Henning Berg: Dwight Yorke smiled when Fergie told him off, that helped Manchester United

Publish date: 2024-05-28

Henning Berg was once the most expensive defender signed by an English club when he left Blackburn for Manchester United in 1997.

The £5 million fee proved well spent for the former Norway international, who won the Premier League three times.

The 52-year-old has managed teams in five countries and has just agreed to become the manager of Pafos in Cyprus — The Athletic met him in Manchester to discuss his career and what is next.

Advertisement

“He’s a very good guy,” his former United and Norway team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told us. “Henning can come across as serious, but he’s very good company when he gets to know you and trusts you.”

Is it right that you had a trial with Manchester United as a kid?

Yes. I grew up near Oslo and my team from the age of seven to 18 was called YMCA and based in Oslo away from where I grew up. My best friend’s dad was a coach there and he drove us three, four times each week. I made the first team in the Norwegian fourth division and then I joined Valerenga in the top league. I trained with them for six months at the age of 18 — that’s when I went to United on a trial.

I’d played a tournament with YMCA in Minneapolis, USA, and Brian King, Man United’s scout in Scandinavia, called Alex Ferguson and said ‘We have a kid I think you should look at’. Three weeks later United played a friendly with Valerenga in Oslo. I was not allowed to play because of some administration, so I went to Manchester in 1988 and trained with the reserves for a week and had two sessions with the first team. Ferguson told me that I needed to get a work permit but I didn’t have enough international appearances to get one.

I went back to Norway and played in the top division. That was what was best for me because I wasn’t ready for United, the team I supported as a kid. My brother has always supported Liverpool. But for me it was all about Gordon McQueen, Steve Coppell, Remi Moses. United were a cup team and Liverpool won the league, so I’d just argue with my brother every Saturday.

Your football was going well, you broke into the Norwegian national team. Were you always a central defender?

Always — and that’s not normal. Normally defenders who make it as professionals are midfielders and attackers when they are younger because they’re the best players, but I was never the best player. I was always competitive, I worked hard and tried to improve all the time.

Advertisement

My playing career went step by step, from the fourth division upwards. I was part of a good generation of Norwegian players. By 1996-97 there were about 20 of us playing in the Premier League, at the biggest clubs, too.

The Premier League was recruiting from Scandinavia rather than South America or the rest of the world like now. We were cheaper than English players and we had a good mentality. Our national side was good too — we beat England and qualified for the 1994 World Cup ahead of England and Holland.

That England result was huge.

I didn’t play in the home game when we won, I was still young, but I did at Wembley. I didn’t start and wasn’t happy.

Tore Pedersen was at right-back and got a knock from Ian Wright at 20 minutes. He was on the floor and the doctor ran onto the pitch. With head injuries, the doctors ask you questions to check you are thinking straight. England had dominated the game and our doctor thought England were in the lead. He asked Tore the score and he said: ‘0-0’. The doctor advised that he came off the pitch, but it was 0-0!

I went on as sub and had a good game. We drew 1-1. Kenny Dalglish was in the stadium and wanted a right-back. I was invited to go and train with Blackburn. I was there for a week and they asked me to sign. I had to wait for my work permit and moved to Blackburn in January 1993.

Blackburn were having some success in the Premier League and I went straight into the first team. It did not go well. My first start was against Sheffield Wednesday in a League Cup semi-final at home. They had a good side, Chris Waddle on one wing and John Harkes on the other, a good dribbler and I had to mark him.

I was right-back and Patrik Andersson, the Swede, played central defender. We lost 4-2, I got blamed for the first goal and Patrik for the other three. For the next game, the two of us were up in the stands.

Advertisement

It was a tough introduction but I broke into the team. We played Forest away, I was on the right of midfield. A tackle came in, I didn’t see it, and I was out for the rest of the season. I came back and played most of the games in 1993-94 — a top season when we finished second.

Tell us about your Blackburn team.

Alan Shearer and Mike Newell played well together up front. Kevin Gallagher, Tim Sherwood, Mark Atkins, Stuart Ripley, Graeme Le Saux, David May, Colin Hendry.

Shearer was a top forward. His talent was power, shooting with his right foot, heading and his timing in the box, but his mentality was incredible. We were 1-0 up after 20 minutes so many times when we played at home thanks to him. He ran and fought for the team. He was aggressive in the box and would outjump the central defenders, even though he wasn’t the tallest. He wasn’t a silky striker. He was technically safe without being a dribbler, but if you gave him a chance with his right foot he’d bury it. We’d finished fourth and then second, beating United at home 2-0 at Easter, but then United kept winning and took the league title.

