ADO Den Haag, who are fourth-last in the Dutch second division, said Advocaat will take over from former national team and Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt.

Advocaat joined ADO as a 10-year-old and spent the first seven years of his professional playing career with them. He returned for a second stint 1979-80 but up to now had never coached them.

"I am not going to deny that it is very special to return to ADO Den Haag," he said on Monday.

"Maybe it is a surprise to some that I am returning as head coach on Dutch pitches after all. I really couldn't let this opportunity, at the club where I have so many memories, pass me by.

"We all know the club's current sporting situation and the goal we all have is very clear. Right now, ADO Den Haag need better results. With full energy, I will therefore go at it until the end of the season and find the way up again as soon as possible."

Advocaat's coaching career of more than four decades had previously seen him in charge of national teams of the Netherlands (twice), Russia, South Korea, Belgium, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

Club teams he was in charge of included Rangers, Borussia Monchengladbach, Zenit St Petersburg, Fenerbahce and Sunderland, plus several Dutch sides such as PSV Eindhoven.

Australian Associated Press