Uncle Rifle

Congratulations. It's a pleasure to see Motherwell retain their place in the SPL, and to do so with two convincing victories. A big wish for better fortunes in the coming seasons from Odense. Well done.

Hey Motherwell fans. Just a quick "congrats" on the playoff win against Rangers. I was very pleased to see you get a fine result away. Not because I dislike Rangers per se. More because some of os Odense fans haven't forgotten the great support and overall gracious and sportsmanlike behaviour you showed when we met you in the EL some years ago. I must admit that your fans and their great spirit they showed in Odense gave me something of a soft spot for The Steelmen afterwards, and I have been following your ups and downs since. It would be nice to see Rangers (whom my uncle played for as an amateur in the 70s) back in the SPL, but certainly not at the expence of Motherwell. Good luck in the return. And I wish you better fortune next year if (when) you make it out of the play offs.

If you paid 7£ a pint, you must have wandered into The Odense Hilton by mistake and ordered the pint with little pieces of gold floating in it. You must have been drinking in the wrong venue my friend. I would have severe trouble finding a place in Odense charging more than 5£ a pint, and I lived there for 30 years

We (Odense) beat Panathinaikos in this seasons CL-qualification, despite having a team that is significantly weaker than the one you met two years ago. FCK met them in the group stages in CL in 10-11 and slaughtered them 2-0 away and 3-1 at home, which is not an accurate potrayal of the one-sidedness of the the two games. (but FCK was a lot stronger then than now) FCK are by no means unbeatable, but they are coming down from a very dissapointing season, and their economical balance depends on a CL-qualification. If I were to compare FCK and Pana right now, it would be 60-40 in strength, but there is no way FCK will not come out of the transfer window strengthened. Their future as an scandinavian powerhouse could depend on it. I hope they f*** it up, though. They have become something of a danish Rosenborg, or Celtic, leaving the rest of us to fight for scraps. Their failure to win the league this year (despite at one point having been 12 points ahead of the eventual winners, FCN) comes down to arrogance, and poor decisions from management. (Including sacking their coach, when they were four points ahead, and replacing him with the inept sporting director) As for Denmarks chance in the Euros, I would rate them somewhere around slilm to non-existing. We should hope for a win against Portugal, which is no easy feat, and the for a draw against either Netherlands or Germany, in a game where the opponent have already gone through to the final 16, and hope it will be enough to advance. I doubt it, though.

Panathinaikos are in my opinion a weaker team than FCK. The greeks have been beaten both by FCK and us (OB) in recent seasons, and beaten convincingly. Greek football is in steep decline, and running out of money, whereas FCKs second place-finish must be seen as something of a fluke. They will be replacing their coach, and making expensive purchases over the summer and come qualification time they will most likely be a force to be reckoned with. Fernerbache and Kiev are teams that would give anyone a hard time. I would rate them thus: 1 Fenerbache 2 Kiev 3 FCK 4 Panathnaikos.

It has quite a few british pubs, and they are all very expensive. About 4-5£ for a pint of Carlsberg. That, combined with the fact that FCK are a very strong team, makes me wish for you to draw an easier team.

Hello Motherwell fans Just a quick congratulations on your fine season, and a wish for good luck in europe. We in Odense haven't forgot what fine representatives for british football you all were, when you came to Odense to meet OB a couple of years ago. I had a great time drinking pints and talking football with you all before the match, and at Ryans Pub after the match. I've been keeping an eye on your progress in SPL since, and I'm glad to see you go to europe again. With a little more luck, you should be able to get into a group stage, if not in the CL, then in EL. We also haven't forgotten just how close you came to knocking us out. Good luck, especially if you happen to run into FC København, who are our rivals. Kind regards, Uncle Rifle, Odense Boldklub.

Well, we'll see about that come thursday (and as a side note: yes, Caca is a diving, big-mouthed player, who's attitude is in no way matched by his footie skills)

There is no doubt that the speed and tenacity the Motherwell players showed threw the OB players off a bit. We have a very aged and slow defence, and fast players tend to hurt us. I was surprised your lot didn't take more shots from the distance.

