The Hague, Oct 24 (IANS): Ajax parted ways with coach Maurice Steijn with immediate effect after a streak of poor results at the start of the season, with assistant coach Hedwiges Maduro taking over for now.

The 49-year-old Steijn moved to Ajax from Sparta Rotterdam last summer, signing a contract until mid-2026. After only one win, two draws and four defeats, Ajax currently are on a historically low 17th position in the 18-team Dutch Eredivisie. Last Sunday Ajax lost 4-3 at bottom-side FC Utrecht, Xinhua reports.

"This morning, I sat down with the board, and we continued our talks later this afternoon," Steijn said in a press release by Ajax. "We came to the conclusion that this is what is best for Ajax, although I regret that."

"We have worked intensely and professionally together over the last few months," interim general director Jan van Halst added. "But the sportive successes and the development of the team were lacking. Together, we decided that it would be best to part ways."

The departure of Steijn comes one month after the dismissal of director of football Sven Mislintat, who had the task to build a new Ajax since May this year, but most of the twelve new signings of the German, for a total transfer fee of around 110 million euros, failed to impress so far.

Ajax are the record Dutch champions with a total of 36 national titles, the last one only one year ago in 2022. Since the founding of the Eredivisie, the top Dutch professional league, the Amsterdam-based giants never relegated. The lowest ranking ever in the Eredivisie was the 13th place in the 1964/1965 season.