A Norwegian Adventure

Bryne FK Sack Ole Hjelmhaug

Ole Hjelmhaug sacked following 1 win in the last 7 seeing Bryne FK sit second from bottom after 11 games.

Ole Hjelmhaug has today been sacked by Bryne FK following their poor start to the season which sees them sat second from bottom. Pre-season expectations saw Bryne expected to be midtable side, however, a poor start to the season has seen the club sat in 13th.
After being knocked out of the Norwegian Cup in the fourth round by Eliteserien opposition Odd, and another two losses in the league to KFUM Oslo and fellow strugglers Vard, a poor run of 1 win in 7 was enough for Bryne to part ways with Hjelmhaug. Currently sat on 10 points in 11 games, the club, located in Rogaland, are 2 points from safety and with 15 league games left to go will be hoping to avoid a late season relegation battle.

Hjelmhaug had this to say “I am obviously disappointed with leaving this great club in the poor position we are currently in. I wish whoever takes over from me the best and I hope to see the team thrive under new management”

Bryne FK who play in the Bryne Stadion have previously played in the top division in Norway, Eliteserien, as with their last appareance coming in 2002, the club have been on a downward spiral ever since finally getting relegated from the 1. divisjon two seasons ago.

With very little information on who the new manager will be, the Bryne board could look internally with former players Vegar Landro and Olav Berg both apart of the backroom team at the club. Whilst outside of the club, Roger Eskeland, a former club legend who made 278 appearances over 15 years in a one club career is another potential candidate.

Whoever is named as the new boss won’t have long to get his side prepared for their next game, with the side facing 4th placed Hodd away from home a week from now.

Nor-Way

Good start, looking forward to it !

Haha ^ Justice

Good luck with this one mate, nice simple set up, I like it

Bryne Announce Berg

Olav Berg, today announced as Bryne FK manager following Ole Hjelmhaug sacking

Bryne FK, currently sat in 13th position in 2. Divisjon, have today announced former player and coach, Olav Berg as the first team manager following the sacking of Ole Hjelmhaug just yesterday. The club has taken no time in hiring the 32-year-old Norwegian who made 167 league appearances for the team over a 13 year career. Berg, who was plagued with injuries throughout his career, was believed to be a starlet for the future from a young age, however nothing ever materialized, and Berg ended his career in 2016 without a single cap at any level above Norway’s under 19 side.
Bryne FK chairmen, Nils Steinsland had this to say on the announcement, “Olav has been here for over a decade now within the first team and going back even further from his youth days, the man knows the club very well and we believe he is the right man to take us forward. His experience of the team and his staff are going to be vitally important with the battle we currently find ourselves in but we have full faith that he (Berg) will be able to keep us in this division this season and then to push on next year.”

Managing director Asle Tjøtta also gave his thoughts on the new manager, “Olav was an important player at this club for years, despite his injury troubles and always led and motivated his team mates on and off the field. This is what we need at this moment in time a strong leader who will be able to get us playing our best football once again. We believe that Olav will be a great great manager for us for years to come and fully expect to be back challenging the top sides in this country in the near future.”

With expectations seemingly high from the board, Berg will be under a high level of pressure from not just the board but the ever-demanding fans, who are seemingly in agreement with the boards recent decisions. Despite these pressures the new man seems to be excited about the future.

“I am excited to be moving in to my new role and have already spoken to the players and backroom staff about what I want to happen from this point forward. This club has played a massive part in my life, from supporting them as a young boy, to being in the academy, making my debut along with a further 166 games before finally retiring, I then moved in to the coaching staff, I have never been away from the club. It is a massive honour to see faith given to me and I hope to repay it with many successful years here.”

Bergs first game as manager will be a tough test as he takes his side away to 4th placed Hødd, who have only lost 2 games all season and only 4 points of top of the table Egersunds.

Replies

Justice: One of your more socially acceptable jokes, so I appreciate it!

Jopa: Thanks mate! Hope you enjoy!

Griffo: Thanks man! Hope you enjoy it!

Olav looks like a lovely chap. Hopefully he does a great job !

Some good writing so far, I cannot wait to see how you develop this story.

Great to see you starting your very own story, a good start to it too. Good luck with Bryne!

