Collins in confident mood

The stage was set for another UEFA Cup war of words yesterday after Bohemians were drawn to play German side Kaiserslautern in next month's first round proper of the competition and members of both camps confidently predicted victory.

Roddy Collins' bullishness, needless to say, overshadowed that of the German reaction with the Dubliner jovially predicting that Bohemians would go there "and slaughter them" in the opening leg on September 14th.

When it was put to him that the German outfit have several internationals in their squad and might therefore be expected to be tough opponents, he conceded the point but quickly countered that "we've got Kevin Hunt and Trevor Molloy".

Juergen Friedrich, a senior official at the German club who attended yesterday's draw, was polite about the Dublin club but said he did not anticipate them causing his side "too many problems" while one of the club's leading players, Mario Basler, said he "assumed" that the Bundesliga team would progress.

Collins maintained yesterday he would prefer to play the first leg in Germany, as the tie was drawn, but in Monaco yesterday club secretary Gerry Cuffe was busily attempting to get the best deal possible from German television, generally reputed to be Europe's best payers for football, and the advantage of playing away first seemed to be something he was quite happily prepared to sacrifice.

Given the possibility of a heavy away defeat for Bohemians, making the return leg in Dublin relatively unattractive to German broadcasters, the Dublin side offered to reverse the order of the draw. Cuffe said last night that while Kaiserslautern's officials had been "receptive" to the idea and that "considerable progress towards a deal" had been made, it is likely to be Monday before a final deal is reached.

"In the end, though, the most important thing is that we do what is in the best interest of Bohemians football club and that is what will guide us when we make our final decision," Cuffe said.

Whatever order the games are played, the task for the Dublin club is certainly a daunting one. Bundesliga champions in 1998, Kaiserslautern have finished fifth in the last two seasons. However, they have made a poor start to the new campaign, having lost both of their games without scoring. There has been some unrest within the club and a couple of those to leave over the summer have since criticised the management but more surprising was that French international Youri Djorkaeff returned to the club for pre-season training despite expectation he would depart.

Djorkaeff was the top scorer last season with 11 league goals, two better than Swedish international Jorgen Pettersson. Another of their better known players is the club skipper, Danish defender Michael Schjonberg, but he is almost certainly out of both of the Bohemians games after damaging his knee in the 4-0 defeat by Wolfsburg at the weekend. It is expected that he will probably be out for a couple of months.

Meanwhile, Leicester chairman John Elsom is confident his club will not be forced to pull out of the UEFA Cup after the first-round draw pitted them against Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia.

Elsom and other club officials are preparing to meet with the British Foreign Office and the Football Association regarding the viability of travelling to the Yugoslav capital for the second leg on September 28th.

The draw was kinder on Liverpool, who were paired with Rapid Bucharest of Romania, and Chelsea, who must play Swiss minnows St Gallen.

Leicester may be able to follow a precedent set last year and get the second leg moved from Belgrade.

No British club has been to Serbia since last year's NATO bombings, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to advise against all non-essential travel to the area.

Last season, Leeds United managed to switch the first leg of their first-round match against Partisan Belgrade from the Yugoslav capital to Heerenveen in Holland.