Faroese seek successor to Simonsen

The right decision
But Simonsen, who won two German 1. Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Cup titles with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, was confident that he had arrived at the right decision. “The Faroes have been good to me, but the problem is that they are a very small country and there are limitations to what you can do because of the poor playing conditions and the number of players that you may have available,” he said.

Huge challenge
After a short spell at Vejle BK, Simonsen replaced Pal Guðlaugsson to become only the second national coach of the Faroes in 1994 only six years after the national association had been accepted as an official member of UEFA. Indeed Simonsen took charge of a side virtually unfamiliar with the key to success in modern professional football.

Simonsen revolution
Ísak Mikladal, general secretary of the Faroe Islands Football Association (FSF), said that Simonsen practically revolutionised football on the small islands. “Allan introduced an attacking game in which all the players must take a lot more responsibility than they were used to and since his arrival we have also improved tremendously on the technical side which now enables us to keep possession,” he explained. “The players now know how to eat right and to stay 100 per cent focused throughout the 90 minutes of the game. At the same time the 3-5-2 system was adopted by all our national squads right down to youth level, so they are familiar with our tactical approach once they reach the senior level.”

Coach needed
Despite being without a coach only shortly before the draw for EURO 2004™ in Portugal, Mikladal insisted that there was no panic within the association. “We have twenty possible names which will soon be narrowed down to five and I expect that we will be able to announce our new coach in connection with our executive meeting on 23 February”, said Mikladal.

Out of shape
Despite being among the lowest ranked countries in Europe, Mikladal reckoned that the Faroes would be able to make a significant impact in the qualifying campaign. “We have gradually build up a lot of confidence for our home fixtures where we have performed solidly for the last two years,” he said. “However, we will as usual be in trouble on our travels abroad because our away fixtures are usually taking place during our season break, which means that our players are out of shape. That’s a problem that we need to find a solution for.”