I don't want to be too morbid, as we drift towards the weekend, but I read about the death of Ebbe Skovdahl, after a long fight against cancer today and his obit was interesting. I am afraid there are a lot of obituaries being brought to our attention at the moment and Ebbe, at the tender age of 75, made me sit up. Ever heard of him?
Ebbe was born in Copenhagen in 1945 and trained as a carpenter, playing local football for the local Vanlose club from childhood, moving to Brondby in 1971. His brother-in-law was Finn Laudrup, father of the famous Michael and Brian Ludrup brothers. Football was in his blood?
Ebbe coached the club's 3rd team, and had success there, as he did with his next club, Bronshoj (1982-5), where he won promotions and was head hunted back to the Brondby job in 1985-7. He took them to the European Cup quarter-finals and won the Danish league, but then left for Benfica (1988-9). This was too much for him so there was a one year spell at Vejle Boldklub before he returned to Brondby (1992-9), where Peter Schmeichel, Kim Vilfort and John Jensen helped the club win four league titles and 3 Danish cups during the following decade.
Brondy was a club in trouble, statistically and financially, Ebbe balanced the books and Brondby made headlines when they beat a very powerful Liverpool side, filled with stars like Rush and Barnes, during their UEFA Cup tie at Anfield. It was 31st October (Halloween), a Second Round, two leg tie, 1-0 aggregate win by the Danes, holding Liverpool 0-0 in Denmark and beating them at Anfield, with a goal from the Norwegian central defender, Dan Eggen after 78 minutes. How much money on it being from a set piece?Eggen later became a manager of a rock band El Caco!
Back to Ebbe, who will be remembered by Scottish fans too, as he had a successful spell at Aberdeen, post Ferguson. Between 1999 and 2003, he brought his "Brondby Model" to Aberdeen, a scheme that made a small club successful, self-sustaining and able to challenge the top clubs in the league. At this time of course, Rangers and Celtic were leaders.
Skovdahl's intelligence, wit and relaxed manner attracted the press and despite being suspicious of his "European" training methods, they enjoyed his warmth and amusing quotes. One that stands out was his reference to Aberdeen's Norwegian striker, Arild Stavrum whose shot to goal ratio was better than Celtic's famous forward Henrik Larsson; He reminded the press that used statistics were "like mini-skirts"........ "They give you good ideas but hide important things". His comments also were sometimes lost in translation, for example, when he described winger Peter Loverkrands as "as quick as a sack of cheetahs".
He won over the Aberdeen fans, which was lucky as their team finished bottom in the Premier League in 2000, but were spared relegation when Falkirk's stadium didn't match up to PL standards. The Dons did however get to both Scottish domestic finals that season, with no success. In 2002, his team did come 4th, despite a 0-7 defeat by Celtic. Ebbe said about the game, "the operation was successful, but the patient died". Despite his best efforts, Skovdahl left the club the next season.
His last assignment was with Boldklubben Frem between 2003-5, when the club was relegated.
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