BENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

When Benny Lennartsson was unveiled as Bristol City 's new manager in October 1998, the club was in turmoil. The fans were in shock as the John Ward reign which promised so much after the euphoria of promotion came to a sudden end. Chairman Scott Davidson promised a top drawer, internationally renowned foreign manager. We had visions of Arsene Wenger or Gerard Houllier. We got an aging Swedish bloke in a baseball cap that no-one had ever heard of. We lost his first game in charge 5-0 at Bradford . We thought it couldn't get worse. Until we lost 6-1 at home to Wolves in the next game. The club was split. Even the mascots were fighting at half time.

Benny's supporters claim senior players never gave him enough respect or support. At the press conference to announce his appointment, star players including Greg Goodridge stood at the back of the room shaking their heads and muttering as reporters asked the Scandinavian boss questions. We won no games in January, February or March and became anchored in a relegation dogfight. Many fans realized our only hope for survival amid the chaos was to get behind Benny, and he was, perhaps grudgingly, given a chance to show what he could do. Three wins in a row renewed hope until a crucial, devastating 1-0 defeat at Crewe , and relegation was confirmed with a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United on May 1, 1999 . City went down bottom of the table, the dream was over and it was inevitable that Benny would leave. He did so in May 1999. Supporters prepared for a brand new dawn secure in the knowledge it could only get better. The new manager was Tony Pulis.

Yet four and a half years after Lennartson's departure, his influence on the first team remains surprisingly evident. His reputation for bringing on youngsters has yielded players who now fill half the team. He handed Steve Phillips, Matty Hill and Aaron Brown their first team debuts and quietly nurtured talent like Joe Burnell and Kevin Amankwaah with his hands-on role simultaneously running the Academy.

After leaving Viking Stavanger following a three-year stint, Benny is now living in a town with an unpronounceable name in central Sweden . The Incider caught up with him to ask him about his turbulent time at The Gate. Quietly spoken, dignified and affable, he reflected honestly on his failures at City and offered an insight into what was going on behind the scenes. He is clearly still haunted by the seven month reign…

A number of the young players you brought into the squad are doing well now. Which of them did you rate the highest?

Well I think it was Aaron Brown to start with, especially his speed and his running ability and his good left foot. When he was playing on the wide left, he was a bit too static. He didn't use his speed and running ability, but when he played inside in a central position with Brian Tinnion they started to create something good. Then there was the dedication of Matthew Hill and Joe Burnell. Actually, I remember Hill played in my first game. He came on for Mickey Bell and we lost 5-1. It was an absolute disaster. I will never forget it. And I also remember Liam Rosenior. He was only about 15 but I could see that he could be a good player.

Some supporters think Aaron Brown lacks effort sometimes.

I couldn't see that in him. When he played in the wrong position wide left he was a bit defensive-looking, not taking too many risks.

Another player who has just signed a new contract is Steve Phillips.

I thought one of the biggest problems when I came to Bristol was the two goalkeepers. They had one who was okay but on the way down and the other one was so injured that he couldn't play. Steve had ability. He lacked the experience and his kicking ability wasn't good enough, but you could see that with hard work he could be a very goalkeeper. I could see the ability coming through, so in a way it was disappointing to leave when I did, but I didn't succeed with what I was there for.

When you first arrived, was your aim purely to keep us up?

Yes, and to rebuild with youngsters and create a culture of professionalism. When I arrived there were rotten eggs. It was a culture foreign for me. You had too many players going out drinking and not preparing themselves. I put them out of the team. I don't want to put forward names but I let them go to other clubs. At the time, perhaps it would have been better to slowly take them out of the team. Maybe that would have been a better approach, but I don't think so because we started slowly improving all the time. I think slowly the supporters could see what we were looking to achieve.

Is there anything you are proud of achieving at your time at Ashton Gate?

Well I'm not proud as such because I didn't succeed. I regret that I didn't succeed because I really tried everything, but time wasn't on my side. I regret that we had such bad training facilities. I have never in my life would have dreamed that a First Division team would have trained up a hill. The training facilities were really lousy. I at least expected a decent pitch or two. We were training on a hill. The gym facilities were okay – not good enough, but okay. But it was quality pitches we needed.

I am proud when I see four five years after that more than half of the team are the players I put my faith in. I said before leaving that Kevin Amankwaah will make a great player. He had an accident and he hasn't proved that quite yet. But it takes time, for example, for a player like Tommy Doherty to find his footballing brain. I also rated Joe Burnell. He wasn't even in the junior team. I took him aside and said, ‘Hey, work hard and you will be a good player.' I saw in him his iron will to win. He has that willpower I like to see in players.

Is there anyone that surprised you because they didn't make it?

I have been waiting for Aaron's brother Marvin. I have never seen him in the first team. I couldn't see the great talent that maybe he had and that other people saw. I couldn't see that in him.

And anyone you are surprised did make it?

Danny Coles. I am surprised that he has become such a good player because as a youngster he was a bit too big for his body. He was awkward with his movements. But now he has matured, he has become a very good player. Tony Fawthrop says a lot of good things about him.

If you had been given more time, do you think you could have turned things round at Ashton Gate?

That's for sure, but I had a most interesting time.

What did you learn from your time at City?

You are always learning. I think it was a bit of a shock for the players to train differently. I should maybe have been a bit more careful. The start was a disaster. And I remember that some of the players in training were not used to that different kind of training that I put them through. It was not more physical, but it was more intense with the ball. There were longer periods with the ball at their feet.

