FC Copenhagen coach sacked after six months

Denmark’s league champion team FC Copenhagen have fired Swedish head coach Roland Nilsson after just six months on the job.

Club officials told reporters on Tuesday that the move comes as a result of a disagreement about how the team should be run. Nilsson, a former defender for Sweden, took the position in June of last year from former head coach Staale Solbakken of Norway. He spent only six months at the helm, despite having signed a three-year contract in May.

The team’s website reads, “After an evaluation of the first six months of this season, the management of FC Copenhagen has decided to end their relationship with head coach Roland Nilsson.”

Anders Horsfolt, chief executive of FC Copenhagen, said in a statement, “We have had to realise that there hasn’t been an understanding between FC Copenhagen and Roland Nilsson about how to take the team further and therefore our paths have to part,” Reuters reported.

Some speculate that Nilsson’s opposition to the decision to sell off midfielder William Kvist to Stuttgart amid this year’s transfer window is among the rows leading to his termination.

FC Copenhagen is currently the Superliga league leader, edging FC Nordsjælland by four points; however, the club did not make it through to the group stages in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Carsten Jensen, the sports director for the squad, is set to take over as manager in Nilsson’s absence.