retired_roxysunny101

Go, you can admit it to me Derek, you would rather have þróttur, I would - they are the weakest team!�, I was starting to wish that I had just got the bus to Reykjavic. Instead, I had agreed to a ride in Mr Eyjólfsson’s chauffeured limousine - and he was constantly babbling like an excited schoolgirl. Bless him, he had celebrated so much after we qualified, it must have meant a lot to him, and now he was attending the draw for the quarter finals to see the fate that awaited our endeavours.

The Icelandic FA headquarters where situated in a modern building in the heart of Reykjavic, and as the limo pulled up to the doors, I was impressed by the fact someone had been sent down to escort us to the draw room. �Mr Eyjólfsson? Mr Arthur? Welcome to IFA Headquarters, if you would follow me, the draw will begin shortly.�

We followed the polite IFA lackey to a small room on the third floor, a small presentation stage was situated at the far end of the room - directly in front of a few rows of chairs. I recognised a couple of faces, the FH boss, the Keflavik boss and the manager of our last opponents:

�Ólafur!�, I said, looking to the front row where the Fram manager was sitting next to his chairman. I had gotten on well with Ólafur Kristjánsson, we both felt our game was played in the right spirit and I think there was a mutual respect there after such a close contest.

�Hey Derek, It is great to see you again. This’ll be your first draw then?�, the Fram boss faked a yawn, �it’s the most boring thing ever!….but good luck with the draw, I think you can go far!�

I smiled. It is incredible what some positive reinforcement can do for your ego, and me and Mr Eyjólfsson sat down, confident in our sides ability against whoever we may meet.

Ólafur was right, the draw was nothing to write home about, nevertheless there was something exhilarating about watching those little balls deciding your fate in the cup, and after 97 seconds fate decided that we would be travelling back to Reykjavic for a very tough tie in the quarters:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Vikingur v Keflavik FH v þór KR v BreiðablikFram (Isl) v þróttur</pre>

retired_roxysunny101

KR Vs Breiðablik League Cup Grp B, 27th Apr 2005, KR-völlur Stadium

Breiðablik: (4-4-2 Diamond) GK: Hafliðason, DL: Sveinsson, DR: Birgisson, DC: Hansen, DC: Podzemsky; MR: Guðmundsson, ML: Rúnarsson, DMC: Sverrisson (c), AMC: Borgþórsson; ST: Baldvinsson, ST: B.Pétursson

The draw couldn’t really have been worse for us. I mean, I’m not sure we would be ready to travel to FH, and try to exorcise those demons, similarly, it would be tough to travel to Fram or Grindavik, but I‘d still rather have those games than a trip to the reigning Premier Division champions. There was no doubt it would be an uphill struggle: firstly, our odds of 7-2 suggested we would be up against it, these odds were in no small part due to the fact KR had no less than 5 full current Icelandic Internationals as well as a Faroe International; and we also had a passionate capital home crowd to suppress before we could look to get on the front foot; and the fact we mentioned before - they are the champions of Iceland.

Nevertheless, despite all these factors my players entered the fray in confident mood. They knew that they had been playing some great football, and if they were ever going to record a famous win then today was as good a day as any.

Deep down I think I knew that our bubble of self confidence was fragile, and it took only 4 minutes for the quality of the Icelandic champions to burst that bubble. 23 times capped Icelandic star Bjarki Gunnlaugsson found some room on the edge of the area to have a shot at goal, but his effort was parried by Hafliðason - straight to �gúst Gylfason, who had the easiest task just to knock the ball into a gaping Breiðablik net.

It is a measure of the quality of our opponents that just 20 minutes after we stepped out onto the turf with a dream victory on our minds the dream was dead. On the 17 minute mark Gunnlaugsson drifted wide to pickup a ball down the channel, and his fizzed cross was glanced in by his strike partner Grétar Hjartarson to double the hosts’ lead.

And after 20 minutes the game was well and truly put to bed, with Gylfason drifting in off the right wing to nod in a cross at the back post for his second goal of a great performance and exhilarating opening exchange.

