Gregg Berhalter: New Hammarby manager!

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad Academy' started by iamalfred, Dec 12, 2011.

  1. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
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    I haven't been posting any updates in here lately as Hammarby was out of the promotion race early, but since they played the last game of the season today I figured it was time for a season end update.

    Hammarby ended up in fourth place in the end, 7 points behind Halmstad and the promotion playoff spot. If we look below how the games have ended for the club from round 1 to round 30 you can easily see which part of the season that killed their hopes of promotion:

    W W W W D W L L D D W L L L D D L W D D W W L W D W W W D D

    The good news for Berhalter is that the team has finished strongly, much with the help of this summers signings who have been productive since arriving in late August: Kennedy Bakircioglü (5 goals, 3 assists), Erik Sundin (3 goals, 2 assists) and Mattias Adelstam (5 goals).

    And speaking of transfers, the club officially announced last week that a total of seven players with contracts ending this year will not get their deals extended. So Berhalter has the chance to really finalize his transformation of the squad this winter. Like I mentioned in the previous post the main priority will likely be to bring in quality fullbacks since that's the weakest part of the starting eleven right now and probably one or two central midfielders. I'm not sure what he intends to do with the attack though, alot of fans want to bring in one more high quality forward so I guess it will come down to how Berhalter views Sinan Ayranci and Billy Schuler for next season.

    Berhalter also spoke to the crowd at the recent members meeting and here's a translation of a summary of what he said:
    Next season promotion will be the only really acceptable outcome so it will be critical for Berhalter to do well during this winters transfer window. To make a bold prediction I think Bedoya's previous club Örebro SK who were relegated from Allsvenskan this year will be almost guaranteed to take one of the promotion spots next year. So with that in mind I think Hammarby do still need a few more high quality players performing next year to be really sure to be part of the top of the league.
     
  2. INKRO

    INKRO Member+

    Jul 28, 2011
    Glad to see that Hammarby and Berhalter has ended the season well, hopefully the ship has been righted and they can build on from there.
     
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  3. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
    If I were Toronto, Montreal, or Chivas USA, I'd hire Berhalter in a second. I think Philly or New England would also take him.
     
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  4. LouisianaViking07/09

    Aug 15, 2009
    What are the fans feeling on their finish? Did they expect to challenge for a promotion spot? I remember early on everything was going great. Is Berhalter safe next year?
     
  5. Hobo

    Hobo Member+

    Apr 29, 2007
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Recently found this picture on my computer. It is from May of 2006 when Cottbus travelled to Offenbach. Cottbus lost that day, which secured another season of II. BL for Offenbach, but Cottbus won promotion that season.
    http://www.fussballdaten.de/zweiteliga/2006/33/offenbach-cottbus/
    I dig how he is giving directions in the photo.

    [​IMG]
     
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  6. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    They always expect promotion, which really isn't unrealistic taking into account how much bigger they are as a club compared to everyone else in the league. Hammarby fans are the most rollercoaster-like in Sweden, early in the season when they won a few games in a row they were talking about how they could take on any team in the top of Allsvenskan. Then when they started losing everything was wrong, but now with the new signings they have a positive outlook on the future once again.

    If I were to be a little critical of Berhalter I would say that to some extent he has done well more because of his strong character as a person this season then his skills as a manager (though character/leadership is obviously part of being a manager). What I mean is that the fans have always liked him and what he projects as a person throughout the year even when there were mistakes made. From this perspective Berhalter was a great signing for Hammarby because when the fans start sensing weakness from their manager like they have in recent years then that manager is as good as gone.

    I think he will be very safe next season as I have a hard time not seeing them as one of the top teams unless they really fail miserably in this winter transfer window. And if they succeed in bringing in the right players then I'm also pretty sure that Berhalter will be the big hero this time next year.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. babieca

    babieca Member

    Jul 12, 2009
    Charlotte, NC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks for all of the updates this season!
     
  8. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    No problem! I also remember that someone asked way back about gamesday atmosphere videos but I usually don't really watch or keep up with those so I haven't been posting any. But I stumbled across this one from the last home game of the season a couple of weeks back and figured I should post it since it has that nice rainy late autumn atmosphere:

     
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  9. prowazekii

    prowazekii Member

    Jun 21, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In the last 3 weeks the club have parted ways with 9 players, including Andreas Dahl who left today. It will be interesting to follow how Berhalter handles this offseason in rebuilding the team for next season's promotion push.
    Perhaps another American or two will also make their way to the club as well.
     
  10. LouisianaViking07/09

    Aug 15, 2009
    Paging Juan Agudelo
     
  11. Shaydee

    Shaydee Member

    Apr 8, 2002
    New Jersey
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You want one of our brightest, young attacking players in MLS to go to the Swedish second division??
     
  12. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
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    Berhalter seems to be off to a good start this Silly Season as media are reporting today that Hammarby has signed dutch right back Michael Timisela. I don't actually know anything about him but as you might remember the fullbacks have been the squads weakest links and one has to assume that a 26 year old player with such long experience of playing in the dutch league will do very well in Superettan.

    Other then that signing there has also been talk that Berhalter has been scouting around his old hunting grounds in Germany and that Hammarby are interested in signing swedish midfielder Fredrik Holster, whose team were relegated from Allsvenskan last month. Word is that Berhalter has been on location to watch Holster throughout the fall.

