'A lot of Dutch coaches didn't succeed in England...this man can'

With a dream tenure at Feyenoord drawing to a close, Arne Slot can savour a job well done - and a new role at Liverpool which will require the same Midas touch

- Simon Burnton

For most of Sunday, Rotterdam sat under a thick blanket of cloud, but as day ticked into evening, just as fans were streaming into De Kuip for Feyenoord's penultimate home fixture of the season, the skies cleared. On what became a glorious, balmy evening the team comprehensively outclassed PEC Zwolle. Arne Slot, overseeing his 100th league game in charge, watched from the touchline and his son, Joep, who for the best part of three years had dreamed of being allowed into the noisiest part of the ground, stood among the ultras in the Gerard Meijer Tribune.

In the 82nd minute, the entire ground sung his father's name and, just as Slot lifted his hands above his head to return their applause, Santiago Giménez scored the final goal in a 5-0 win. When the final whistle blew, and Slot walked towards the fans to bid farewell, the PA eschewed the ear-splitting techno that had soundtracked the rest of the night and played You'll Never Walk Alone. Football rarely permits moments of such infinite perfection.

"It's not a normal situation for a manager that the fans are singing your name, let alone that they do it in such a way, with the whole stadium singing," Slot said later.

"Normally it happens when a manager loses one or two games, and the whole stadium stands up to sing different songs." When Feyenoord host Excelsior on Sunday week, much of the Gerard Meijer Tribune will be closed in punishment for the fans' use of flares in the KNVB Cup semi-final win over Groningen.

For many of the club's hardcore supporters, this was goodbye. "I've never seen Feyenoord play like this. I really mean it," said Paul van Dijk, a season-ticket holder in that end for the last 15 years. "Players come and go, managers come and go. This is modern football, isn't it? But this is one manager we're very sad to see go. We're sad, but proud.