Norway boss Age Hareide ready to resume rivalry with old foe Burley

Oct 5 2008 By Gavin Berry

NORWAY boss Age Hareide has revealed his rivalry with George Burley goes back three decades after they played on opposite sides of the East Anglian divide.

Hareide will stand in the away dugout at Hampden on Saturday looking to strike a blow to Scotland's World Cup hopes by masterminding a victory in Glasgow.

And he admitted the crucial qualifier will be just another showdown with Burley - and his assistant Terry Butcher - after he came across the Ipswich Town legend as a player at bitter rivals Norwich City.

Hareide, 55, said: "I know George well and have played against him many times. We enjoyed many derby tussles together.

"We also spoke recently at Scotland's friendly with the Czech Republic in May and at Norway's Under-21 match with Scotland at Kilmarnock.

"George has also brought another old foe of mine in to the national team set-up - Terry Butcher - who, of course, played alongside him in the Ipswich Town defence.

"I'm sure Terry must have kicked me a few times over the years - but then I probably kicked him as well.

"The Norwich-Ipswich derbies were always tight in those days. Norwich had a good team at that time, including players like our captain Martin O'Neill.

"We also had Micky Channon up front, Chris Woods in goal and Dave Watson and myself at centre half. We beat Ipswich in the fourth round of the FA Cup in 1983, a real cracker at Carrow Road.

"We had a lot of excellent games - in the early 80s Ipswich were second only to Liverpool in England.

"I could never have imagined then we would be in opposite dugouts one day, with George managing Scotland and me with Norway. It's funny.

"We used to socialise a little in the players' lounge after games but not for long because it was only a short bus trip back to Norwich.

"But we knew all their players well and we'd meet up on international duty with our respective countries.

"Norwich had a real mix of nationalities - Irish, Scots and English.

"In training we used to play England against the rest of the world in bounce games - and we always won.

"I discovered just how passionate the Scots are in those games.

"I also played with two other Scotsmen Asa Hartford and Tommy Hutchison when I was at Manchester City.

"Asa remains a good friend and we keep in regular contact.

"Both guys played for Scotland at the 1982 World Cup and were brilliant.

"I used to live in the 'Scottish colony' in Manchester when I played for City.

"As well as Tommy and Asa, the group included Bobby McDonald and Gerry Gow. They were fantastic players and great people.

"After being surrounded with those guys you grow to love Scottish people - they are brilliant. I made sure Asa and Chris Woods got tickets in 2004 when Norway beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

"I was pleased my old pal was back in Glasgow visiting his father. Asa rang me up at our hotel, came round to see me and we had a chat.

"It's always nice to see him again and whenever I'm in Manchester I always phone him. Whenever we can, we like to meet and socialise. It's good.

"Willie Donnachie was at Manchester City before I arrived but I know him frommy time at Norwich and he was No.2 to Joe Royle.

"He's another nice guy who I get on so well with.

"But my connections with Scotland don't end there. I also took Arthur Albiston to Norway when he had finished his career at Manchester United. I was at Molde and signed him on loan for six months.

"He was a fantastic player."

Hareide was in charge four years ago when Norway won at Hampden but his memories aren't so good of the teams' last meeting in Oslo when Walter Smith's men triumphed 2-1 in the same World Cup campaign in 2005.

Kenny Miller scored both goals and Hareide knows the Rangers frontman will be a danger again when the sides go head-to-head on Saturday.

Hareide said: "I have good memories of Scotland but some bad ones too.

"Strangely all the best times for us came at Hampden - our meetings in Oslo are the ones I would rather forget.

"Norway were awful in the home game against Scotland "We didn't play at all. We gave away two silly goals and deserved to lose.

"This time we have to prepare ourselves in a better way.

"Sometimes playing at home can be a difficult task because you have to watch out for teams threatening on the counter-attack all the time.

"You're taking the game to your opponents but they're looking to hit you on the break. That's the way Iceland played against us in Oslo during our opening match of this World Cup campaign.

"They defended well then shook us on the break - and they went home with a point after earning a 2-2 draw.

"Scotland are particularly good at this kind of tactic. Back in 2005 Miller caused us problems - he must have scored in every game he's played against us.

"He's a good striker and goalscorer and I'm surprised he hasn't caught the eyes of the big Premiership clubs.

"He was at Wolverhampton last time we played - although I know he is back in Scotland now with Rangers.

"He's good playing in a counter-attacking side because he is so quick and a lethal finisher.

"The Premiership clubs buy top-class players from abroad but maybe they don't look in their own backyard often enough.

"Miller has the ability to play at a high level for some of the biggest clubs in England.

"I'm never glad to see any player injured but I breathed a sigh of relief when he disappeared down the tunnel with a hip injury after scoring twice in the opening 40 minutes last time we met.

"I have nothing but praise for Miller's quality and his finishing.

"I had to make three changes at half-time to steady the team. It was probably one of the most disastrous nights for any Norwegian football side.

"We thought we could chase group leaders Italy because we had two games in hand on them against Moldova at home and Belarus away.

"But we put ourselves in a silly position by losing to Scotland.

"The frustrating thing is we still got to the play-offs. Scotland were too far behind us after they lost to Belarus at Hampden. Luckily we got to the play-offs instead.

"But Scotland gave us a lesson that night and showed us we were still inexperienced at that level - and a little unbalanced because we had to play a midfielder at right-back because of injuries.

"It killed off our chances of topping the group and opened the door for Italy."

BURLY FILE

WON FA Cup with Ipswich in 1978, part of 1981 UEFA Cup winning squad. Played for Sunderland, Gillingham, Motherwell, Ayr, Falkirk and Colchester. Bossed Ayr, Colchester, Ipswich, Derby, Hearts and Southampton.

HAREIDE FILE

JOINED Norwich from Manchester City when he played, before signing for Molde. As a coach he won the league with Helsingborgs, Brondby and Molde. Became national boss after a brief coaching stint at Rosenborg.