Bitter winter descends at Brøndby

While Danish fans have been thrilled to see FC København and Odense BK fly the flag in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup respectively, they have been equally fascinated by goings-on at Brøndby IF. Perennial title rivals to København, Brøndby are currently 15 points behind their neighbours.

Nerves jangling
After they missed out on the UEFA Cup group stage following a first-round defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt, Sunday's 3-1 loss at København in Sunday's 'New Firm' game at the Parken Stadium has compounded the club's gloom. Nerves will no doubt be jangling as they visit OB in the Danish Cup on Wednesday. Captain and Danish international Per Nielsen summed up the mood in the Brøndby camp after Sunday's match, saying: "The way things look right now, it is completely irrelevant to talk about us as possible champions. We have to concentrate on making the team a functioning unit again."

Team unrest
There has been plenty of unrest in the ranks. Defender Joseph Elanga refused to play in a reserve-team fixture, while former Danish international Thomas Rytter left the stadium at half-time of one game, apparently furious at having been substituted, and was also involved in a training-ground row with team-mate Adam Eckersley. Such incidents occur at most clubs, but against a backdrop of huge injury problems - the casualty list includes Trond Andersen, Kim Daugaard, Mads Jørgensen, Kasper Lorentzen, Morten 'Duncan' Rasmussen, Ruben Bagger, Jean Phillippe Peguero and Nicolaj Agger - they have served to dampen the mood.

Key departures
Having finished second in 2005/06, Brøndby had reason to expect a difficult campaign with the likes of Daniel Agger, Jonas Kamper and Johan Elmander leaving in the summer along with squad players Dan Anton Johansen, Johan Absalonsen, Kim Christensen and goalkeeper Karim Zaza. Replacements Peguero, Giovanne Rector, Hannes Sigurdsson as well as Manchester United FC loanees Mark Howard and Eckersley have yet to convince fans, increasing the pressure on coach René Meulensteen, who took over following Michael Laudrup's close-season departure.

Left out
"It is natural that you look at the coach in a situation like this," said Meulensteen, though for the moment there have been few calls for his dismissal. However, while the rest of Denmark is celebrating a headline-grabbing season for København and OB, Brøndby are feeling horribly left out.