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Just days before the premiere against Kristianstad in June, Göteborg FC’s new manager surprisingly applied for a job in the Middle East openly via Linkedin.
On the social network, Mats Gren announced his interest in becoming a coach at Al Jazeera in the capital Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates responding to a post by the club’s recent sports director, Mads Davidsen.
Hi Mads. I would be very interested in coming to Al Jazira as a coach. Can I send my documents to an email address or how can I do it? Best regards, Mats Gren ”.
Davidsen replied to Gren that they are not looking for a new coach, but appreciated the interest shown. The event received a lot of attention and Gothenburg FC team captain Emma Berglund had this to say:
– What he did was clumsy, unhappy and at a bad time.
Gren: That was stupid of me.
Gren himself didn’t want to make such a big deal out of all this, but he admitted it was a mistake on his part.
– I’ve known Mads Davidsen for I don’t know how many years, but he’s moved around a lot, so I didn’t have contact information for him. So it was stupid of me to publish it. But there is nothing behind all this, I am not going to move anywhere, he said then.
Since then, coach Jörgen Ericson, who is also a quote machine, has handled most of the match-related interviews.
– This is something we’ve taken. I’m not like that, says Gren when GT meets him after a training session.
Has it been seen enough over the years, perhaps?
– Haha, yeah, I don’t need it at all.
Göteborg FC take home the Swedish Championship gold for the first time if they win away from Linköping on Saturday.
– A match in the crowd, but when you have a chance to become champion, it is clear that it is a bit special. We will go out and try to play our game and do what we are good at. We have faced Linköping twice this year, in the cup and the series, and we won both, so they will take the curse of trying to win, that’s done. We must be alert and perform at the highest level, says Mats Gren.
The stars of the national team have been allowed to bank
What are the keys?
– The aerial game, the desire to run and the aggressiveness of the defensive game. Whenever we have had a bad time this year, we have been a bit hesitant and a bit behind when we didn’t have the ball. And when we stand up, it won’t be good, neither forward nor backward. But last time he felt very relaxed and good against Växjö. I hope and believe that we will be able to do it now as well.
How has it been for you to work as a coach instead of a sports director?
– It was fantastic to get back out onto the field and work a little more with the details and be able to influence a little more. Since then they have been a fantastically good group with incredible quality. There are many of us too and it has been difficult to get the team out.
The coaching duo have had to put the national team players on the bench.
– It really is difficult and it is clear that it will be something completely different for girls who are not used to it. Everyone thinks it is a luxury but it is not an easy situation because we have to handle it well so that the environment is good.
Have you been successful?
– The girls have to answer that. It has worked, but it usually is as long as the results are good. I’ve been involved for so long that I know there will be more dissatisfaction from those who can’t play if things go wrong.
As a coach, the 56-year-old has worked at FC Vaduz, Grasshopper (assistant), Vejle BK and Jönköpings Södra. He still doesn’t have a series win on the merit list.
– It hasn’t even been close, so it would be a lot of fun to win now, partly for me but mostly for the club. I won a cup title when I was in Vaduz, but I don’t count it. Damn, if you don’t win the cup in Liechtenstein with a team that plays in the next highest series in Switzerland and meets a team that is three series lower, then you’ve failed, haha.
Suffer with IFK Gothenburg
You were fired from Blåvitt 2018, did a Swedish Championship gold feel like some kind of revenge?
– Not absolutely not. I also suffer from Blåvitt now. I still have a lot of contact there and I know what football is like so I am not bitter in that way at all.
IFK Gothenburg is threatened by relegation. Mats Gren follows his old club with great interest and watches almost every game.
– I am nervous. Damn, Örebro last time (0-1) was vital when you watched the rest of the show. Now they go to Helsingborg and if they lose it, it could be a direct relocation. It’s tough, damn it.
Has coaching job given you a fresh start in the soccer industry?
– If it does. When I was sports director at Blåvitt, you ended up too far and then it went even further when I was also director of the club. I really didn’t like it, absolutely not. You want to be in the middle. And as a sports director, you have to have a certain distance from the coaches and not think that you should be able to influence everything, because then he feels like he has a “pain in the butt” all the time. If I hadn’t had the opportunity to go to Blåvitt as a sports director, I probably wouldn’t have retired as a coach. That way, it’s good to go out again.
Is there a difference between working with women and men?
– This is the first women’s team I have, so not only can I generalize, but they don’t spoil at all. If you can add something to make things easier for them, they will be very grateful. And they are very dedicated to training. I’m not going to say that the guys aren’t, but if I tell the girls that we should run the last half hour of training, they just say “sure!”, But tell the guys and they’ll think you’re stupid, haha.
The contract with Göteborg FC expires next year and the plan is to complete it. Mats Gren has taken root in the city.
– When I moved to Sweden, I thought that one day I would land in Gothenburg. And I really enjoy the club and everything.
