8h November 2001
Thinking coach
From the start of his reign Coppell has encouraged his team to play constructive football.
“He asked us to pass the ball, to have confidence to express ourselves and not to be afraid of making mistakes,” says the Icelandic international.
“That applied to defenders as well – that we don’t have to kick the ball into touch.”
Of course, Coppell has long been regarded as one of the game’s thinkers.
And Ingimarsson says that thinking approach can be seen in the way Coppell prepares his team.
Training at the start of the week is now held twice a day, before and after lunch.
Coppell also makes sure that the Brentford players know what to expect from the opposition.
“We play a 4-4-2 system, though on the training ground we’ve worked on other systems.
“That has given us stability, but if necessary we can switch to another formation.
“He looks at tapes of the opposition and he tells us what kinds of defenders and attackers we can expect to face.”
The Brentford manager has also tried to instil Premiership standards at the Second Division club.
Coppell has brought in the Italian Roberto Forzoni, who acts as a fitness coach, dietician and psychologist to the players.
“Forzoni points out what we should and should not eat,” says Ingimarsson.
“He also talks regularly to the players at the training ground.
“The mental side is very important in football.
“When I was playing in Iceland for IBV Vestmannaeyjar we had a sport psychologist working with us and that year we won the double.
“The next year the psychologist went over to another team and they won the title that year.
“There can no be question that it can make a difference.”