Hake in 2024 withGo Ahead Eagles | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1971-12-18)18 December 1971 (age 54) | ||
| Place of birth | Coevorden, Netherlands[1] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1988 | SC Oranje | ||
| 1989–1990 | Emmen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1989 | SC Oranje | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003–2005 | Emmen (U19) | ||
| 2005–2009 | Twente (U19) | ||
| 2009–2010 | Twente (U21) | ||
| 2010–2012 | Emmen | ||
| 2012–2015 | Zwolle (assistant) | ||
| 2015 | Twente (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2017 | Twente | ||
| 2018–2019 | Cambuur | ||
| 2019–2020 | Jong Utrecht | ||
| 2020–2022 | Utrecht | ||
| 2022–2024 | Go Ahead Eagles | ||
| 2024 | Manchester United (assistant) | ||
| 2025– | Feyenoord (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
René Hake (born 18 December 1971) is a Dutch professionalfootball coach and formerplayer who is currently an assistant manager atEredivisie clubFeyenoord.
Hake began his football career at SC Oranje inSchoonebeek,Drenthe, where he played in the first team at the age of 17. He later played in the A-juniors (youth team) atEmmen, but was unable to make the step up to the first team.[2] He then went on to study at the CIOS inHeerenveen,Friesland, an educational institution that provides vocational training in sports and physical education.[3]
After completing his studies, Hake spent eleven years working in the youth department atEmmen before moving to the joined youth academyTwente/Heracles Almelo. At the academy, he served as head of youth development and coach of the under-19 team.[4] Hake was the coach of the under-19 team when they won the national championship and Super Cup for U19s in 2007. He also earned his coaching diploma during this period.[5]
In 2009, Hake was appointed head coach of thereserve team of Twente, succeedingCees Lok.[6] He was later appointed for the position of head coach at Emmen, and signed a contract until 2014 with the club in on 11 October 2010.[7] Following his appointment, Emmen started achieving positive results, going nine games unbeaten after his debut as head coach.

Hake's contract with Emmen was terminated prematurely in April 2012, and he signed a two-year contract with PEC Zwolle as an assistant coach underRon Jans in June of that year.[8] He extended his contract with the club for two more years in March 2014.[9]
In June 2015, Hake returned to Twente as an assistant coach, signing a three-year contract.[10] He becameinterim head coach of Twente on 30 August 2015, following the dismissal ofAlfred Schreuder.[11] A month and a half later, he was appointed head coach permanently. Although the team struggled due to financial problems, they finished in the 13th position in the2015–16 campaign. In the second season, the team improved under Hake's leadership and finished seventh in theEredivisie. However, the team lost many games in the last part of the season, and Hake was dismissed as head coach when Twente began the2017–18 season with six losses in their first eight games.[12]
On 31 January 2018, Hake was appointed as the new head coach ofCambuur, replacing assistant coachesJan Bruin and Sipke Hulshoff and signing a one-and-a-half-year contract.[13] In March 2019, the club announced that they would not renew his contract.[14] He then signed a three-year contract withUtrecht to become head coach of their reserve teamJong Utrecht, which played in theEerste Divisie.[15]
After the departure of head coachJohn van den Brom, Hake was given the opportunity to prove himself as the new head coach of Utrecht starting from 6 November 2020.[16] On 31 December 2020, it was announced that Hake had signed a one-and-a-half-year contract as head coach of Utrecht.[17] He was dismissed on 22 March 2022.[18]
On 9 May 2022, it was announced that Hake would become the new head coach ofGo Ahead Eagles from 1 July 2022, with him signing a three-year contract.[19]
In early July 2024, it was reported that Hake would join the coaching staff ofErik ten Hag atManchester United as an assistant.[20] Following a coaching staff overhaul, Hake left his role at United on 11 November 2024.[21]
Hake is known for his flexible tactical approach. He has experience in managing teams that play possession-based football, as well as teams that focus on quick transitions and counter-attacking.[22]
He has been compared toErik ten Hag, with both managers having a focus on compact, defensive structures. They share the same football vision, which they learned while in the youth department ofTwente.[23] The two also share a training principle that requires all players to be involved in both attacking and defensive play.[23]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Emmen | 18 October 2010 | 30 June 2012 | 60 | 13 | 13 | 34 | 60 | 120 | −60 | 021.67 |
| Twente | 30 August 2015 | 18 October 2017 | 75 | 27 | 15 | 33 | 108 | 123 | −15 | 036.00 |
| Cambuur | 31 January 2018 | 30 June 2019 | 63 | 28 | 17 | 18 | 108 | 89 | +19 | 044.44 |
| Jong Utrecht | 1 July 2019 | 7 November 2020 | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 62 | 67 | −5 | 034.21 |
| Utrecht | 7 November 2020 | 22 March 2022 | 60 | 24 | 18 | 18 | 100 | 79 | +21 | 040.00 |
| Go Ahead Eagles | 9 May 2022 | 6 July 2024 | 76 | 28 | 20 | 28 | 113 | 110 | +3 | 036.84 |
| Total | 372 | 133 | 91 | 148 | 551 | 588 | −37 | 035.75 | ||