Ernest Faber
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50%Born
1971 (53 years old)
Birth Place
Geldrop, NetherlandsPosition
Centre-Back
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184 cm
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SoccerTeam
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2nd Team
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Ernest Anthonius Jacobus Faber (born 27 August 1971) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He was most recently head coach of caretaker manager of Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven.
Faber grew up in Eindhoven and played youth football at local club DBS until he joined PSV Eindhoven aged 13. Besides loan spells at NEC, Sparta and Groningen, Faber was part of PSV for 12 seasons and won four Eredivisie titles, a KNVB Cup and four Johan Cruyff Shields. He also played one match for the Netherlands national team in 1998. Injuries plagued Faber throughout his career and forced him to retire at age 32.
After his playing career, Faber worked at the PSV youth academy and at FC Eindhoven as assistant coach and manager. From 2011 until UEFA Euro 2012, he also served as assistant manager for the Netherlands national team. From March 2012, Faber worked as assistant manager at PSV. On 4 June 2015, he was appointed manager of Eredivisie side NEC. Faber then moved to fellow top division club Groningen in 2016.
Born in Geldrop, Faber grew up in the Strijp neighbourhood in Eindhoven, which also included PSV's home ground, the Philips Stadion. At five, he started playing youth football at local amateur club DBS. Faber's performances led to interest from PSV and EVV, with PSV scout Gerrit van Tilburg having discovered him at DBS. He chose to join PSV at 13. Faber's original position was right winger, but at PSV, he moved to the central defense position under the guidance of former defender and youth coach Huub Stevens.
Faber played four matches for the Netherlands under-21 team. In February 1998, his good performances with PSV were rewarded with a call-up by coach Guus Hiddink for the senior team trip to the United States. The Netherlands were scheduled to play exhibition matches against the United States and Mexico. After being an unused substitute in the United States match, Faber made a 58th minute appearance in the game against Mexico on 24 February 1998. The match was played in Miami. He replaced Winston Bogarde when the Netherlands were leading 3–0. Eventually, the game finished 3–2, with Faber causing a penalty in favour of Mexico. Faber was one of the players considered by Hiddink to be selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup but after he injured himself before the start of the tournament, he was unable to appear.
In the summer of 2005, Faber became coach of PSV's reserve team Jong PSV. In the 2005–06 season of the Beloften Eredivisie, Faber's team narrowly escaped relegation. But in September 2006, Faber left Jong PSV. He claimed that the team was neglected by PSV and not strengthened as promised. Faber's desire was to remain at the club, but the board did not offer him another position. Faber proceeded to join FC Eindhoven as their assistant manager in December 2006. In October 2007, FC Eindhoven sacked their manager Louis Coolen. Faber stepped up as caretaker manager for two months. He went back to his position as assistant when Gerald Vanenburg was appointed as the new manager in December. Seeking a new challenge, Faber announced in February 2008 he would leave FC Eindhoven at the end of the season. Before his departure, Faber had to become FC Eindhoven's caretaker manager again after Vanenburg resigned in April. He coached the team in the remaining three matches.
In 2008, Faber returned to PSV to coach the under-19 squad. He signed a two-year contract. In November 2009, Faber showed interest in becoming the PSV academy director. The other youth coaches favoured Faber as well, but the PSV board decided to appoint Jelle Goes. He decided to leave the club again after the 2009–10 season, even though PSV offered him the position of Jong PSV coach. In February 2010, he passed his coaching exam, enabling him to be a manager in the Netherlands. Faber simultaneously agreed on a two-year contract as manager of MVV Maastricht. But in June, he retracted his decision after he was unsure about the club's financial perspectives. MVV accepted Faber's decision. Faber subsequently became the manager of FC Eindhoven after signing a two-year contract. The team performed well in the Eerste Divisie, with a fifth place at the winter break period. In December, Faber was approached by VVV-Venlo to become their manager, but he rejected the offer.
In February 2011, Faber was appointed as assistant manager of Bert van Marwijk at the Netherlands national team. After Faber accepted the national team job, his performances with FC Eindhoven went downhill. With four points from the following eleven matches, FC Eindhoven missed out on a play-off spot. In the 2011–12 season, the FC Eindhoven performances were again above expectations. The team were third in the Eerste Divisie at the time Faber left the club. In March 2012, Faber returned to PSV as assistant manager after Fred Rutten was sacked as manager. Phillip Cocu was chosen as caretaker. Unlike Cocu, Faber's role was permanent after agreeing on a two-and-a-half-year contract. Faber was present at UEFA Euro 2012 when the Dutch team were knocked out in the group stage. After Van Marwijk resigned in the wake of the elimination, Faber also quit to fully focus on his job at PSV. Despite receiving several managing position offers in 2013, Faber signed a new two-year contract and continued to work as assistant manager after the appointment of Cocu as PSV manager. After 3 seasons as PSV assistant, in which Faber briefly was interim manager due to Phillip Cocu having an emergency surgery, Faber left to manage newly promoted NEC Nijmegen, where he remained for a season and impressing many clubs by leading the nijmegen side to a top half finish in the league, and proving wrong many pundits alike who believed based on Fabers previous record with PSV in the latter stages of the 2013–14 season that he wouldn't succeed at NEC. His performances caught the eye of FC Groningen, who appointed him manager in pre-season of the 2016–17 season. Faber remained in Groningen for 2 seasons, before being sacked due to inconsistency in results and a failure to qualify for the European play-offs. In June 2018, Faber was appointed head of academy under new manager Mark van Bommel. In November 2019, following the unexpected sacking of Mark van Bommel, Faber was appointed interim manager for the remainder of the 2019–20 season, after a decent 6 wins out of 11, the season was nul and voided due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that PSV automatically qualified for the 2020-21 Europa League 3rd qualifying round based on League position at the time, thus classifying Fabers brief second interim spell as an almost success. Faber left PSV eindhoven in July 202, following the appointment of Roger Schmidt as the new head coach, in a staff rebuild, Faber was also subsequently relieved off his duties as head of academy, despite being the mastermind behind the first team breakthrough's of current stars Donyell Malen and Mohamed Ihattaren.
His son, Cas Faber, plays as a midfielder for FC Eindhoven.
Career Honours
 Dutch Eredivisie 2002-2003 PSV Eindhoven | Dutch Eredivisie 2000-2001 PSV Eindhoven | Dutch Eredivisie 1999-2000 PSV Eindhoven | Dutch Eredivisie 1996-1997 PSV Eindhoven |
 Dutch KNVB Cup 1995-1996 PSV Eindhoven |
Career Milestones
Former Youth Teams
1984-1990 |
Former Senior Teams
1990-2004 |
1990-1991 (Loan) |
1991-1992 (Loan) |
1994 (Loan) |
1998 |
Former Club Staff
Contracts
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| PSV Eindhoven | Appearances | Dutch Eredivisie | 2000-2001 | 14 |
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