3-12-2014
Who is Ejvind Storm?
Following he recent success we look at how this Danish manager is saving Cambridge United
Position: CM / CAM
Total Apps: 301 (12 for Denmark)
Total Goals: 53 (4 for Denmark)
Club History
Esbjerg fB 1991-1998
Brøndby IF 1998
Aston Villa 1998-2012
Total Apps: 301 (12 for Denmark)
Total Goals: 53 (4 for Denmark)
Club History
Esbjerg fB 1991-1998
Brøndby IF 1998
Aston Villa 1998-2012
Early Life
Ejvind Storm was born in Padborg, Denmark on the 14th December 1979. As a young child he showed great potential and at the tender age of 11 years old was drafted into the Esbjerg fB youth academy. Within four years he rapidly grew as a footballer showing the potential to become one of the worlds best players. Storm wasn't the fastest or the strongest player, his technique might not have been perfect and he was terrible at heading the ball but he did have an outstanding eye for the game, he understood the pitch and could read players like no one else.
Professional Breakthrough
At age 15 during the 93/94 season Esbjerg were in the Danish Second Division and plagued by injury they promoted 15 year old Ejvind Storm to the senior team to help cover the central midfield role. Although he didn't do anything of real note in his first season he managed to stay in the first team and notched up 10 apps as the team pushed to win the division.
Early Career
Storm continued to play for the Danish club for four seasons, racking up 47 appearances and grabbing 7 goals also. He played for the majority of his time in the centre midfield acting as a deep lying play maker, on occasion drifting up to play behind the strikers. Eventually in 1998 Ejvind was snapped up by Brøndby IF for a modest £200k. Now at age 19 having missed the junior national teams he knew he would have to break into the first team and make an impact on the Danish Superliga. And that is exactly what he did, in his first season he scored a very impressive 21 goals in 27 games from the CAM role. It was arguably his performance that drove his team to winning the division, ensuring a third successive title. It was in this season he managed to secure his first 5 caps for country in the 1998 World Cup, where he was instrumental in their progress to the Semi finals.
Aston Villa, and injuries
After an exiting show in the World Cup and just one season in the Superliga Ejvind was sold to Premier League team Aston Villa for £3M bringing the promise of exiting football. Unfortunately his time at Villa was plagued by injury, and although he was a consistent performer he was never fit for long enough to string together anything memorable. His playing career came to an abrupt end in 2012 when he broke his leg in two places.
Return to Football
In 2014 Esbjerg fB offered an interview to Storm in regards to the vacant managerial role. Although not being active within the sport Ejvind had spent his time away studying for coaching qualifications and had attained a Continental C licence. Two weeks later on the 11th July he was appointed the new boss at the Blue Water Arena. According to a press release Storm admitted he was surprised to be approached with such little experience in actual coaching.
Pre-Season
Storm had been given a clear set of guidelines upon his employment, with two simple goals he had to achieve.
1) To Attain a Mid-Table finish.
2) To refrain from signing any more players.
Now it was the second of these that Storm had taken particular issue with, after joining Cambridge he revealed this about his time there:
FC Sydvest - Away
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Slavia Prague - Home
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Storm guided his team to two victories in their remaining pre season fixtures. He had given a chance to a few members of the youth team which seem to have paid off.
Troubled Times
Despite his teams energetic performances pre season it did not relate to success in the league for Storm. In fact they managed just 4 points from the opening 7 games.
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Following this run of bad form immediately after the Kobenhavn game Esbjerg sacked Storm after releasing the following statement:
A Step Down
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After a disastrous start to his management career Storm decided to come here to England and try his luck in the lowest tier of League football after being offered the job at Cambridge United, who at the time were 22nd in the league, far from their pre season predictions of a play-off place. In his twelve games in charge Storm has pushed the U's up to 10th place, including a 4-2 win over rivals Stevenage, who the play today in the FA Cup 2nd Round.
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A Long Way Up...
And here he is, 2nd Round FA Cup tie against their rivals. Today should be a great match and it't a chance for Storm to showcase his skills in the Cup. I think he has a long way to go as a manager but he certainly looks promising and if he can take the U's from a relegation scrap to play-off then I think he will turn a few heads. We caught up with him ahead of today's game.
Ejvind Storm was born in Padborg, Denmark on the 14th December 1979. As a young child he showed great potential and at the tender age of 11 years old was drafted into the Esbjerg fB youth academy. Within four years he rapidly grew as a footballer showing the potential to become one of the worlds best players. Storm wasn't the fastest or the strongest player, his technique might not have been perfect and he was terrible at heading the ball but he did have an outstanding eye for the game, he understood the pitch and could read players like no one else.
