Shelbourne can learn from Brann, and beat them too

THE magnitude of the task facing any National League club in European fare nowadays is amply demonstrated by even a cursory examination of Shelbourne's Cup Winners' Cup opponents at Tolka Park tomorrow night, SK Brann.

As is commonly accepted, ostriches apart, domestic club football has progressed a good deal quicker on the Continent in the last decade or so, and Norway is no exception.

Last year, Norway's four entrants in the three main European club competitions achieved a good deal more than zero points. All advanced from the preliminary rounds to the main round proper, in direct contrast to their three National League counterparts.

Rosenborg, after overcoming Besiktas 4-3 on aggregate, despite two goals from Euro '96 star Stefan Kuntz, went on to beat Blackburn and Legia Warsaw at home in the Champions League; Molde FK bowed out 6-2 on aggregate to eventual Cup Winners Cup champions Paris St Germain, while Lillestrom and Viking Stavanger lost 3-0 and 2-1 on aggregate to Brondby and Auxerre.

The bottom line, invariably, is one of part-timers against full-timers and all the (dis)advantages which that entails. The Norwegians could serve as both a role model and inspiration to Irish club football.

Reflecting the boon in the Norwegian game following the success of Egil Olsen's national side, Brann (from the west coast region of Bergen) enjoy an average attendance of 6,500 at their home games.

Accordingly, they have essentially a full-time set-up, bolstered by four or five part-timers. Threatened by relegation midway through their 1995 season (which runs in the summer), the club's directors responded by dismissing coach Halvard Thoresen and appointing Kjell Tennfjord.

Tennfjord orchestrated a swift climb up the table and a good run in the Cup. In the semi-final, Brann recovered from a 4-1 aggregate deficit with four second-half goals in the second leg at home to Lillestrom, two of them coming from former Leeds striker Frank Strandli. They lost the final in a replay 3-1 to double champions Rosenborg after a 1-1 draw.

Since then, however, Strandli (linking up with Steve Perryman at Start) and former West Ham striker Trevor Morley have moved on, and Brann have proved the biggest spenders of the close season in Norway as Tennjord rebuilt the side.

The 6ft 3in striker Tore Andre Flo, younger brother of Sheffield United's international Justein, rejected overtures from several foreign clubs last autumn to join Brann from Tromso. Brann were further bolstered by the arrival of goalkeeper Birkir Kristinsson from Iceland, Claus Eftevaag, an old-fashioned centre-half from Start, and Jan Ove Pedersen from Lillestrom.

Shelbourne manager Damien Richardson was an interested observer at Brann's derby match away to Viking Stavanger last Sunday in front of 14,000. The latter's 3-0 win dented the UEFA Cup aspirations of Brann, fifth in the table after 15 games.

Richardson was given a sample of the native bonhomie the clubs share: "People from Bergen can't swim underwater because they can't keep their mouths shut long enough," he was told. The scoreline was misleading, as Brann collapsed following the opening goal. But the Shelbourne manager was none too surprised by what he saw.

"They used a typically Norwegian system of 4-4-2. They like to play the ball early to the strikers, though they can pass it around at the back. The two full-backs like to get forward and get halls into the box. They're a big, physically strong side, with five or six tall men which makes them dangerous at set-pieces, an integral part of their game.

By contrast, his counterpart, Tennfjord, appeared more surprised by his working visit to Dublin last week to see Shelbourne's impressive 2-0 win over Huddersfield. "They play not so much long halls as I expected. There is more ball possession than I expected. They also worked very hard. Huddersfield have quite a good squad, so I think this tic will be quite a challenge for us."

Impressed by the quality of the Tolka pitch and friendliness he encountered, Tennljord appeared as if he was not just being polite. No doubt Brann will be a good, decent side, but far from unbeatable.

If any club has the wherewithal to bridge the marginal gulf in standards between the two domestic leagues (in terms of facilities and spectators at any rate), it ought to be Shelbourne.