We knew Motherwell didn't play "kick-n-rush", and that your coach was a experienced ol' dog. I think both teams supporters had expected more from the opposing side. That was the feeling you got after the game, anyway. But even with Celtic and Rangers being regulars in the Champions League, Scotland still finished 8 places below Denmark in last years european coefficients: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/d.../ccoef2010.html

I meant with the perfomance you delivered on thursday. OB played the worst game in recent memory, but we were still unlucky not to win with two. I was in no way impressed by Motherwells level of performance. Most of the teams we meet in the danish league plays on a higher level. Some on a much higher level. What made the difference was better tactics from Brown and a lot of fight and heart from the Motherwell players.

Ridiculous. The first card was ok, the second was in no way a yellow, especially when it led to a sending off. The ref was p*** poor. Djemba-Djemba and A.M. Christensen must have thanked their lucky stars that they came away from the match without a booking.

Hello Motherwell-supporters. A few thoughts on the game from an OB-fan. First of all, it was not a very good game from either side in my opinion. OB played what was probably the worst game we've played in over a year. Our defence backed away from every challenge, when they weren't busy making risky free kicks. Our midfield was not supportive for either defence or offence, and the players strolled around the pitch like it was a sunday walk in the park. The attitude from our players was one of arrogance and a feeling that no matter what, they would still make it through. It cost us dearly, when one of our crap midfielders made a clumsy and stupid challenge in overtime, that ultimately cost us your goal. The ref was dodgy as well. He must have swallowed the whistle, because every time he moved, it seemed like he blew it. You were denied at least one penalty, when A.M. Christensen had his arm on the ball in the first half. I can assure you, that this is not the normal level of performance from OB, and I would be very surprised if we saw a repeat perfomance in Scotland. Motherwell were clearly on level with us in Odense, but in 8 games out of 10 we should beat you, if our players would just remember how to play football. As for the supporters, it was great to see the turnout, and having a few (or a lot of) pints with your supporters in Ryans and Slotskroen. You are a very friendly and funny bunch, and you are welcome back in Odense any time. I had a very good time, and it was great to see the love and passion for your club on display. As I said to those supporters I spoke to after the game: If OB can't beat you over two games, we have no business in Europe anyway, and at least it will be a team with traditions and history going through to the group, making some well needed money. Thank you for the game, and the exemplary kindness and respect your supporters showed in Odense.

There is only one Starbucks in all of Denmark. At the airport in Copenhagen. And rumour has it they only keep that one so they can say they're represented in every european country. We have coffee shops like it. One called "Baresso" is quite like Starbucks. Two of those in Odense. They only keep regular business hours, though. (9-18)

Let me just add, that while the club offer seems expensive, compared to what Aalesunds supporters payed, Denmark and Norway is a lot more pricey to rent rooms, coaches, etc. in. My club, OB, will not even be arranging any kind of trip to Scotland. If the supporters want to go, then it's up to ourselves to book and travel. Food and drink is expensive in Denmark. For those travelling on a budget, I suggest supermarkets and kebabshops. Restaurants are very expensive in DK. And as the Motherwell supporter from Cph said, avoid the "glitzy" places. In general: if you can smoke there, and there are wooden benches/tables, it's cheap to drink there

No chance. The commentary will be in Danish, regardless of the station.

You can't count on the TV-listings yet. It will all depend on which games is on when, an so on. The rights for the Euro League is shared between two-three broadcasters, who each have more than one channel, so the networks haven't figured out what channels will broadcast the games yet. I would be very surprised, however, if the games weren't broadcast, seeing how danish tv has broadcast every danish qual-game this year. If I were you, I would start searching for the danish channels "TV3 Plus", "TV3 Puls" and "TV2 Sport". One of them is with 95% certainty broadcasting the game. I will return and update this thread, the moment I find out which channel the game is on. PS: And for the guy worried about Danish Tv broadcasting Molde, Don't. Danish TV don't give a flying f*** about NORWEGIAN football, when the danish teams are playing

Stadium = 3,5 miles, or 5.8 km . City center = 5.5 miles, or 8.8 km.

Blommenslyst Kro is somewhat far from the city center (prl. 20-25£ in taxis - each way. Don't count on public transport past 11 in the night.) Upside is that its not that far from the stadium.

