MAMELODI Sundowns sporting director Flemming Berg has a “clever football brain” and is “strong on development”, according to former colleague Jess Thorup.
Berg has come under heavy criticism in recent months amid reports that he played a key role in the sacking of coach Rulani Mokwena early this month.
The duo reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with the direction the club was taking, including transfers, playing philosophy and the achievements of last season.
Sundowns finished the season with only the Premiership and African Football League trophies in their cabinet, missing out on the Champions League, MTN8 and Nedbank Cup.
While they missed out on the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup by a whisker, losing both trophies to Orlando Pirates in the final, they reached the Champions League semi-finals.
This was the Brazilians’ second consecutive semi-final finish in Africa’s premier club competition, and was apparently deemed not good enough by Berg and Co.
The board apparently bemoaned that they had invested a lot in the team, including signing players Mokwena wanted such as Thembinkosi Lorch in January.
Berg has been criticised for running the club like his personal fiefdom, but Bundesliga side FC Augsburg coach Thorup, who worked with Berg at the Danish Football Association, rates his countryman highly.
“I know Flemming well, I worked with him at the time I was the Under-21 coach (of the Danish national team). He worked in the federation at that time,” Dane Thorup reflected.
“We had a very close connection. He’s not only a great guy or person, but he’s very clever in football. He can see football.
“He’s strong on developing clubs and players. I think it’s a great opportunity for South Africa to have a guy like this after joining the club here. As far as I can see, he has been doing a great job!”
There are few Sundowns supporters who believe Berg has been doing a “great job” since the departure of Mokwena, who’s now coach of Wydad Casablanca.
Amid the new era, Downs have reappointed Steve Komphela as the senior coach to help Manqoba Mngqithi, while Romain Folz has been roped in as an assistant coach.
“I won’t say that I have been following him a lot, but I have followed him,” said Thorup on whether he’s been following Berg, who has been hogging the headlines in recent weeks.
“I think every day, it’s exciting to follow players and coaches who are all over the world, and Flemming is one of them.
“I think it’s great to see when the guys are taking a chance to go to the other side of the world and do something differently. So I think Flemming is doing a great job.
“Congratulations to him for the position that they (Sundowns) achieved last season for them to be able to compete in another competition (Fifa Club World Cup).”
Thorup and Augsburg are currently in Mpumalanga this week on tour as they are involved in the inaugural Mpumalanga Premier’s International Cup.
They faced Tanzanian giants Young Africans in their first game yesterday at Mbombela Stadium, while they meet hosts TS Galaxy on Saturday.
Amid the flurry of questions on whether it was within Berg’s rights to sack Mokwena, Augsburg’s sporting director Marinko Jurendic painted a picture of the sporting director’s role from a “European context”.
“The sporting director’s role is to bring the right people in the sporting department within the club,” Jurendic detailed.
“That means starting from the head coach, assistant coaches, the athletic analysts, psychologists and physiotherapists, and so on.
“We have to build this team, and we have to be responsible for transfers, scouting; nowadays football is increasing the importance of data analysis.”
While Jurendic might hold all the ‘sporting powers’, he admits that no man is an island – hence the division must work as a collective.
“We are a team,” he explained.
“We work as a team and we work with our scouts, but I am the one that implements the philosophy and the structure.
“This includes everything that we want to achieve and which direction we want to go. For example, as a Bundesliga club, wanting to maintain that status is important.
“When you have the coach on your side, you include the coach in your decisions, looking at which players can follow the vision and strategy.
“We work as a team, and the coach is included in the decisions. I would never bring a player (to the club) without including the coach.”