Shearer and Sutton became a feared strike partnership (Photo: Ross Kinnaird/EMPICS via Getty Images)

Then we added Chris Sutton and Tim Flowers. Ray Harford was a great coach alongside Dalglish. He had a fine understanding of the game, but his character and enthusiasm was important too. He had an excellent chemistry with players.

We were a well organised and direct team that used the strength of our players — Shearer and Sutton. We could play long because those two could handle the ball and play off each other. They were not the quickest, but it didn’t matter. Le Saux was a very offensive left-back who crossed well, I was right-back and not so attacking. I would overlap but Ripley in front of me would cross the ball. Our captain Sherwood was a good leader and clever guy. He wasn’t the quickest but he took good positions and won the ball. Atkins was an underrated midfielder, then David Batty came later. Hendry went for every challenge and won them.

And then Blackburn won the league…

It was a tough ending to that season. We were top in November and by January we had a big lead over United. It got less and less. We went to Liverpool with Dalglish as our manager and everyone was saying Liverpool would give us the points to win the league — especially as that would mean United wouldn’t. United were at West Ham and needed to win.

We lost at Liverpool, but United could only draw. Ten seconds after Jamie Redknapp scored to make it 2-1 to Liverpool, our fans went mad. We’d heard from London that United had only drawn, so we were the champions. I went from being devastated to hearing that we’d won the league in one minute.

Advertisement

What was Blackburn owner Jack Walker like?

Top. He wanted to give something back to the town and he’d made so much money from his steel company he could do that. He wanted to enjoy his life and he came in the dressing room before games. You could see the energy in his eyes. He liked being with the players and telling jokes.

He did well with Dalglish because he trusted him, he didn’t interfere and he backed him. Getting Dalglish in the first place was a scoop, but the way Walker handled him was correct. I see that more now as a manager. It was a fantastic operation, a real family feeling at a small, nice club.

We came together at the same time, only Gordon Cowans had won the league before. Good times.

Dalglish, with Tony Parkes, left and Harford, right helped Berg win the Premier League with Blackburn (Photo: Phil Cole/Getty Images)

So why did you leave?

I got an offer from Manchester United. They wanted me in January 1997, then Blackburn said no as it was mid-season. Walker said that, when the season finished, I could leave for United if I wasn’t happy with the signings at Blackburn and if United offered Blackburn what they thought I was worth.

You became Britain’s most expensive defender

Dalglish moved upstairs to be a director because he didn’t want to be a manager any more and we were not the same. We couldn’t handle winning the league in the same way as United could because we were not used to it. We’d not had a good season in 96-97. I was living in Blackburn but I was happy to move to United.

How was your United experience?

Very good but difficult. I was there for three years and played around 100 games but I was not a regular for the first time in my career. Every game at United is a big one. The level was higher, the team-mates better. And we had to compete in Europe too. For me to succeed at United, I had to be at my very best level.

United were a little more defensive than Blackburn, more solid. A bit like Norway. The central defenders took care of the strikers, yet the team was more open in front.

Advertisement

Did you fit in?

I went to see Ferguson after a few months to talk about the style of play because I was used to playing differently. He explained how United play. Steve McClaren came in a few months later and we worked on team shape. That made a big difference for our results in Europe. In England, we were better, player for player. In Europe, we’d play teams like Juventus, Barcelona, Inter and Milan. We needed to be better tactically and collectively. When Steve came in he helped a lot.

Can we talk about Inter…

If there’s anything United fans remember me for then it’s those two games against Inter. I started both, I was having a good period. The first year had not been good because we finished second to Arsenal. Everybody was miserable the way that ended.

Then we got some new signings. Jaap Stam came in and made a difference, Dwight Yorke too. Dwight changed the atmosphere. He was smiling all the time, even when Ferguson told him off. He’d just smile, which actually relaxed Ferguson.

Dwight linked up really well with Andy Cole. I did not play much at the start of that season, my best period at United was between January ’99 and the end of the season.

Against Inter I saved a shot on the line. I got injured at home to Juventus in the semi-final so I missed the away leg and the Arsenal (FA Cup) semi-final, the Champions League. I would have not played every game but I would have played many of them, as I was in the team. I was a central defender playing alongside Stam.

Berg goes toe to toe with Ronaldo (Photo: Stu Forster /Allsport)

There were other Norwegians in the team…

Solskjaer — and he scored important goals like the one against Liverpool in the cup and in Barcelona. Ronny (Johnsen) was top. If he hadn’t had all those injuries, he would have been regarded as one of the better central defenders in Europe.

Erik Nevland was a hard-working striker who wasn’t with the first team all the time, but went to Holland and was successful.