The sad truth was that we were not actually playing that badly. We were competing with our more illustrious opponents and playing some decent stuff ourselves, the fact of the matter was that KR were a walking tutorial in clinical finishing. A tutorial that Bjarki Pétursson and Georg Birgisson would do well to take notes from, as they both missed decent opportunities to drag ourselves back into the game.

Half time came and went, and we became more prominent in the final third, but it was probably due to KR being content to sit back and let us come at them. In truth they probably could have stepped up the pace and blew us away as we tired in the latter stages, nevertheless Rúnarsson and Baldvinsson still had good chances to grab consolations for us.

The final whistle heralded a deserved win for the Champs. A shot count of 14 to 5 showed that we had been thoroughly outplayed by our opponents, but the campaign as a whole had given me cause for optimism, and despite our cup campaign coming to an end I can see a real chance for success when the Division One Campaign kicks off in 18 days time.

Man of the Match - �gúst Gylfason (KR AMR) (9)

KR (Gylfason 4‘, 19‘, Hjartarson 17‘) 3 - 0 Breiðablik

retired_roxysunny101

There was further bad news in the days following us crashing out of the League Cup. Guðmunder Órn Guðmundsson and young no. 1 Hafliðason both sustained knocks in that match, and are considered doubtful for our first game of the League Campaign. Hafliðason is expected to make it, but the doctors think that Guðmundsson’s twisted knee is likely to see him miss out.

We also had to listen to the radio in envy as KR made it through to the Final of the league cup, defeating FH 2-1 after extra time. The league champions would face Fram, who progressed past the last first division representatives Vikingur 1-0 with a Bo Henriksen goal after half an hour. As much as we would have loved to be involved in the final, the truth is the two best teams are there and it will be a great contest.

As the calendar turned over to May, my meeting with Mr Eyjólfsson was a pleasant one. Due to our good run in the cup we had managed to make a £22,000 profit in April - a sum which is very respectable I’m told, for a club at our level….in Iceland. That meeting was followed by further good news, as the physio’s let me know that Hafliðason would be fit for our First Division curtain raiser as we hosted Vikingur Ó (a different team from Vikingur you may wish to note). Every silver lining has a cloud, however, and Guðmunder Órn Guðmundsson will indeed miss out on our first game of the season at least.

Time had passed since our resounding exit from the league cup, and while our victors looked forward to May 27th with baited breath were busy knuckling down and trying to get the fizz back, and after 18 days of me and Svienn working hard with the players and getting the confidence back, as the weekend approached I truly hoped the fizz was back, for the season.

retired_roxysunny101

Breiðablik Vs Vikingur Ó First Division: Match 1, 15th May 2005, Kópavogsvöllur Stadium

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 4th | | Breiðablik | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 7th | | VÃ*kingur Ó | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

Breiðablik: (4-4-2 Diamond) GK: Hafliðason, DL: Sveinsson, DR: Birgisson, DC: Hansen, DC: Podzemsky; MR: A.Einarsson, ML: Rúnarsson, DMC: Sverrisson (Bjarnason 60’) (c), AMC: Borgþórsson; ST: Baldvinsson, ST: B.Pétursson (Ingólfsson 60’)

Unsurprisingly after spending my life in Britain I’m not too familiar with Vikingur Ó, however their pre game odds of 13-2 suggested that we should be capable of beating this side, especially with a string of great home performances behind us this season.

Indeed, the early stages were something of a cavalry charge of green jerseys as we pushed for the winner. Bjarki Pétursson took only 5 minutes before he had a great chance to his name, hitting the inside of the post from a Rúnarsson cross - before the ball agonisingly rolled along the line prior to being cleared manically by a defender.

It was a whirlwind start, and as the Vikingur Ó goalkeeper parried a shot from Borgþórsson over the bar I sensed that the pressure would soon herald a great chance, and from the resulting corner I was proved correct. Baldvinsson swung in a lovely ball into the box, and as Petr Podzemsky was attempting to get a head on the ball he was tugged back by former Nairn County and Elgin winger Steve MacKay. The ref showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot; and Marel Baldvinsson showed equally little hesitance in despatching the spot kick into the middle of the goal to give us a deserved lead.

