Maarten Martens, the assistant coach in Alkmaar, succeeds Jansen until the end of the season. The 39-year-old Belgian, who won the national championship with AZ as a player in 2009, coached the second team of AZ for the past two seasons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The change came as no surprise after AZ's disappointing results by the end of 2023 and a difficult start of the new year. Last Saturday, AZ started the second half of the Eredivisie season with a 2-1 loss to FC Twente.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
AZ are now ranked fourth in the Eredivisie, six points behind No. 2 Feyenoord and four behind No. 3 FC Twente. The top two qualify directly for next season's Champions League group stage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On Tuesday evening, AZ escaped an embarrassing early exit in the Dutch Cup after winning on penalties in Alkmaar against amateur third division side Quick Boys.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jansen replaced current Feyenoord coach Arne Slot as AZ coach in December 2020. Under Jansen, AZ finished third (2021), fifth (2022) and fourth (2023) in the Eredivisie. In the 2022-2023 season, AZ reached the semifinals of the UEFA Conference League, but this season saw AZ failing to survive the group stage of the Conference League.<\/p>\r\n\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2024\/01\/az-sacks-coach-jansen-appoints-martens-as-successor.jpeg", "alt_img": "AZ sacks coach Jansen, appoints Martens as successor", "alt_title": "AZ sacks coach Jansen, appoints Martens as successor", "image1": null, "video": null, "seo_title": "AZ Sacks Coach Jansen, Appoints Martens As Successor On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "AZ Sacks Coach Jansen, Appoints Martens As Successor, UEFA Conference League: Dutch soccer club AZ Alkmaar fired coach Pascal Jansen with immediate effect on Wednesday, a day after.", "seo_keywords": "The Hague, AZ Alkmaar, Pascal Jansen, Dutch Cup, Quick Boys, Maarten Martens, Last Saturday, FC Twente, Champions League, On Tuesday, Arne Slot, Under Jansen, UEFA Conference League, Conference League", "tag": "", "tagging": "The Hague, AZ Alkmaar, Pascal Jansen, Dutch Cup, Quick Boys, Maarten Martens, Last Saturday, FC Twente, Champions League, On Tuesday, Arne Slot, Under Jansen, UEFA Conference League, Conference League", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": null, "slug": "az-sacks-coach-jansen-appoints-martens-as-successor", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": null, "ians_time": null, "server_time": null, "trash": "0", "view_count": "466", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2024-01-18 09:20:04", "updated": "2024-01-18 09:20:04", "img_from": "Image Source: IANS", "img_source": null, "schedule_publish": null, "news_keywords": "The Hague, AZ Alkmaar, Pascal Jansen, Dutch Cup, Quick Boys, Maarten Martens, Last Saturday, FC Twente, Champions League, On Tuesday, Arne Slot, Under Jansen, UEFA Conference League, Conference League", "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "1", "google_feed": "1", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "23", "jio_date": "2024-01-18 09:20:04", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "0", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": null, "featured": "0", "sports_name": "football", "cnmid": "853339", "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/sports-news\/az-sacks-coach-jansen-appoints-martens-as-successor-12307" }