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This story is based on a game being played on Championship Manager 01/02 3.9.60 (Original Data) with only the Danish league selected. At the start of the game the Danish national team has played seven of the ten scheduled matches in Group 3 of the European qualifying section for the upcoming 2002 World Cup Finals to be played in Japan & South Korea. The table is currently as follows:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** *** 2002 World Cup European Qualifying Section - 1st August 2001********************************************** ************************************************** **Group 3Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Denmark 7 2 1 0 5 3 2 2 0 8 2 15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Czech Republic 7 2 1 0 7 1 2 1 1 3 2 14 3rd Bulgaria 7 3 0 1 9 5 1 2 0 3 2 14 4th Iceland 7 2 1 1 6 3 1 0 2 5 7 10 5th N.Ireland 7 1 1 2 2 3 0 0 3 4 8 4 6th Malta 7 0 1 2 1 9 0 0 4 1 9 1 </pre>
It had been an innocuous statement from Morten Olsen, but it had far-reaching consequences. A reporter at a press conference had jokingly asked the Danish national football team manager what his favourite cheese was. “I don’t have one”, he had replied in all seriousness. “Ah, but you must like Havarti”, the reporter had countered. “No, that’s one cheese that I definitely don’t like”, answered Olsen as he gave the reporter a disapproving look. A new question was then taken and the press conference moved on. It appeared to have been a moment of whimsy in what was a stock-standard media event.
However the reporter – a certain Jan Kamstrup – was employed by a staunchly conservative newspaper and he took exception to Olsen’s comments. It took a week of investigation, but Kamstrup did his research and got his facts for an article that his editor approved for publication. “WHY MORTEN OLSEN ISN’T FIT TO MANAGE DENMARK” was the headline of Kamstrup’s story and it went on to detail a series of un-Danish revelations about the national team manager. Not only did Olsen not like Havarti cheese; it also appeared that he did not allow his young children to have any Lego blocks. More so, it also seemed that Olsen was a republican who had at various times announced that Queen Margrethe was “a loony old bag” and that Crown Prince Frederik was “a layabout playboy and a poor yachtsman”.
The article prompted a catalogue of similarly un-Danish facts to emerge about Olsen and within another week the whole affair had snowballed into a feverish campaign to oust Olsen from his role as the Danish national team manager on the grounds that he was unfit to hold the position. The Danish Football Association tried to defend their man, but the public were baying for Olsen’s blood and there were calls for the population to boycott the team’s upcoming double-header of matches against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria if the manager didn’t go. Faced with mounting public pressure, the FA did the only thing that it could to save its own skin – it sacked Olsen and announced that a more suitable candidate would be found.
Having dispensed with Olsen, the FA had gotten rid of one problem, but they had now created a new one of their own. If Olsen was ‘un-Danish’, then their new manager had to meet such a strict set of criteria that he might be almost impossible to find.
In this time of crisis the Danish FA did what all football associations did when faced with a predicament – they panicked. A quick board meeting ratified that extreme corrective action was required and the FA’s response was the knee-jerk appointment of the one man whose credentials were impeccable in the current situation. The new manager of the Danish national team was the man who had started the whole ball rolling – the reporter Jan Kamstrup.
At first Kamstrup was not inclined to take up the FA’s offer of employment, but then he found himself trapped by the same logic that he had used to bring Olsen down. The FA pointed out that if he was a true Dane who loved his country, then it would be disloyal for him not to take the job. Plus, they said, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have any experience in the football arena. Kamstrup had been a sports reporter for many years and had written many articles in which he strongly espoused his views on both the Danish national team and the domestic league. Trapped by the very same web that he had used to ensnare Olsen, Kamstrup did the only thing that he could do – he officially took over as the new manager of the Danish national team.