We were playing the game at a good pace, and the Vikingur Ó defence were looking very fragile. This was made painfully clear as a long Sveinsson clearance found Marel Baldvisson in acres of room out on the left. His cross was deflected straight into the path of Borgþórsson on the edge of the box, making one of his trademark bursts from midfield, and he clinically rifled the ball home from 12 yards to make in 2-0.

By the looks of the Vikingur Ó side, I believed that 2 goals would be well enough to score a victory, but my team didn’t see things that way - and what followed was an absolutely devastating 10 minutes of football, by which the visitors where simply blown out of the water.

Borgþórsson began the mini-rout by drifting in unmarked into the box once again to glance home a sensational cross by Rúnarsson, who was having a great game also. Big Bjarki Pétursson then got in on the act, with the goal once again coming from a cross. This time a diagonal cross was fired in by Hakón Sverrisson and guided beautifully into the net by Pétursson. Then, on the half hour mark, our players ended their merry waltz of footballing destruction by dispatching a fifth past a woefully inept Vikingur Ó side, this time it was young Asgier Einarsson to get his name on a crowded score sheet, capping a thoroughly dynamic, impressive half hour by drifting in at the back post to prod Rúarsson’s low cross into the net.

Considering the gulf in performance between the sides it was a miracle that Vikingur Ó would only go on to concede one more goal. That coming after I freshened up the sides with a couple of changes, with 60th minute sub Bjarnason nodding in a fantastic Einarsson cross with 15 minutes still to play, adding a nice glossy finish to an already sparkling performance!

Man of the Match - Gunnar Rafn Borgþórsson (9)


Breiðablik (Baldvinsson pen 12’, Borgþórsson 20’, 25’, B.Pétursson 28’, A.Einarsson 30’, Bjarnason 75’) 6 - 0 Vikingur Ó

retired_roxysunny101

The First Division season kicks off in Iceland at breakneck speed. Just 3 days after we demolished Vikingur Ó on our patch we were to travel to the town of Húsavik to renew acquaintances with Völsungur, and look to get another 3 points on the board.

Confidence was sky high in the camp, and I was feeling confident that even in my first season in management, I had the squad to gain promotion. It is all very promising, and I think that after the disappointment of KR in the cup we are starting to see how good my side are back in a First Division context.

I was naturally absolutely delighted with how my players performed against - an albeit very sketchy - Vikingur Ó. But I didn’t pass up on the chance to use the win as a motivational tool for the entire squad. I made it clear that Asgier Einarsson would keep his place if he continued to play like he did, and that if Bjarnason and Ingólfsson continued to make that kind of impact from the bench they would soon get their chance. The bottom line is: people will gain or lose prominence in my starting eleven based on performances on the field - nothing else.

For that reason it was unfortunate that Bjarnason picked up a knock and was forced to stay back home in Kópavogur as the squad travelled to Völsungur. Neverthelss I hoped Hakón Sverrisson would raise his game to cope with Bjarnason’s temporarily postponed challenge to his place.

retired_roxysunny101

Völsungur Vs Breiðablik First Division: Match 2, 18th May 2005, Húsavikurvöllur Stadium

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 1st | | Breiðablik | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 3 || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 6th | | Völsungur | | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

Breiðablik: (4-4-2 Diamond) GK: Hafliðason, DL: Sveinsson, DR: Birgisson, DC: Hansen (Arnarson 45‘), DC: Podzemsky; MR: A.Einarsson, ML: Rúnarsson, DMC: Sverrisson (c), AMC: Borgþórsson; ST: Baldvinsson (S.Pétursson 61‘), ST: B.Pétursson

History will remember this extraordinary game for two major reasons. One: because it was an absolute roller coaster ride of a match that no-one involved - especially me - will ever forget; and two: because of the tragedy that only 180 people actually turned up to watch it.

After losing their first game of the season, Völsungur were unrecognisable from the side who came to our patch earlier in the season and shut up shop. They came at us with an attacking 4-4-2 formation and pinned us in our own area from the first whistle. And the host’s pressure paid off after just 5 minutes when an attempted through ball was only deflected as far as Sigmunder Arnar Jósteinsson by Hans FroðI Hansen, and Jósteinsson gleefully powered the ball home.