Advertisement

How did you feel sitting in the stands at Camp Nou?

I’d been injured a month and had tried to get back — even a week before the final. I was nervous like every fan. I thought it was slipping away but United had won so many games in the last 10 minutes.

The first goal was great and many teams would have been happy with that. But not United and not Solskjaer. When he received the ball on the left wing, he didn’t protect it. He went at the full-back, he wanted to dribble, to go past him. He got a corner. And from that corner he scored. If he and the team had a different mentality, they would have been happy to be back in the game and to organise for extra time. But no.

Solskjaer celebrates his famous winner in 1999 (Photo: Matthew Ashton – PA Images via Getty Images)

We didn’t need alcohol that night, we floated on adrenaline. All of us. It was an unbelievably nice evening. We didn’t sleep. It had been such a long season with so much pressure when Fergie had rotated which is a risk. And then we were set free.

Why did you leave United in 2000?

I didn’t play enough. Ferguson maybe liked me more in Europe against good technical players where I read the game, whereas physically I was not the strongest or fastest for England.

But by 2000 I was in and out of the team. I said to the manager: “It’s good to be here and I like to play, but I feel I should be playing more regularly and if I can’t then it’s better to go somewhere else”.

Ferguson agreed with me. Blackburn came back for me. They were in the Championship but I went there again and we got promoted. It was much better for me to be part of the Blackburn team and playing. Andy Cole came, then Dwight Yorke. It wasn’t like United, there was no Europe and games against Zidane and Del Piero, but we finished sixth in my last season in the Premier League.

Who were the best players you came up against in Europe?

Zidane and Del Piero. Zidane was more like a No 10. Del Piero was a little higher up. But ask Johnsen about Zidane because he man-marked him and he didn’t get a kick at Old Trafford. He scored off a free kick but didn’t get a kick in open play.

Advertisement

It was difficult to mark Del Piero because he was clever. He wasn’t the quickest but not slow. He had timing, movement, co-ordination and balance which meant that he could go either way. And he was a top finisher. He could dribble, run in behind you, find his space. To have control of him and knowing Zidane was just behind was not easy.

Romario was probably the best player that I played against, but that was for Norway. I asked him for his shirt and got it. I didn’t really speak to players after a game. I didn’t really speak to them during the game. I was not a talker. I focused on the game. If I talked then I argued with them. I argued with Ian Wright all the time. He disputed everything, so I argued with him. Sometimes we got angry with each other, but we’d always shake hands at the end of the game.

I never took anything off the pitch. I’d argue with Craig Bellamy all the time. I played my last game for Norway, my 100th game, against Wales. I came off before the end and I knew it was my last game. He came over to me on the pitch and shook my hand. I appreciated that.

And then Rangers…

It was my last year; I was a little bit on my way down. I’d had a little argument with the Blackburn manager Graeme Souness and that’s why I didn’t get a new contract after that. Rangers are a huge club. We played Manchester United in the Champions League. The noise was so loud that you couldn’t hear the Champions League anthem on the pitch before the game. It was a roar and I have goosebumps telling you now.

Rangers were not at the level of United but we put in a good performance. United had all the top players, yet guess who scored the only goal? Phil Neville.

We finished well behind Celtic and I was injured at the end of the season. I watched a game from the stand against Motherwell or someone, a poor game after a poor season.

Then the whole main stand stood up and starting singing songs about how they’d always support their team. Others fans would have been booing their team. They have an unbelievable support.

Advertisement

Why did you become a manager?

I couldn’t imagine a life without a football. I love it. I have four children, all born in the UK.

I did my badges and did some TV work, then got offered a job in Norway at Lyn. We finished third, a very good season at a club with an excellent youth system. I was there for four years, then moved to Lillestrom, the team who’d spent the most time in the top league. I arrived at a club with big financial problems. They’d overspent trying to win the league but were facing relegation when I arrived and had the oldest team in the league. The team had finished fourth in three consecutive seasons, but the budget was cut in half in the three years I was there.

We went from being the oldest to the youngest team in the league. We sold players for £8 million that we’d paid £1.5 million for. We were a mid-table team and it was one of the better jobs that we’ve done. The club wanted me to say that we could push for the top four the next season because they wanted to sell season tickets and get sponsors. That was unrealistic. Yet I was told we still had to sell more players because the debt wasn’t cleared.

You went to manage Blackburn, who’d just been relegated from the Premier League. You said publicly “I don’t think any manager with integrity would go there.”