Professional Breakthrough
At age 15 during the 93/94 season Esbjerg were in the Danish Second Division and plagued by injury they promoted 15 year old Ejvind Storm to the senior team to help cover the central midfield role. Although he didn't do anything of real note in his first season he managed to stay in the first team and notched up 10 apps as the team pushed to win the division.
Early Career
Storm continued to play for the Danish club for four seasons, racking up 47 appearances and grabbing 7 goals also. He played for the majority of his time in the centre midfield acting as a deep lying play maker, on occasion drifting up to play behind the strikers. Eventually in 1998 Ejvind was snapped up by Brøndby IF for a modest £200k. Now at age 19 having missed the junior national teams he knew he would have to break into the first team and make an impact on the Danish Superliga. And that is exactly what he did, in his first season he scored a very impressive 21 goals in 27 games from the CAM role. It was arguably his performance that drove his team to winning the division, ensuring a third successive title. It was in this season he managed to secure his first 5 caps for country in the 1998 World Cup, where he was instrumental in their progress to the Semi finals.
Aston Villa, and injuries
After an exiting show in the World Cup and just one season in the Superliga Ejvind was sold to Premier League team Aston Villa for £3M bringing the promise of exiting football. Unfortunately his time at Villa was plagued by injury, and although he was a consistent performer he was never fit for long enough to string together anything memorable. His playing career came to an abrupt end in 2012 when he broke his leg in two places.
Return to Football
http://coolwap.org/sports/soccerlogos/images/Esbjerg%20fB%202%20old%20logo.png
In 2014 Esbjerg fB offered an interview to Storm in regards to the vacant managerial role. Although not being active within the sport Ejvind had spent his time away studying for coaching qualifications and had attained a Continental C licence. Two weeks later on the 11th July he was appointed the new boss at the Blue Water Arena. According to a press release Storm admitted he was surprised to be approached with such little experience in actual coaching.
"Yes, I was surprised. Obviously this club has a huge place in my heart but I didn't think the feeling was mutual. It's good to be back at the place my career started and to be given the chance to take the first steps into football management"
Pre-Season
Storm had been given a clear set of guidelines upon his employment, with two simple goals he had to achieve.
1) To Attain a Mid-Table finish.
2) To refrain from signing any more players.
Now it was the second of these that Storm had taken particular issue with, after joining Cambridge he revealed this about his time there:
"You see they took me on, after we had spoken about what players I liked the look of. There were some real good youngsters we could have snapped up. But pretty much as soon as I signed my contract they started explaining how they thought the current squad was ideal and just tactics needed changing. The thing is, we only had three centre backs and no cover in goal. They wouldn't even allow a loan.
FC Sydvest - Away
Slavia Prague - Home
Storm guided his team to two victories in their remaining pre season fixtures. He had given a chance to a few members of the youth team which seem to have paid off.
"We have looked very good, I didn't expect to beat them [Slavia Prague], I knew we could get us scoring goals but thought we might be a bit exposed at the back"
-During post-game interview
Troubled Times
Despite his teams energetic performances pre season it did not relate to success in the league for Storm. In fact they managed just 4 points from the opening 7 games.
Following this run of bad form immediately after the Kobenhavn game Esbjerg sacked Storm after releasing the following statement:
"Due to the poor performance in the league and philosophical differences regarding the management of Esbjerg fB, today we confirm that Ejvind Storm is no longer affiliated with the club. We wish him the best of luck in the future and are sad that the relationship could not have gone on longer"
A Step Down
A Long Way Up...
And here he is, 2nd Round FA Cup tie against their rivals. Today should be a great match and it't a chance for Storm to showcase his skills in the Cup. I think he has a long way to go as a manager but he certainly looks promising and if he can take the U's from a relegation scrap to play-off then I think he will turn a few heads. We caught up with him ahead of today's game.
"It's a huge game, for the players, for the fans and for me. I want to show people that I can achieve great things and this is just the start"
Jordan Slew - 11'
-Jordan Slew celebrating the first goal of the day
-Slew bags his second with a calm finish from the edge of the box
Mark Roberts - 32'
-Luke Berry with a fantastic long range effort
-Rory Gaffney and the U's celebrate a fine day's football after their 4th goal
Jordan Slew (2 Goals / 1 Assist)
-Jack Stobbs and his team mates celebrating an emphatic victory
-Jordan Slew scores in his 5th consecutive game under Storm
-Luke Berry with yet another long range goal from Cambridge 
-Great keeping from Joel Pereira kept Cambridge from breaking through
