Eirik Horneland had such successful years for Brann with second place in the Eliteserien in his last season that the French big club Saint-Étienne, when they found themselves with one leg outside Ligue 1, contacted the 49-year-old coach from Haugesund.
One thing that surprised a French audience, but which the people of Bergen know very well from before, is the fact that Erik Horneland is very good at whistling and that he uses it actively on the sidelines to get attention from the players.
Possibly he has scared the players into extra effort because since he took over on January 1st, Saint-Étienne has managed to climb up from the qualifying place.
Yesterday, Saint-Étienne got a very important away point at the Stade de l’Abbé Deschamps in the relegation battle against Auxerre.
Hamed Junior Traoré gave Auxerre the lead with a fine solo goal when he sent a blast into the far corner in the 27th minute. But Zuriko Davitashvili equalized shortly afterwards when he nodded the ball into the goal from close range.
The point in Auxerre lifted the team away from the qualification place past Nantes and Rennes before the rest of the 19th round of the league is played on Saturday and Sunday.
Eirik Horneland’s mission is simply to keep Saint-Étienne up in Ligue 1.