In truth Völsungur should have increased their lead as our defence really struggled to cope with the waves of pressure from the home side. Yet somehow the next goal of the game was an equaliser, although even that was actually created by Völsungur. Big lumbering centre back Milan Janosevic played an atrocious ball straight to the feet of Rúnarsson, who had the presence of mind to instantly thread a great ball through to Bjarki Pétursson, and the big striker strided into the space left by Janosevic, before slotting the ball past the keeper.

However, as far as I was concerned, that was as good as the first half got, as our shoddy defending in this game reached new heights. Völsungur re-took the lead after Hans Froði Hansen clumsily barged into Ardri Valur Ivarsson in the penalty area. Big centre back Milan Janosevic stepped up and made amends for his blunder by slotting home the spot kick. Then it all went even more pear shaped as Völsungur grabbed two more goals before half time. With Andri Valur Ivarsson grabbing them both after some more horrific defending - I can only assume they were rusty after lack of practise against Vikingur Ó!!

For the first time since I had been handed charge of the club I gave my players a roasting at half time. The defending had been absolutely laughable, and I was also looking from more from my attacking players. Hans Froði Hansen paid the penalty - if you will excuse the pun - for a dire 45 minutes, being hooked for veteran Arnar Arnason, a move which I hoped would steady a rocking ship. I sent the players back out with a mandate to get their pride back, but the fact of the matter was I was looking for damage limitation.

Nevertheless my players seemed to respond, with Bjarki Pétursson springing the offside trap to slot home his second of the game and reduce the deficit. I say seemed because two minutes later we let Völsungur waltz into our final third with some nice passing, before the ball found it’s way to Ivarsson in the box to make it an astonishing 5-2.

My players were playing better this half despite conceding a fifth, but little was I to know to what extent the game would be transformed as the game approached the hour mark. Firstly Borgþórsson was played through by a fantastic Baldvinsson pass and our attacking midfield maestro stroked home our third with glee. More amazingly, two minutes later, the same two players combined, this time with Borgþórsson fizzing a great ball across the face of goal from the right, which Baldvinsson showed real predatory instincts to get on the end of and bring us within a goal of our hosts.

Naturally Völsungur were on the ropes now, after conceding two goals in two minutes they were really feeling the pressure, and resorted to despicable tactics to preserve their position. With Marel Baldvinsson having to be stretchered off after a terrible challenge from behind, for which clumsy for Milan Janosevic laughably escaped with a yellow card. I sent on Saevar Pétursson for our star man, but I secretly felt that maybe Janosevic had done exactly what he want - eliminated our main threat for an equaliser.

Just occasionally in football you do get your comeuppance, and it seemed fitting that with just over 10 minutes remaining Völsungur paid for their hatchet tactics. A trademark long Einarsson throw was causing havoc once again in the penalty area, and the rather overworked Mr Kristinsson did fantastically to spot Bjarki Pétursson being wrestled by Janosevic’s compatriot and defensive partner Sreten Djurovic. The referee pointed to the spot and with Baldvinsson already halved by clumsy Serb #1, þorsteinn Sveinlaugur Sveinsson stepped up to take the kick conceded by clumsy Serb #2. There was something in the air in the second half, and I smiled as Sveinsson steadied himself. As if there was any doubt, our towering left back thrashed the ball straight down the middle to rescue a ridiculous point for us.

“Something in the air indeed!�, I said to myself as I walked back down the tunnel, with neither team able to snatch a winner in the last 10.

Man of the Match - Arni Valur Iverson (Völsungur SC) (10)

Völsungur (Jósteinsson 6’, Janosevic pen 26’, Ivarsson 30’, 43’ 47’) 5 - 5 Breiðablik (B.Pétursson 21’, 46’, Borgþórsson 59’, Balvinsson 60’, Sveinsson pen 77’

retired_roxysunny101

In the aftermath of the astonishing encounter with Völsungur I decided that I would be diplomatic, and go with the ‘cup half-full’ approach to the performance. After all we have scored 11 goals in 2 games, plus I decided that it may have been some tactical naivety on my part - because when I gave my full backs less offensive roles and made the play slightly more direct in the second half we looked dynamic as well as steady; making me think it was my tactical error in the first place.

