A short, sweet, successful season in Slovakia meant Trebor Mahtal was back on the job hunt as he resigned from his role at Slovan Bratislava on 31 May 2035. His last two jobs had been a little easy, so he was keen on a job that posed more of a challenge.
A few jobs were already available and Mahtal wasted no time applying for vacancies at Honved, Midtjylland and Grasshoppers. It took nearly a month for any movement but Honvéd and Grasshoppers eventually offered interviews and Midtjylland followed suit a day later. Honvéd came in first , followed by Grasshopers, so he delayed both. But the club Mahtal really wanted switfly offered £12.5k a week, and he jumped at the chance to move to Denmark.
Who Are FC Midtjylland?
Football Club Midtjylland is a professional club based in Hernang and Ikast in the peninsula of Jutland at the north of Denmark. The club was formed by wood-supply businessman and carpenter Johnny Rune and Mercedes-Benz dealer Steen Hessel, who merged existing clubs Ikast FS and Herning Fremad in February 1999. The new club started out in the Danish second tier and was promoted to the Danish Superliga a year later. In 2014, Midtjylland was taken over by Matthew Benham, who also owns Brentford in real life, when he became the majority shareholder of parent company FCM Holding. The next season, they became Danish champions for the first time.
Midtjylland has a strong reputation for finding and developing players through its academy, attracting local players and foreign talent through its international network. However, it’s only won one title during this save, in 2028, and slumped to 6th last season. The club has £900k in the bank, a £1.2m transfer budget and £256k wage budget, of which £19k is spare. It plays at the 21,274-capacity MCH Arena and has solid infrastructure of 20 youth recruitment, 17 youth facilities and 16 training and youth facilities. Midtjylland competes in the Battle of the Heath Derby with Viborg and the Battle of Midtjylland Derby with Silkeborg, plus rivalries competitive rivalries with København and Brøndby.
Mahtal’s reign began with two big sales as midfielder Oliver Sørensen joined PAOK for £4m and winger Gabriel Codreanu moved to Olympiacos for £8.5m. The best player at the club is midfielder and captain Magnus Hørby plus all-time record goalscorer Franculino Djú, who has 132 goals in 317 games during 13 years at the club, 18-year-old holding midfielder Kim Fenger and young centre backs Branko Music and Daniil Roschin. There’s plenty more potential led by midfielder Ovidiu Vlad, winger Joachim Juul, goalkeeper Habib Agrebi and left back Henrik Damsgaard. Mahtal added to the squad by loaning Red Star striker Milan Kostic and buying midfielder Gabriel Radu for up to £3.2m from Farul Constanta.
Five of the club’s best seven players were either centre backs or holding midfielders, which gave Mahtal somewhat of a conundrum. He initially considered a 4-3-3 but eventually opted for a Danish box approach that would use the full backs for width.
Getting Started In Denmark
3F Superliga begins with a 22-game preliminary phase before splitting into 10-game Championship and Relegation Groups. Last season’s poor finish meant there was no continental football, so Mahtal’s full focus was on domestic affairs. The bookies made Midtjylland fourth favourites with title odds of 14/1 behind holders København (4/9) and AGF and Randers (11/1).
Mahtal’s first game was a big rival clash at Silkeborg, and they got a flyer as striker Martin Rasmussen scored inside five minutes and doubled his tally after a brilliant passing move on 20 minutes. But some poor defending saw them throw the lead away and draw 2-2. The same result followed at home to AGF thanks to Rasmussen’s second half equaliser. But Mahtal got his first win as another Rasmussen brace led a 3-1 victory at OB.
A massive injury crisis saw six defenders sidelined in September and Midtjylland drew five of their first eight games before suffering a first defeat 2-1 at home to København. They improved as Djú’s brace edged a 2-1 at Brøndby only to play terribly in a 2-1 defeat at home to rivals Viborg then draw 1-1 at AGF and again at home to Silkeborg and OB – making it eight draws from 14 games! A 5-1 hammering of bottom-side Roskilde sent Midtjylland into a two-month winter break sitting in a disappointing 6th place, trialing leaders København by 12 points but 2nd-place Randers by just six points.
Turning To Youth Backfires
Mahtal allowed several older players to leave at the ends of their contracts at the end of 2035 and promote several youngsters in their place. But turning to youth did not start well as 2036 began as 2035 ended as they drew yet another match 0-0 at home to Vejle – that’s nine draws in 18 – then 2-1 defeats at Randers and København and at home to Brøndby had the board’s desire of a top three finish and even the top five looking in serious jeopardy. Djú eased some of the pressure with the only goal at rivals Viborg to at least confirm their place in the Championship Group.
The Championship Group started terribly with a 1-0 defeat at home to AaB then losing 3-1 at Nordsjaelland and 1-0 at Randers. Mahtal switched things up to a 4-3-3, which at least stopped the rot with Vlad and Music securing a 2-2 at home to AGF. But that ended any outside hopes of the top four and left them six points off 5th, and Mahtal was seriously worried he might get the sack.
Those fears weren’t eased by a 5-2 thrashing at København and a 1-0 loss at AaB set a new club record eight games winless streak. That swiftly extended to nine with defeat at Randers but, out of nowhere, Rasmussen bagged a hat trick in a 6-1 thrashing of Nordsjaelland. That gave Midtjylland some impetus as Vlad and Rasmussen inspired a 2-0 win at AGF then Djú’s late goal nicked a final 2-1 win over champions København.
That left Midtjylland in a 6th-place finish, only one point behind AGF, with a club-low tally of 40 points after 10 wins, 10 draws and 12 defeats. They scored 49 and conceded 43, which was the third-lowest in the league. Rasmussen was the league’s top scorer with 19 in 32,
A Disappointing First Season In Denmark
Midtjylland’s star player was Rasmussen, who scored 20 in 38 followed by Djú (14) and Vlad (8), who were the only players to score more than three goals. Hørby led the way with 11 assists followed by Djú (7) and Vlad (6), and they were the only players to get more than three assists.
Mahtal was very disappointed with his first season in Denmark, which was by far the lowest point of his 13-year career to date. That said, there was no doubting he was very much getting the challenge he’d seeked in the summer! He was half expecting a meeting with the board as the summer progressed, but wouldn’t be departing under his own steam. That was largely because he was excited about the club’s potential, boosted by a strong youth intake that inlcuded five “elite talents.” However, the club’s finances weren’t in good shape, so they were likely to lose players.
But would Mahtal remain in charge of Midtjylland for the 2036/37 season? Join us on Monday to find out!
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