The Only Norwegian Managers with Spells in Europe’s Top Leagues

 

Norwegian managers who had stints in Europe’s top leagues have been incredibly rare so far.

Norwegian managers are exactly well known for their success abroad. Let alone in the European major leagues, despite their talents. No wonder that their appointment in any of the sides in the top leagues would definitely raise the questions. 

Recently, the Ligue 1 side, St Etienne, has just named Erik Horneland as their new boss. He is the first Norwegian manager appointed for a team in six European major leagues (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Italian Serie A, and Dutch Eredivisie) since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2018. Such is certainly surprising news since he has never had any experience leading the team abroad or playing outside Norway during his playing years. 

The 49-year-old gaffer only has Brann Bergen, the Norwegian U-19 team, Rosenborg, and Haugesund in his CV. His most successful stint was with his last club, Brann Bergen, which he guided to win the league in 2022, just one year after their promotion. Horneland also delivered the domestic cup trophy in 2023. He reportedly left his post to switch sides to France. Yet, it did not stop St. Etienne management from signing him to take charge of the team.

Throughout history, very few Norwegian managers were given such rare opportunities to work in Europe's top leagues. Prior to Horneland, only four distinguished figures had been at the helm of the teams in six European top leagues, two of them having been in charge of their own national team. 

Egil Olsen (Wimbledon FC - Premier League)

He is the most successful manager of the Norwegian national team, as he was the only one who led them to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Olsen did it in the 1994 and 1998 editions, when Tore Andre Flo and Co. beat Brazil to advance to the round of 16.

However, his career at the club level was not considered illustrious. He never won a single title and failed miserably when he was in charge of Premier League side Wimbledon in the 1999/2000 season. The Crazy Gang had to go down to the second tier and never returned ever since. Olsen’s record with the London side was woeful, with only 11 wins and suffering 20 defeats in 53 games. Although Vinnie Jones and Co. were unbeaten against the reigning champion, Manchester United, in both fixtures, his spell in Selhurst Park was not exactly memorable. Nevertheless, he was notably the first-ever Norwegian boss to lead the Premier League team in history.

Stale Solbakken (FC Koln - Bundesliga)

The current Norwegian national team boss shared the negative record with Egil Olsen in the European major league. Solbakken was once at the helm of Bundesliga side FC Koln during the 2011/12 season. 

At the beginning, their campaign went fine. Lukas Podolski and Co. managed to stay in the mid-table in the first half of the campaign. They had some respectable results, including dismantling Son Heung Min’s Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 on the road. 

Unfortunately, his team’s form dipped in the second half of the season. The former FC Copenhagen boss was eventually sacked as FC Koln sat 16th with four games left. They eventually were relegated at the end of the season. Solbakken’s winning rate with the German side was only 28.1%.

Trond Sollied (Heerenveen - Eredivisie)

He is probably the underrated Norwegian gaffer compared to the previous two. Unlike them, Sollied actually lifted the trophy when he was in charge of SC Heerenveen in the 2008/09 season. He guided them to finish fifth and won the KNVB Cup by thumping Steve McClaren’s Twente on penalties. 

His team's record in Eredivisie was impressive too, as they were unbeaten against Ajax and Feyenoord, plus crushed PSV Eindhoven 3-2 on the road. One of Gerald Sibon and Co.’s stunning performances was when they ran rampant versus Luis Suarez’s Ajax and secured a 5-2 win at home. Sollied’s record with Heerenveen was superb too, with 25 wins and only 15 losses in 53 games. Unfortunately, his second season in the Netherlands ended after he was nominated for taking charge of the Norwegian national team.

The former Bodoe/Glimt manager is also the only Norwegian boss who has clinched two league titles outside the Scandinavian top flight. He was able to win the Belgian league title twice for Club Brugge and one Greece Super League title for Olympiakos.  

Ole Solskjaer (Manchester United - Premier League)

He is arguably the best one among the others so far as Solskjaer gained success in the big team, Manchester United, which was also his former side as a player. Unlike his disappointing first stint in England with Cardiff City, his spell at Old Trafford was memorable despite being trophyless. 

Solskjaer was initially named as the caretaker following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho in the middle of the 2018/19 season. He led The Red Devils to finish sixth and reached the quarterfinals in the UCL. In the next two seasons, the former striker was able to inspire their rise by sitting third and second in the Premier League, plus reaching the Europa League final in 2021 before losing to Unai Emery’s Villarreal in the shootout.

Some of his team's notable results were two 2-0 victories over Manchester City, both at home and away in 2020 and 2021. However, his fourth season did not turn out as expected following the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford. Despite the Portuguese superstar’s positive form, Solskjær’s side was struggling in the domestic and continental campaign. He eventually departed in the middle of the 2021/22 season and was succeeded by Michael Carrick before the arrival of Ralf Ragnick. Ole’s winning rate there was 54.17%.