Jakob Michelsen is the new coach in HamKam – NRK Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
It was a clear offensive Danish 41-year-old who this morning was presented as coach of the newly promoted HamKam: The club will not be a throwing ball in the elite series.
At the same time, Jakob Michelsen is aware that it will be tough. Good organization and strong collective efforts are the recipe:
– We must be disgusting to play against! We have to make it difficult for the opponents, especially here at Briskeby in front of the home fans, says Michelsen.
No revolution
Everything looked rosy for HamKam in early December 2021. The club was ready for the elite series for the first time since 2008. Coach Kjetil Rekdal had become Hamar’s new hero.
But a few days before Christmas, joy and optimism were turned into despair in the town of Mjøs. The offer from Rosenborg was too tempting. Thus, both Kjetil Rekdal and assistant coach Geir Frigård disappeared from Innlandet to Trøndelag.
- Rekdal went to Rosenborg to win gold:
Pointed out early
Thus, the plans for the promotion season had to be radical. The search for a new coach started. For the club, it was important to spend time, says sports manager Espen Olsen.
– Jakob stood out early on as a very good alternative, says Olsen.
After having several conversations on the phone and teams, Michelsen and his wife made calls to Hamar.
That visit must have been successful, because today the Dane was presented as the new coach.
Michelsen describes it as three very nice days. He liked what he saw, both the city, the surrounding area and especially the club.
– The chemistry I got with the management and those I have to work with made the difference. That is why I said yes to HamKam, says Michelsen.
He believes he and the club share the same values.
– HamKam’s DNA is based on team spirit and hard work. It suits me well as a human being, says Michelsen.
Success in Denmark
Michelsen really broke through as a coach for Sønderjyske. With Michelsen on the sidelines, the club took a sensational silver in the Danish super league in 2015. The same year he was named coach of the year in Denmark.
Espen Olsen thinks Michelsen is a type who will fit well into HamKam and how the club wants to play football. He also draws on the work he did in Sønderjyske.
– He took an assumed bottom layer to the top of the super league. He has proven before that he is good when he strikes from below, Olsen says.
Pragmatic
But what kind of football can HamKam’s audience wait and see with Jakob Michelsen as coach? He himself believes that his team does not play a particular type of football. In the clubs he has trained, he has played both offensively and defensively. Some teams have played directly, others with a lot of ball possession. He himself thinks pragmatically is an adequate word:
– But it is about creating and strengthening the collective.
He is looking forward to meeting the players and does not think he will in any way revolutionize the club he comes to. The recipe that was successful last year must to a certain extent be followed. At the same time, Michelsen believes he can contribute to both individual players and the team develops further. But the most important thing is to keep the space.
Praised by Solbakken
National team manager Ståle Solbakken knows Michelsen well. The Dane was coach for both Sønderjyske and OB in the last period Solbakken coached FC Copenhagen.
– He’s a nice guy. I think he can fit well in the environment here, says Solbakken.
Solbakken himself has trained HamKam the last week, and calls it a win-win for him and the club.
Solbakken believes Michelsen has qualities that make him a good front man for HamKam in the promotion season.
– He is tactically strong, and he is a pragmatic coach that promotion teams like to need.
The Norwegian national team manager plays down his own role when it comes to hiring Michelsen. But Solbakken admits that they have talked together.
– I talked a little about HamKam and a little about Hamar. And then I talked a little bit about HamKam about how I see the type. But these are completely different people than I have run this process.
Michelsen says it would have been unnatural if he had not talked to Solbakken about the job. But it was not because of the talk with Solbakken that he chose HamKam.
Espen Olsen says that Solbakken was used as an adviser, and that it would be stupid if the club did not consult with his former coach.
– He had a lot of nice things to say about Michelsen, but as I said, he has only been an advisor to us, Olsen says.