“I want to make it completely clear that I will be the manager of Sparta Rotterdam next season.”