It was not just that the players couldn't handle it. Suddenly a coach came in from another country who they had never heard about. I had been in the World Cup, the European Cup and the Olympic Games, but for them I was totally unknown. The youngsters trusted my methods but I don't think the old ones did. It was a bit of a different culture and I didn't understand that some of the players were very afraid when I came - afraid for their careers. It is a different culture. Here we work with the players we have and try to improve them, and slowly put other players in. In England when a new manager comes he takes his players with him very often, but that wasn't my intention. For example, Louis Carey was really sick with worry. Maybe I didn't understand how much that affected them.

I would give my right arm to have that experience again because I made some mistakes, and the club and the players made some mistakes as well. Maybe some of the players didn't trust me – but [Benny laughs] I didn't trust some of the players. I remember I said to one player, ‘Go on like this and I will never see you play higher than the second division'. I don't want to say their name.

There was talk of bringing in someone alongside you just before you left. Is that right?

Well, there was talk about that. They were saying that they wanted me to step up, but that is another way of saying that you are fired. Only a couple of months later they wanted me to come back. That was a bit silly and I didn't take it seriously. I had contact with one member of the board, who was saying a few months later that they could see what I had been aiming for. But it was a bit late. Now it's too late to go back. I loved Bristol and I loved that part of England . I lived near the zoo in Clifton . It was very nice, so it was really annoying that I didn't succeed.

I don't regret the experience but I regret that I couldn't fulfil the faith that the board put in me. I think they all know that I did everything I could on my own - because I was a bit on my own. After a couple of months it was okay but I was running two teams in a way, the Academy and the first team.

It really was a most interesting experience and I have no regrets. Of course, I am not glad that I didn't succeed because it could have enabled me to stay longer. My way of working takes a longer time than a couple of weeks and at the end I didn't win myself the extra time to do that. But after me, they wanted a tough man. They thought I wasn't tough enough. In the end, I hear, they got someone too tough!

Ben Wright went back to Viking Stavanger with you. How did he get on?

He was a big centre-forward, very quick. What I didn't see was that he lacked a bit of balance. He was a kind of super-sub in a way. I could put him in at the end of games when the opposition started to get tired, and he was very useful. He did a lot of work and I think he progressed a lot. When we played in the European Cup he helped put Chelsea out of the cup.

It must have been satisfying for you to beat Chelsea and show that despite what happened at Bristol City you were capable of producing a winning team.

Well Chelsea were my favourite team when I was a youngster. I trained with them in the Sixties, so to put them out was a nice experience. But I think one or two people in Bristol know now that although my time there looked like a failure, in a way it wasn't.

What did you think of the fans at Ashton Gate?

Well to start with, it was “f***ing foreigner go home!” And of course, I wasn't that popular like John Ward was before me. But in the end, they could see that we were really unlucky. We started to play really well. For example, we played West Brom and then suddenly Mickey Bell broke his leg and Ivan did his cruciate ligament. In my book we outclassed them, and with eight minutes overtime they scored.

And the experience that for me was the most important game of the year was Crewe . It was postponed because of bad weather. Then Crewe had Seth Johnson in the England under-21s. We had Sebok away with the Hungarians. One of the players from each team was out, and then when the game came Jim Brennan was also called up for Canada . But Dario Grady arranged with Peter Taylor for Seth Johnson to play, and he scored the winning goal, and we were out.

I still regret my last time at Bristol City 's football ground. In the last game, we played Norwich and we were relegated. There were a lot of fans there, and after the game they thanked the players for their effort, and I didn't know that I could go out as well, and that even if I hadn't produced what they had expected I could go out and thank the fans for their patience. That is the thing I still want to do. I went without saying, ‘Goodbye and thanks.' But no-one told me I could. Because, as an old lady said to me, ‘Managers and players they come and go. For us it is Bristol City .' That is so true

One of the controversial aspects of your time at City was the foreign players you brought in. Many fans didn't think players like Sebok really put in the effort they wanted.

Sebok has a way of looking lazy, and he took time to adjust. He improved all the time, but he had that way of looking nonchalant. Ivan Tistimetanu they liked because he put everything in. Sebok did too, but it was just his appearance.

Bo Andersen was really out of shape when he came. It took too long for him to be ready, but when he was he kept a lot of clean sheets. I took him to Stavanger , then when I was going to leave he went to Spain . I think he played for Las Palmas , and the last thing I heard there were a lot of problems at the club with money.

Do you still look for Bristol City 's results?

Oh yes. I follow them on the Internet, and I have been in contact with Tony Fawthrop a couple of times. A couple of years ago I visited.

Are you ever tempted to come back and watch a game?

Well you never know. We talked about me coming over and working a couple of days with the youngsters. I don't know if that will happen. At the moment it is not on, but we have talked about it and I have been invited.

I still have a lot of feelings for Bristol City and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they succeed. I see they have been drawing too often. I was hoping they would surprise me when they played Southampton , but they didn't manage it.

What have you been up to since you left City?

Well I went to Norway . I have been invited to come back to every club I have coached. I'm not managing at the moment. I have said ‘no' to everything so far but I have an offer from Austria that I'm considering. I'm not retiring. If Bobby Robson can do it, I can!

And finally, are you still wearing the baseball cap?

Yes. All the time!

* Thanks to Benny for giving The Incider his time. Do you know a City manager or player that The Incider could interview? Drop us an email at editor@theincider.com.