August 19, 2008: August Round-Up


Round 19 postponed to August 27
Because of the friendly international on Wednesday 20 August against Portugal, the 19th round of the Formula Division, which was scheduled to be on Wednesday 20 August, has been postponed to August 27. Therefore round 20 will be played before round 19, on Sunday August 24, as scheduled. I.e.:

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Team selection for Portugal vs Faroe Islands
It will be a Faroese team without several key players that visit Portugal on Wednesday.

In defence, 3 regular starters are missing. Central defender Jón Rói Jacobsen is, apparently, busy with his studies in Denmark, while the other central defender Fróði Benjaminsen is out with a broken foot. Also left back Einar Hansen is missing because of a foot-injury.

Experienced midfielder Súni Olsen and forward Christian Lamhauge Holst are both missing through injury.

This has given room for several new players. Most noticeable is the selection of 34-year-old central defender Egil á Bø who has never been capped before. Should he come on, he will be the oldest player ever who has made a debut for the Faroe Islands.

Also 31-year-old Bartal Eliasen (central defender), who has been capped 4 times before, has been selected for the Portugal friendly. He hasn't been in the Faroese squad since 2002.

Goalkeeper René Tórgarð has been promised that he will get his debut between the sticks. And it's about time that he gets the chance now, as normal first choice keeper Jákup Mikkelsen has made several errors in his last matches for the Faroes. Now it's all up to Tórgarð to prove that it should be his place.

Also 19-year-old midfielder Bogi Løkin, who has been playing for the U-21 team, has been selected for senior team for the first time. He is the son of former international Abraham Løkin (before Hansen). Should Bogi Løkin get his debut, it will be the first time a son of a former Faroe Islands-player has played for the Faroe Islands since the Faroes were recognized by FIFA in 1988.

And finally the national coach has listened to our advice :-) on this website and selected Bárður Olsen. Olsen has been capped once before, in the 4-0 defeat to Poland in a friendly in 2006. It's just a shame that he wasn't in the original squad-selection for the Portugal-match, but was only picked when Einar Hansen became injured. It's not clear if Olsen is intended to play in midfield or defence. Hopefully he won't be wasted at right back, as he sometime is for his club, EB/Streymur.

Also EB/Streymur's left back Leif Niclasen has been selected for the first time. A couple of years ago he was a forward in the 3rd tier, but has now been retrained to the left back position. Niclasen is one of six players from EB/Streymur to be selected for the Portugal match.

One more player could get his debut on Wednesday; forward/midfielder Andreas Lava Olsen from Víkingur who has been in inspirational form and is currently joint 4th in the top scorer-list with 8 goals after 18 rounds.

The full squad for the friendly international between Portugal and the Faroe Islands:

The match will be played at the magnificent Estádio Municipal de Aveiro in Portugal on Wednesday 20 August, at 19:45. See some photos of the stadium here.

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ÍF Fuglafjørður sack David Jones
Last week, after ÍF's 3-1 defeat at home to B68 Toftir, ÍF decided to sack their English coach David Jones. ÍF haven't used the word "sack", though, but have said it was a mutual agreement between both parties that the coach should step down. However, Jones denied that "mutual agreement" in a short comment in the Faroese newspaper Vikublaðið.

This came as a surprise to many, as ÍF have been doing quite well for most of the season, although they were only 5 points from a relegation-spot at the time of the sacking. However, those 5 points shrunk to only 2 on Sunday under new coach Albert Ellefsen, as ÍF suffered their 3rd defeat in a row after the summer break.

However, ÍF's dip in form seems odd, as they just before the summer break won 3 matches in a row (beating both HB and EB/Streymur emphatically) and positioned themselves in a relative safe position in the table.

But no official reason has been given for the dismissal of Jones. So, whether the reason is lacking results or something else, is unknown. However, some rumours suggest it's the latter.

But ÍF Fuglafjørður has a history of being quite hysterical when it comes to coaches, and many have been sacked in recent years for mystical reasons. For example Sigfríður Clemensen was sacked in 2004 before he the following year guided B36 to the title.

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HB Tórshavn make coaching-changes
After some disappointing results, also HB have made changes in their coaching staff as Sámal Erik Hentze (former assistant at EB/Streymur) has been appointed new coach alongside current coach Rúni Nolsøe. They will now be sharing the responsibility on equal terms.

However, at their first match on Sunday when HB beat league leaders EB/Streymur, it seemed like Hentze was taking control of affairs as he was the one doing all the gesticulations and shouting on the sideline.

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Christian Lamhauge Holst to Silkeborg
Faroe Islands international Christian Lamhauge Holst who played for Danish club Lyngby in the Superliga last season, but were relegated, has made a deal to join Danish 1st division club Silkeborg at the beginning of 2009 when his contract at Lyngby expires. Media had linked him to several Superliga clubs, but Holst himself said that there had been no concrete offer.

Holst has always lived in Denmark, but is eligible to play for the Faroe Islands because of his Faroese mother. Holst has been capped 12 times for the Faroes, scoring 2 goals. For Lyngby he has scored 76 goals in 142 matches.

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Gunnar Nielsen to Motherwell
Faroe Islands U21 goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen, who signed for Premier League club Blackburn in July 2008 has joined Scottish Motherwell on loan for a 6-month period, where Nielsen is now the reserve-keeper. But his ambitions are higher than a reserve spot; "I've come here for six months and I will do my best to push Graeme for the first-team shirt. Hopefully I will get into the team and my aim is to improve myself as a player and help the club as much as I can", Nielsen told Motherwell's website.

Last season, Nielsen made 12 reserve team appearances in his first season at Blackburn.