Firework-throwing fans smashing up their own stadium, a struggling team sitting 14th in the Eredivisie and transfer guru Sven Mislintat ruthlessly axed… what is going on at Ajax?

Amid the fireworks that forced the abandonment of De Klassieker, it was tempting to wonder whether Ajax’s season has already gone up in smoke.

Furious supporters destroyed their own stadium and fought with police outside, their team remained just two points above the relegation zone, and the brutal dismissal of football director Sven Mislintat made for an eventful Sunday in Amsterdam.

Dutch football’s leading club is once again in crisis and it is not entirely clear how things will improve.

The dramatic scenes inside and outside the Johan Cruyff Arena on Sunday, as a barrage of flares pushed the players back to the dressing rooms as Feyenoord won 3-0, shone a spotlight on wider failings at the club.

Videos later show riot police attacking gangs of supporters at the entrance to the stadium, firing volleys of tear gas.

Another clip showed a group destroying the glass facade of the Arena’s reception, smashing windows and throwing around red smoke canisters.

A major clearing operation took place on Monday and the remaining 35 minutes of the match will be played behind closed doors on Wednesday afternoon.

It is very unlikely that Ajax will find a way back after three goals behind. They have won just one of their first five Eredivisie matches so far and are 14th in an 18-team league.

Tensions often run high at Ajax-Feyenoord meetings, hence the ban on traveling supporters, but the expression of pure anger and frustration on Sunday was remarkable.

Ajax has won 36 Dutch league titles in its history, including three of the past four that have been completed, but things have fallen off a cliff in recent months.

Things may look a bit sketchy for Erik ten Hag at Manchester United at the moment, but that’s nothing compared to his former employer.

Since Ten Hag took up the challenge at Old Trafford in the summer of 2022, nothing seems to have gone right for Ajax.

Ten Hag’s former assistant Alfred Schreuder returned to succeed him, but key players such as Antony, Lisandro Martinez, Sebastien Haller and Ryan Gravenberch were sold.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Ajax exited the Champions League and at one point went seven league games without a win, something that was virtually unheard of.

Schreuder was sacked at the end of January when Ajax were in a lowly fifth place in the Eredivisie, with John Heitinga stepping in and eventually guiding them to third place – good enough for the Europa League, but not for the Champions League for the first time in thirteen seasons .

In a new summer full of unrest, Maurice Steijn was surprisingly appointed as head coach. He had just led old-school Sparta Rotterdam to a sixth-place finish – their best in 27 years – but there were doubts whether he could make the step up.

It was not an agreement without precedent. After all, Ten Hag was highly recommended after performances at Go Ahead Eagles and Utrecht that punched above their weight.

He was approached by Sven Mislintat, the former chief scout of Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, who had filled the vacant position of director of football at Ajax in April.

Mislintat succeeded Marc Overmars, who left in February 2022 after sending inappropriate messages and photos to female colleagues at Ajax.

As is often the case at Ajax, Mislintat and Steijn had to deal with a change in player personnel.

Key defender Jurrien Timber went to Arsenal, while Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez were sold to West Ham. Old heads in the dressing room such as Dusan Tadic, Davy Klaassen and Maarten Stekelenburg moved on or retired.

The revenues were mainly aimed at closing the gaps, but were hardly mouth-watering. Croatian defender Josip Sutalo, Georgian striker Georges Mikautadze, young Portuguese winger Carlos Forbs (of Man City) and striker Chuba Akpom (of Middlesbrough) were the most expensive.

But despite the usual player turnover, Ajax usually gets off to a flying start. They defeated Heracles 4-1 in the opening weekend, but that was their only league victory so far.

Draws against Excelsior and Fortuna Sittard were followed by a 3-1 deficit at FC Twente. In between they drew 3-3 with Marseille in their opening match of the Europa League group, but even then they threw away two winning positions.

They were outclassed against Feyenoord and were three behind within 37 minutes. The match was interrupted after 36 minutes when a plastic cup was thrown onto the field and fireworks rained at the 3-0 mark.

The stoppage eleven minutes into the second half, despite repeated warnings over the PA system, led to the referee stopping.

“It’s a pitch-black day, this makes it even worse,” Steijn said afterwards. Ajax director of general affairs Jan van Halst admitted ‘it is a bad start to the season.’

It may have taken a ritual sacrifice to appease the baying fans, but perhaps Steijn hasn’t been in office long enough.

Instead, Mislintat was the Autumn Man. Fired by the club on Sunday evening, a brutally frank statement read: ‘The lack of widespread support within the organization is the reason behind this decision.’

It suggested that the man responsible for Ajax’s recruitment strategy was not liked by anyone.

Or it may have been a response to reports in the press that Mislintat had stormed into the dressing room prior to the match against Feyenoord to talk about Steijn’s possible dismissal.

The coach was not present at the time, which is a good thing as Mislintat looked ‘very threatening’ as he would have disrupted preparations for one of Ajax’s biggest games of the season.

Staff had been told Mislintat would ‘operate from the shadows’ but by Sunday evening he had disappeared altogether, prompting a new search for a football director.

Meanwhile, 72-year-old Louis van Gaal has been forced to speak out and reject suggestions he could step back into the breach at Ajax even as he battles prostate cancer.

Van Gaal had surgery last month and said he cannot go to the toilet on his own, so taking on the toughest job in Dutch club football is probably not the best idea.

But Ajax certainly needs someone with Van Gaal’s iron character to solve them now.