Thank you. I would just like to state how much it pleases me that we are meeting a true traditional football team from the motherland of football, instead of some unknown eastern european team. It's a pleasure meeting a team that we have heard of, like Motherwell, instead of FC UnknownSerbianTeam est. 1997. Motherwell was founded 1886, OB in 1887. Proper teams, with proper history. I hope we pass through to the group stage, off course, but if we don't, then at least there will be a real football team going through. I would take an english or scottish team to go through any time over some unknown team who is the plaything of some russian milionaire.

Yes, but be warned that this game could get your hopes up prematurely. FCK are very strong this season, and I predict we will recieve an ass-whoopin'. FCK is the only team in DK that could match Rangers and Celtics on any given sunday.(FCK beat Celtic in the Champions League a few seasons ago)

And when in Odense you should definently try the local lager "Odense Pilsner". It's the only local pilsner in DK which has held on to its market share against the mighty Carlsberg cooperation. It's a bit different than most european lagers. It tastes a little bit stronger than most. (as in tastes more of barly, hops and so on. It's not stronger alcohol-wise)

Be warned, that the alkopops called "cider" in Denmark has very little to do with british cider. I recommend trying a single can first, before you spend all your alkohol money on them. Some are just horribly sweet sodas with alkohol in them. More like applejuice and vodka than cider. Real british cider is mostly only available in irish/scottish pubs in DK.

I posted this in another tread, but here it is again, for your pleasure: Hello Motherwell-supporters We are looking forward to seeing you in Odense for an exciting match, and hope it will be two good games, with a lot of travelling fans from both sides. A little info about Odense. The town itself is a bit spread out, but the city center is quite concentrated. Most of the hotels in Odense are in the city center, so that shouldn't be a problem. A couple of your supporters have already inquired about hotels at our forum. In this tread are a couple of recommendations: http://ob.dk/forum/thread/418801.aspx When you are in Odense, the easiest way to get to the stadium is by bus from the central station. Alternatively it's about a 30-minute walk from the city center or train station. As for troublemakers and such, that is not really our style. Not a lot of hooligans (if any), and if you act respectfully towards the city and its inhabitants, you should be met with friendliness in Odense. A little about the team: We have Roy Carroll on goal, who stated that one of the reasons he came to OB was to ressurect his failing career. So far he has done just that, with performances ranging from the solid to the great. He won "The golden cage" for best goal keeper in the league for his first half-season. Our defence is build around dane A. M. Christensen and norwegian A.R. Haaland. They are very experienced, but not as fast as they used to be. (Which wasn't much to begin with ) The backs are young norwegian E. Ruud on right, and experienced dane (and team captain) C. Sørensen on left. Both are good in the offensive aspect as well, with Ruud filling in on the wing in case of injuries. The midfield is usually comprised of a diamond formation, with former Man. U and A. Villa player Eric Djemba-Djemba in defensive midt. He has been very solid in that position, and has consistently been one of the best midfielders in the league. The wings are usually icelandic R. Gislason on the right, and young dane J. Absalonsen on the left. Both are fast and both have a great workman-like attitude to the game, combined with a good shot. The attacing midfielder is dane H.H. Andreasen, who is more of a box-to-box workhorse, than a brazilian-style technical midfielder. Has great heading game, though. The attack is build around nigerian Peter Utaka, younger brother of Portsmouths John Utaka. He is one of the leagues most dangerous strikers, with 42 goals in 78 games for OB. His partner in this season had mostly been targetman Henrik Toft (dk), who unfortunately is injured pt. With Toft out, the likely partner for Utaka is swedish-gambian Njogu Demba-Nyrén. (Who is c***, but you did not hear that from me. ) Our coach, former EC-winner, and captain of the danish national team, Lars Olsen, favors a controlled, physical game with contra play and a lot of wing play. As for how good we are ranking-wise, I would say that we are not as good as Celtic or Rangers, but we should hope to match any other team in the scottish league. I would rate our chances at 60-40 to OB, depending on whether or not we get our midfield to work as a team in the next couple of matches. (Which has been a problem in this season) Hope you all found this little primer interesting, and we are looking forward to seeing you in Odense. Best wishes

"Ryans" is an irish pub right in the center of town, which is large and nice. Other than that I can recommend "Sir Club" on "Nørregade" (Norre street) or Restaurant Stadion on Christmas Møllers vej (Christmas Mollers street. Don't worry, it's a pub, not a restaurant) This one is right next to the stadium, and is often frequented by the away supporters. A bit on the small side, though.