Kamstrup decided that if fervent nationalism was going to be the hallmark of his reign, then he may as well go all the way. He had the FA call a press conference to be held at Legoland Billund (the original Legoland park) on Friday 17th August 2001 where they would make the announcement of the new national team manager. When Kamstrup walked into the room he was wearing a jacket in the national colours of red and white. His media associates broke into spontaneous applause when they recognised that their colleague was the new manager of Denmark. Sitting at a table, Kamstrup joked his way through the press conference, peppering his answers with various references to objects of Danish patriotism. Halfway through the meeting he called a halt to proceedings whilst he was served with – and proceeded to eat – a serving of frikadeller accompanied with potatoes and gravy. A glass of Carlsberg lager was quaffed to wash down the fried meatballs.
Kamstrup’s actions amused the assembled press and by the end of the press conference he had them eating out of his hand. Later reviews of the text of Kamstrup’s answers indicated that he said a lot whilst actually promising very little. The football side of the event was completed when the new manager announced that he would be naming his squad for the upcoming double-header of matches against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria on the following Monday after the weekend’s round of matches. Kamstrup had little time to start working with the team as his first match was just fifteen days after his appointment was made public.
Originally posted by Doctor Who:
Don't worry. You've got the Danish mentality and favorite dishes right so far, so you could be mistaken for a native. :cool:
Although Jan Kamstrup had been instrumental in the demise of his predecessor Morten Olsen, there was nothing awry with the squad of players that Olsen had been using. Top spot in their qualifying group with four wins and three draws from seven games was credit to that. As such, Kamstrup stuck with the same core of players for his first squad for the double-header of matches against Northern Ireland and Bulgaria.
With the legendary Peter Schmeichel now retired from international football the goalkeeping spot was there for the taking for Sunderland’s Thomas Sørensen. Rangers’ former OB keeper Jesper Christiansen was his uncapped deputy. The defence fairly much picked itself, although there was a surprise call-up for the uncapped Tommy Nielsen of AGF as cover for the left-back position. Again, most of the midfield selections were as expected. Denmark had a trio of exciting wingers in Jesper Grønkjær of Chelsea, Martin Jørgensen of Udinese and Dennis Rommedahl of PSV whilst the excellent league form of FC København’s uncapped attacking midfielder Thomas Røll Larsen won him a spot in the squad. Up front John Dahl Tomasson of Feyenoord and Ebbe Sand of Schalke 04 would be the obvious starters, but Bolton’s Henrik Pedersen and Roda’s Mark Nygaard would have a chance to win their first caps.
Kamstrup’s former media colleagues queried only two selections at the press conference when the squad was named. Up front Lille’s former Middlesbrough striker Mikkel Beck was considered not to be up to scratch whilst in the midfield Stig Tøfting was considered to be past his ‘use by’ date. Kamstrup defended the selection of both players.
“Mikkel Beck provides experience and cover for our forward line and I have faith in his ability if I need to call on him. As for Stig Tøfting, Stig is a proud Dane who loves his country and wears his heart on his sleeve. Yes, and he keeps his brain in a jar”, answered back some wit at the rear of the room.
Goalkeepers:
Thomas Sørensen (Sunderland 2,0), Jimmy Neilsen (AaB 0,0), Jesper Christiansen (Rangers 0,0)
Defenders:
René Henriksen (PAO 30,0), Martin Laursen (Milan 7,0), Steven Lustü (AB 1,0), Per Neilsen (Brøndby 0,0), Ole Tobiasen (Ajax 6,1), Ulrik Laursen (Hibs 0,0), Thomas Helveg (Milan 53,2), Niclas Jensen (FC København 3,0), Tommy Nielsen (AGF 0,0)
Midfielders:
Morten Wieghorst (Celtic 18,3), Stig Tøfting (Hamburg 30,2), Thomas Gravesen (Everton 8,0), Bjarne Goldbæk (Fulham 20,0), Jesper Grønkjær (Chelsea 14,0), Martin Jørgensen (Udinese 21,3), Dennis Rommedahl (PSV 10,3), Allan Bak Jensen (Heerenveen 0,0), Thomas Røll Larsen (FC København 0,0)
Forwards:
John Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord 30,11), Mark Nygaard (Roda 0,0), Ebbe Sand (Schalke 04 36,14), Henrik Pedersen (Bolton 0,0), Mikkel Beck (Lille 14,3)
Havarti, Lego and the Ghosts of Euro 92 
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