Never saw one of your stories coming! Great start mate I’m looking forward to this given my personal bias towards Scandinavian management.

Nice, good start and one of my local clubs

25th June 2018

It had been in the making for a while by this point, we were struggling, Ole wasn’t getting the results and we were beginning to look in trouble. 1 win in 7 was nowhere good enough and when we lost to on Saturday, everything happened in a flash.

I was contacted before I had even made it home, after the 2 hour trip from Haugesund, and asked to report to the club immediately. I arrived a little past 10pm still in my tracksuit I had been wearing at the game and was informed that Ole had left the club. A small part of me expected what was coming next, on the spot I was offered the job.

I didn’t think twice. I had grown up at the club going to my first game at Bryne Stadion in 1986 at just 4 years of age. I made my first team debut for the club at age 17 and I never looked back since. I had some offers at a young age to go abroad, a lot was expected from me but injuries never let that happen, but Bryne always had faith in me, renewing my contract year on year allowing me to live my dreams and captain the club on a few occasions.

I was always seen as a natural leader and with a mind for the tactical side of the game, management was always a thought in the back of my mind and once again Bryne have given me an opportunity I fully intend on repaying them for. I started working on my badges at the age of 24 after my first serious injury and never stopped, I currently have my continental B license and hopefully with the clubs support I will be able to eventually gain my pro license.

We have a lot of talent at this club with many players still here from our promotion push last season, such as, Rógvi Baldvinnson previously of Bristol Rovers, alongside him at centre back we have Krister Wemberg who played a key role last year. Whilst we have also added some great signings with Tor André Aasheim joining us filling our right wing position on a free. However, this season we haven’t clicked and it’s my job to identify where we are going wrong and how we can turn things around.

Firstly, I want to develop a level of stability within the team, something we seemingly lacked this season with at least 4 changes being made in each of the last 3 games. With the constant changes and inconsistency, players can’t build up relationships with each other on the pitch and this creates a lack of understanding.

Tactically I will be implementing a similar style as Ole using a 4-1-4-1 with a defensive midfielder and two wingers. Unfortunately, we have a lack of natural Left wingers at the club so that will be priority number one in the upcoming window, less than a month away now. Despite this, to get the most out of Tor André Aasheim we need to be playing with wide men, and with out wanting to complicate things to much midway through the season, 17-year-old Jonatan Braut Bruneswill be employed in the left wing role for the time being.

We will be playing a more direct style of football, despite my love of a more possession based style, this system is what will work best for the players we currently have here. The aim will be to soak up the pressure we are put under and to hit our opponents on the counter attack with the hopes that our star striker (8 goals in all competitions this season), Omar El Ghaouti will be able to finish off the move. Unfortunately, we will be without our Ball winning midfielder Rune Pederson Bore who would have been a crucial part of the side had he been fit. Rune will be out for at least 8 months with damaged cruciate ligaments an injury I know all to well. This will be a big blow to us, but I am confident we can get results without him.

In terms of my staff, we are lacking quite a few numbers with no scouting department, no Physiotherapists and no Head of Youth Development. I will be looking to fill those spots with at least one member as soon as possible as they will be imperative to the future of the club and its development.
But first, challenge one, is away to Hødd, a tough opponent who are currently 4th in the table winning 5 and losing just 2 of their 11 games played so far. They are a team who can score a lot of goals, currently tied 3rd in the most goals scored in the league on 17. However, they are leaky at the back conceding 14, the same amount as us. This leaves us with a sense of confidence that we can shut them out and hopefully grab a goal or two to kick off my managerial career.

Replies

Jopa: I am hopeful he can do just that!
Justice: Thank you! Going to try and incorporate some different styles, with this update for example being more of a diary style!
Scott: Thank you mate! Finally decided to go for it! Hope you enjoy!
Jack: I am a man of many surprises

Interesting to see you will be using the similar tactics of a man who has just been sacked, the backroom staff certainly seems to be in need of improvement as the youth team can be vital with a weak first-team that is usual in lower leagues.

I enjoyed that read. A very useful update that has allowed us to firmly understand the tactical side to the plans at the club. Looking forward to more!

Great update mate !

Hødd will be a tough challenge but one you should hopefully overcome. Do us proud!