Vegard Hansen said no to 400,000 extra to train Mjøndalen – Aftenbladet.no

He was offered 1 million to train Mjøndalen in league comeback. But Vegard Hansen is not quite like other coaches.

MJØNDALEN: – My job is not compatible with family life. I can not be married, I have tried it. I can not have a relationship either, I’ve tried that too. This is not complaining, it’s just to explain how it is. Football is all-consuming.

It is pitched in the stands during the jubilant Mjøndalen supporters.

From Fire fans thrown it flares onto the pitch and guards must stop furious fans from going to physical attack both coach and club management.

My job is not compatible with family life. I can not be married, I have tried it. It is 26th November 2014 in the small village 13 km west of Drammen. Lille Mjøndalen head 3-0 and moves up, giant fire must come down. Most stadium hovering in a lure, the minority from Bergen are angry and desperate.

On the sidelines is the man who perhaps has the greatest reason to cheer, coach Vegard Hansen.

But he is the most restrained of all in November cold.

– When we led 3-0, I thought, “Where Do We Go Now?”. When I realized that we had uprooted. I began to look for me everything that would happen, with the rebuilding of the stadium and everything that came. It was incredibly fun it happened. But it gets so big that you can not enjoy properly. You will only be empty. I was in the celebration, but drove the car home for 3-4 o’clock. I lay barely lie down, but rudely awakened again in 6 o’clock and thought again: “What now?”. When I went on the job and Kenneth (Karlsen) was already there. We thought the same thing, that we had to start working immediately.

MJØNDALEN radarpar

Hansen talks about Kenneth Karlsen as if it is the wife he has not. Karlsen is buddy and CEO of Topsham.

They found the tone when they played together for Strømsgodset early 90s. Hansen and Karlsen had many long discussions about how a football club should run. They signed the perfect stadium, until the day they are supposed to conduct football. The drawing is today stadium to Topsham. Small and compact.

In 2006, buddies reunited in 3rd division club Mjøndalen. A former top club that lay in ruins.

Hansen and Karlsen started with a ball net, 15 players and a budget of 50,000 dollars.

Nine years later leader duo promoted Mjøndalen with a budget of nearly 30 million , a doubling of last year’s budget in the 1st division.

As in 2006, they work morning, day and late evening to get the operation to go around.

They sit next door in the administration building at the stadium. Office Signs convey that they have it pretty funny at work although there are long working:

Vegard Hansen: “hoary trainer at dismissal”.

Kenneth Karlsen “Circus Director.”

No to wage increases

– You get ownership of a club you’ve been in all the way. It becomes so much stronger, says Hansen.

In February Hansen called on Karlsens office.

– On his desk lay a contract that lacked my signature. In the contract it was an annual salary of one million dollars. “Where does this come from?” I asked. No, he did not know. I said that it was possible and he asked adjust down to a salary that was affordable.

– You declined to an annual salary of one million. Why?

– It is the tenth year we are here. Private economy and club economy sliding into each other. We have also given the club a guarantee against loss. If we go in deficit shall Kenneth and I cover it.

– But …?

– There is justice in remuneration with us. I asked to have the same as he. I think it’s 600,000. But I’m not quite sure, I tend not to check when I get wages. Football coach job I had done without payment. But it’s a few other things too then …

Seller ads and waffles

It has Hansen absolutely right in. 45-year-old has many tasks in the job description he never read .

The coach also works with market. He sells ads to club football newspaper that comes right before the league final, and to match the program for the entire season.

In the fall he sold for 700,000 dollars. From January to now, Hansen has passed the one million dollars in advertising and sponsorship packages to match the program.

In addition, he speaker at the club’s rookie fights, he’s kiosk sells between rounds in the same battle. He has been on guard battles and stood at the bar by Christmas. Hansen worked around the clock and installed its own “bedroom” at the stadium. The room is gone because of stadium reconstruction but Hansen admits that he misses bed on days starting 6 o’clock and ends after midnight.

– What is the goal?

– We have worked for nine years without a long-term objective. Expect us to have a goal and then it would have been very easy for me to say, “Berge place.” But you must not write. For it is so boring, so of course, responds Hansen and after a report on business, football, goals and motivation concludes 45-year-old:

– Those who must be motivated by goals do not have enough willpower and self-discipline to work hard without. But we have! There aiming we have discussed with the players. “What shall we say?”, And then there were some who said that we should try to keep us in the division. Then came Mads Hansen, a luring up with our goal would be to take as many as possible selfies on dump stadiums. There was a suggestion for my taste!

– And the official target?

– No, not officially. My goal is that we will manage to find the stadiums. We know how Trondheim, and we have been in Molde. To get us there and put together 11 men on the team we will do. And so we sift us hard against 16th-place. I think we should get to.

He is different coach. Mjøndalen is different club. They will not fight with the big clubs on wages. They should be smarter and work harder. They take small steps. Team development is at least as important as the sporting efforts against the A team. Financial management is sound and sober. Combined with unity, effort and determination has led Mjøndalen back.

– We’d really like to have cohesion, nonetheless has a strong camaraderie we had last year. The first thing we did after promotion was secured was take a quick chat. We decided to sign the whole gang: support, management, everyone should be involved. We prioritized the front to bring new players. There were five man without a contract. It becomes an aftertaste of celebration when you do not know what happens next. We said it already on promotion party, that everyone would get a new contract, a good contract. There sat players together with families, it was such a response that I get goosebumps when I talk about it. It was not just players and families who were happy, but also the 15 other players: “My mate gets to!”. It was a great evening and we use this occasionally. That there are a bunch of energy going on the pitch against Viking, I can promise you!

Notes from the 80s

At the office, Hansen has five large binders. There, he spared handwritten notes since the late 80s. For over 25 years he has collected notes on training exercises, ways of thinking, tactical grip, what coaches have made mistakes and wrong. December each year scroll Hansen through the covers and use them in thought process towards next season.

Hansen has also sought inspiration from other sports: Among other taekwondo and the mental input athletes use matches.

– We were called different club because we went the exact opposite of what is common in Norwegian football. Particularly in spending we have been very critical. A few years ago it was almost so that the entire Norwegian football should undergo 10 to 15 percent wage cuts. There were six to seven clubs that called for a press conference. We, who was then in the 1st division, decided to do the same. We called for a press conference and told that we had to adjust wages because of the situation in Norwegian football: We go up 15 percent! Players earned little, and there was no talk about a lot of money.

Elitserien Players in Mjøndalen serve not much compared with the biggest clubs in the league. Lowest payday is around 50,000, the highest between 350,000 and 400.00 respectively.

“Do not get fired”

Hansen has no ordinary trainer contract. He is a permanent employee of the club with three months’ notice. And he is equally keen spending as CEO.

– I have ambitions, but only on behalf of Topsham. I do not have a personal agenda and never think about my own resume. Had I done that I would have spent more money on the team than the club. Here I get done what I want. To travel to another club where you have a sports director over you telling you all about budget, I do not like that idea. The key here is that everyone pulls in the same direction. When you are helping to raise money for the club, you are also more stingy in using them. You get an economy that is healthy, you never wastes. I’ve never nagging about money for a tip. It’s as much as I say no to spending as Kenneth. Operation is totally different than in other clubs, it’s a totally different mindset.

On twitter account he presents himself as “Soccer Coach. One year temporary position.”

– that tip trainer becomes only one year. But I do not think I get fired. I told Karlsen, it gave 30 in odds if I got fired. “We do!”, I said. Kick me – and then re-employment me!