Three months later I went there! I knew the club, the people and knew it was a big risk to go in the middle of the season with no prospect of signing players. The people I wanted to bring in could not come and it was a turbulent time and half the players had left. After two months they said goodbye. They had five different managers that year. They would go down the year after. I’m glad Blackburn are in a better place again now.

Then you managed in Poland, Hungary and Cyprus. With success.

Legia was the biggest club in Poland and had ambitions to win the league and be better in Europe. This was the first time as a coach that I had a team who had realistic ambitions of fighting for the league. This had been what it was like for me as a player. We won the league at Legia, beat Celtic 6-1 in a Champions League qualifier — but were eliminated because one of the players was not registered.

We were 6-1 up when the player came on and leading 2-0 in Scotland. He’d had a red card in the previous year and had served his suspension, but there had been an error in our paperwork. That cost us €20 million. A catastrophe.

The fans in Poland are not short of passion

They’re hugely passionate, live their life through their team and they’re used to having power. Because of communism with the Russians, the fans had power in the 50s and 60s. The stadiums were the only places where fans could make protests, they became powerful. And still have power — in a good and bad way.

Advertisement

At Legia they’re proud of their background and status, they were the old army team. Some of the fans are tough guys. Before we played Lech Poznan in a cup final I got a call from the chief executive and he said the fans wanted to come to talk to the players. I didn’t think it was a good idea. He told me the fans had to talk to the players otherwise they would come to the training ground and get in. I told him that I was manager and the best person to talk to players, but he knew the fans better than me.

Four of the main fans came to speak with the players, told them how important the game was. They said that victory was the only option. They were big guys, it was peaceful. We went behind in the game, but came back and won the cup.

I was at Legia nearly two years. We won the league in the first year and did well in Europe after that problem in the Celtic game. We went into the Europa, won our group, then played Ajax in the last 32 and lost over two even games.

In the next year we won the cup but finished second in the league. A lot of people were not happy with that. We made a lot of changes for my third season. I had to integrate a lot of new players and we were fourth in the league when they sacked me.

You went to Hungary next for a season, 2016-17. Videoton, who knocked Manchester United out of Europe in 1985…

Videoton were another team who wanted to compete at the top end. We finished second in my first season ahead of the champions Ferencvaros. We could have won the league on the final day of the season. We needed to win at Honved, who only needed a draw to win the league, and had to push and push. They scored on the counter and it was all over and I was sacked.

I had offers to move to lots of clubs but nothing appealed enough for a year. After a year, I didn’t want to sit on the sofa any more and took a job at Stabaek, a team in Norway with a very good youth system. Our aim was to stay up and we did.

Then I moved to Cyprus, Omonia (Nicosia), which was special. They were one of the two biggest teams traditionally but had been struggling for a decade. They had a new president, sports director and me and my assistant.

Advertisement

We could sign players; we won the league in 20-21 and got into Europe. We beat Legia Warsaw in a qualifier in extra time, for the Champions League. It was behind closed doors when I went back. We then beat Red Star and played Olympiakos from Greece in the final play-off for the Champions League.

We lost 2-0 away and drew 0-0 at home. We were in the Europa League group stage for the first time in the club’s history. We beat PAOK at home and drew away, we lost to Granada and PSV.

But the celebrations when we won the league in Cyprus were the most ecstatic I’ve seen in my life. Only 4,000 were allowed into our stadium because of COVID, so everyone went to the training ground to celebrate and we also went there.

What type of football do your teams play?

When I’m at a team I expect them to fight at the top and dominate games, When I arrived at Omonia we played transition as we had to build a team, but then we dominated. My teams are more direct, closer to how Liverpool play than City. Defensively more like City, offensively more like Liverpool.

Tell us about Erling Haaland

Haaland is special. I saw him for the first time when I took my Stabaek team to Molde, who were managed by Solskjaer. Ole did really well with him and slowly introduced him.

He has power, awareness, speed, enthusiasm, and timing of runs. He’s quick not only for the long runs, but the sharp movements. His movement in the box is better than most strikers in the world. His finishing with his left foot can come in different varieties — power, chip. He can link up, he understands football. You don’t see many top goalscorers play others in when they are in a better position, but he does.

He’s the complete package. I’ve never seen a striker with everything he has. Shearer was unbelievable but didn’t have some of the qualities that this guy has. It will be interesting to see how he does at City.  If he stays injury-free he will be a big hit for City. Unfortunately for United.

(Photo: Andy Mitten/Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kmxtaXFoaHxzfJFrZmluX2aAcLTEp6Wippdir6a%2BxmakmqaTnbK0wMSrZK6mmamypXnBpZico5Kqv695wKWcsWWWmr%2BowdKopWg%3D