Nevertheless, we did concede 5 goals in 49 minutes, so - no matter who’s fault it was - we would have to work on the defending. I think the attacking side of the team is in great shape, so we will give the full backs less license to roam, with orders to give it to Rúnarsson, Borgþórsson, Einarsson/Guðmundsson, Pétursson or Baldvinsson as directly as possible. Hopefully that will keep our attacking verve but cease our defensive woes.

As I mentioned there, I am delighted with the way my team is playing going forward, so much so that our now-fit right winger Guðmunder Órn Guðmundsson will have to be happy with a place on the bench due to the recent form of tricky winger Asgier Einarsson. 19 year-old Asgier embodies everything I love about our side: the speed, the flair, and the attacking mentality. All of which I hope we show as we host Haukar in our 3rd match in 7 days to kick off the season, and we also had the added boost of Marel Baldvinsson making the game after his injury turned out not to be as bad as it looked.

retired_roxysunny101

Breiðablik Vs Haukar First Division: Match 3, 21st May 2005, Kópavogsvöllur Stadium

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 4th | | Breiðablik | | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 4 || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 5th | | Haukar | | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 || ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

Breiðablik: (4-4-2 Diamond) GK: Hafliðason, DL: Sveinsson, DR: Birgisson, DC: Hansen, DC: Podzemsky; MR: A.Einarsson, ML: Rúnarsson, DMC: Sverrisson (c), AMC: Borgþórsson; ST: Baldvinsson (S.Pétursson 70‘), ST: B.Pétursson

After the last two games we had been involved with - from which my blood pressure was just regaining normality, incidentally - the last thing I expected from this game was a subdued start, but that is exactly what I got. A glancing Podzemsky header and a Bjarki Pétursson snapshot was all the game had to show to for a first 20 minutes which had been predominately been played in the middle of the park.

All credit to Haukar, they had obviously seen our attacking threat and had done a great job in stifling us, but they were undone by their own sloppiness as we grapped the lead - or, more precisely, we were given the lead. The Haukar goalkeeper played a simple ball out to Haukar centre back Óli Jón Kristinsson, who, with Marel Baldvinsson bearing down on him, panicked and aimlessly knocked the ball back to his goalkeeper. The only problem for unfortunate Óli being that his goalkeeper was not standing where he had passed the ball, and the ball agonisingly trundled into the net. Even I felt for Haukar on that one, but it was an important goal in an even contest.

Our opponents were proving worthy adversaries, and even after a goal which would have winded most teams, they continued to make the game difficult, and the rest off the first half was a scrappy affair, with no other notable chances, and as the game went in at half time it was far from over. It was even further from being over when I realised Baldvinsson was feeling his injury from the last game. He was a risk in the first place, but I decided to take even more of a risk and give him 15 minutes in the 2nd half - I guess managers live and die on decisions like that, and as the players ran out for the 2nd half I could only hope that this one paid off.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the previous 45 minutes, with both sides giving their all, but good football and chances at a premium. The positive for us was that any half chances that were being created, were being created by us - in fact Haukar hadn’t had an effort on goal in the game.

The game should have been sewn up, but for uncharacteristic wasteful finishing by the usually clinical Borgþórsson. The worst of his three misses being when he shot wide from only 6 yards out after doing well to get on the end of a glorious Einarsson cross. Nevertheless, we did finally make the most of our slight dominance, and again the chance was created by a stunning Einarsson cross. The 19 year-olds whipped delivery from the right was perfectly angled into the ‘corrider of doubt’ and there was no doubt that it should’ve been finished - I just presumed one of our players would do the honours this time. But it seems Haukar’s players were after the, ahem, glory today, and the ball was slashed into his own net by right-back Darri Johansen.

Borgþórsson and Saevar Pétursson had chances to get a Breiðablik name on the score sheet, but it wasn’t to be, and we sauntered to a comfortable 2-0 win without any of our team scoring. Curiouser and curiouser, I thought to myself.

Man of the Match - Hafsteinn Ingvar Rúnarsson (8)

Breiðablik (Kristinsson og 19’, Johansen og 70’) 2 - 0 Haukar