The club board fired Sibum after a woeful start to the 2025/26 Eredivisie season. Heracles won just one of their first 10 games, scoring 7 goals and conceding a shocking 30, leaving the side rock bottom with three points.
After beating NAC Breda 4-1 in the first round of the KNVB Beker, interim manager Hendrie Kruzen took control of his fourth Eredivisie game as Heracles' caretaker boss.
Against lowly PEC Zwolle, who resided just two spots above Heracles in the table, Heracles got off to a bad start when Kaj de Rooij opened the scoring for the visitors in the ninth minute.
The home side's reply was ferocious, however: striker Jizz Hornkamp scored a 14-minute hat-trick between the 18th and 32nd minute, with the last one a blinding strike in the top corner.
PEC's disastrous afternoon got even worse when Nick Fichtinger gave away a penalty and simultaneously got his second yellow card, leaving the Blauwvingers down one man and three goals after Luka Kulenovic calmly slotted the ball in the bottom corner.
A three-goal margin wasn't enough for Heracles, who were after blood and scored their fifth just five minutes after the break. Centre-half Mike te Wierik scored his first professional goal since 2019, heading in a lofted cross from Walid Ould-Chikh, after which Bryan Limbombe's powerful volley and Alec van Hoorenbeeck's tap-in earned Heracles a 7-1 lead.
Kaj de Rooij completed his brace with a chip over Fabian de Keijzer, but it couldn't keep Heracles from scoring an eighth via Thomas Bruns, whose goal put Heracles on more goals in one game than in all ten games under Bas Sibum combined.
Check out all the match and player statistics from Heracles' 8-2 win on Flashscore
