Gertjan Verbeek (born 1 August 1962 in Deventer

Deventer

Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...

, Overijssel

Overijssel

Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...

) is a former footballer and current manager of AZ.

Coaching career

After retiring from his playing career in 1994, Verbeek stayed with SC Heerenveen as an assistant-coach. He left for Heracles Almelo

Heracles Almelo

Heracles Almelo is a football club from Almelo, Netherlands.Heracles Almelo were founded on May 3, 1903 as Heracles, after the demigod son of Zeus. They changed their name on July 1, 1974 to SC Heracles '74 and finally settled on the current name in 1998. The club has won the Dutch national title...

 in 2001, and after a successful stint there was hired as the successor to Foppe de Haan

Foppe de Haan

Foppe de Haan OON is a Dutch football coach. He is known for his long association with Frisian club SC Heerenveen. De Haan is currently manager of the Tuvalu national football team.-Career:...

 with SC Heerenveen. In 2008 he was hired by Feyenoord, but was fired after clashing with players a few months into his tenure. He moved to Heracles Almelo for the 2009-2010 season, and after guiding them to a 6th place finish in the Eredivisie

Eredivisie

The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....

, AZ hired him for the 2010-2011 season.