    I also saw some rumours that Toronto FC are looking to bring back canadian Nik Ledgerwood to his homeland. He signed a 1.5 year deal with Hammarby this summer and has performed pretty well so it will be interesting to see if there is anything to that.
     
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  13. LouisianaViking07/09

    Aug 15, 2009
    Joke. Chivas cant be so much worse than Hammarby
     
  14. gevalia90

    gevalia90 Member

    Feb 10, 2012
    Club:
    Hammarby IF
    despite beeing a Swedish Hammarby supporter and there's 2 diffrent radio program and lots of matchreports after each game i go to this site a few times each month just to read your reports and news iamalfred :) Keep up the good work.

    I know this article is about Gregg but how would you rate the three americans in hammarby this year?
    Personally im really impressed with both Baggio and especially Nik.

    Billy played well in the preseason and have been really good in the youthteam so it would be sad if he decided to move this winter.
    Remember when CD/Charlie Davies played in Hammarby he dident score a single goal until the last game his first season (but then he made an hattrick) :)

    sorry for my bad english.
     
  15. Smithsoccer1721

    Smithsoccer1721 Member+

    Feb 16, 2007
    Middle of the Table
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Your English is just fine. Anything you can add to the conversation here is much appreciated.
     
  16. LouisianaViking07/09

    Aug 15, 2009
    After that Davies went on a goal scoring run. 1 every 2 games
     
  17. sidefootsitter

    sidefootsitter Member+

    Oct 14, 2004
    As if Bad English weren't bad enough.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Roger Allaway

    Roger Allaway Member+

    Apr 22, 2009
    Warminster, Pa.
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Toronto would be ironic. He'd be Torsten Frings' manager.
     
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  19. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    Translation of a very long interview with Hammarby board member Chris Klein. Not really about Berhalter directly but I thought it would be relevant enough for this thread!


    Well, Ledgerwood is Canadian :D But I do agree that he has clearly been the best out of the north american players. I think Baggio has done alright, but I think he has the ability to do better more consistently. Maybe he will next year in a stronger overall team from the start. It's more difficult to know how Schuler will turn out. Chris Klein says that they still have very high hopes for him in the interview above. They believe he can match Charlie Davies success but I'm not really sure if those type of expectations are very realistic.
     
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  20. xyz1000

    xyz1000 Member

    Jan 8, 2003
  21. SamsArmySam

    SamsArmySam Member+

    Apr 13, 2001
    Minneapolis, MN
     
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  22. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
  23. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010


    More (and longer) preseason talk with Berhalter. Hammarby also announced the signing of Nahir Besara yesterday. He was one of the best young midfielders in Superettan last year with eight goals and nine assists, so another good signing for Hammarby and some added competition in central midfield for Husidic. I guess the only signing that remains now is a left back and perhaps a new forward if they manage to offload one of their old ones.
     
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  24. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    [​IMG]

    The first part of the swedish preseason has come to an end as most of the teams in the top two divisions prepare for the restructured group stage of the Swedish Cup which starts next weekend. Unfortunaly for Hammarby they were one of the four clubs in the top two tiers to be knocked out already last fall so they will have to settle for another month of preseason friendlies while the other clubs start playing competitive games.

    So far the preseason results have looked like this:
    0-2 loss against Vasalund (swedish third tier)
    1-0 win against Sirius (swedish third tier)
    3-3 draw against Jyväskylä (finnish first tier)
    0-3 loss against Mjällby (swedish first tier)

    Hammarby fans would probably have wanted to see slightly stronger results from the team, but that's really secondary at this time of the year.

    On the transfer market it's likely that the club is still looking for a left back and a forward but the lack of any moves lately might indicate that they need to get rid of someone from their squad to be able to afford someone new. Maybe connected to this is the fact that forward Sinan Ayranci was sent home halfway through the camp in sunny Cyprus where the team has been for the last couple of weeks. No official reason was given but Ayranci told the media that he was very disappointed in what had happened and how he had been treated by the club.

    Some fans speculate that it might be a clash of personalities with Berhalter who is more demanding while Ayranci might be described as a more lackadaisical character. As some might remember the same thing happened last season too when Sebastian Castro-Tello displayed lacking discipline which ended up in the club openly declaring to the media that they wanted to get rid of him during this winter. That still hasn't happened though and Berhalter might find himself in the unfortunate situation of having two forwards in the squad that he doesn't want or get along with when the season starts. Add to this the fact that their highest quality forward has been out injured for most of the preseason and is 34 years old. So the fans are, as usual, a little worried about who is going to score the goals this year.

    [​IMG]

    Finally to say something short about the two american players so far this preseason. Schuler has taken part in all four games so far with 3x45 minutes and around 55 minutes in the latest game. No goals scored though. He scored a bunch in last years preseason but then didn't do great when the league started so hopefully he will do the reverse of that this year. Baggio played 2x45 minutes in the first two games and then the full 90 minutes in the latest. Of note when it comes to him is that the new signing Nahir Besara, who I though would be competing for his spot, have apparantly been playing in a forward position.
     
  25. Gorky

    Gorky Member+

    Jul 28, 2006
    NYC
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Gregg still looking like a boss
     

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