Macphee going under the radar as he tries to nurture great Danes
Where in the world is Austin Macphee? It was confirmed yesterday that the former Hearts assistant manager, such a wellkent face on the Scottish football scene in recent years, has been quietly working away on the coaching staff at FC Midtjylland since early January.
According to ex-celtic defender Erik Sviatchenko, the club’s skipper, the innovative Midtjylland and meticulous Macphee are an extremely good fit. The evidence – something such a progressive club relies on – backs this up. They have won their last four league and cup matches.
Despite only being in existence for little more than two decades, Midtjylland reached the group stage of the Champions League under well-regarded coach Brian Priske earlier this season. They are owned by Oxford University physics graduate Matthew Benham, who also owns Brentford.
Both clubs put a great emphasis on youth development. The Midtjylland academy is dubbed the “goldmine”. Macphee founded AM Soccer in 2006 and the community football club, based in Cupar, is still going strong. He remains on the Northern Ireland coaching staff and is currently preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Italy in Parma next month. He was last seen in this country when featuring prominently in the behind-the-scenes docuseries on Hearts that aired in November.
Macphee has ditched the threepiece suit for some warmer clothes on the Jutland peninsula and has been a welcome addition. “The players have been very open to him – he knows when to push and when to train a little bit less. He is already very popular,” says Sviatchenko.
“When I heard a Scottish guy
was coming in, I asked ‘can you send me the name, it will be funny if I know him.’ I got the name Austin Macphee and looked him up on Google and, of course, I immediately remembered him on the sidelines, with his long hair and beard, when I played for Celtic against Hearts. It turns out he was also at Hampden when I scored my first goal for Celtic against Rangers. In that sense, we already had a bit of connection.”
There’s another connection – Macphee’s grandfather was the cartoonist Bud Neill, while Sviatchenko’s
father is a collage artist.
The Dane threw himself into Scottish life during his Celtic stay. “It’s great to have someone saying ‘wee man’ and ‘big man’ to me again!” he said.
Sviatchenko believes Macphee’s experience of working with an underdog, specifically Northern Ireland, is invaluable. “We are now a team that has the ball a lot – everyone wants to beat us in the Superliga,” says Sviatchenko. “The opposition use certain things against us. Austin has an appreciation of this aspect of the game.
If we can’t outspend them, we need to outthink them, that’s the Midtjylland philosophy.” Another test of the coaching staff 's tactical nous awaits tomorrow when leaders Brondby, a point above second-placed Midtjylland, are the visitors to their 11,000-capacity stadium.
The club’s aim is to be playing Champions League group stage football again next season. It will be harder for Macphee to remain so under the radar then.
Men and women in the British squads for the Olympic rugby sevens tournament in Tokyo this summer will be paid equally.
Scotland is well represented in the initial GB training squads, with six players each in the women’s and men’s selections which are also drawn from England and Wales.
GB sevens team leader Charlie Hayter said: “Naming the two squads is a significant milestone for the GB7S programme. The collaboration across all three unions and their respective partners has been brilliant to get us to this stage in a short amount of time. I would also like to thank the clubs for their support in allowing players to follow their short-term ambitions of competing at an Olympic Games.
“We’re delighted to be able to confirm an equal pay structure up to the Olympics, and are, of course, grateful to the National Lottery for their fantastic support.
“While we are extremely pleased to be able to confirm our squads, the door is not closed for any player and we will continue to monitor all players’ progress over the coming months.”
Megan Gaffney, Rhona Lloyd, Helen Nelson, Chloe Rollie, Hannah Smith and Lisa Thomson have been picked for the 19-player women’s squad which will be coached by Scott Forrest. All six are full Scotland internationals.
The 21-player men’s squad features Scots Alec Coombes, Jamie Farndale, Robbie Fergusson, Paddy Kelly, Ross Mccann and Max Mcfarland. Both teams will be based at Loughborough University.