Jeglertz ushers in new era at Djurgården

Andrée Jeglertz may have spent five years at the helm of one of the most successful clubs in the world, but 2009 is shaping up to be even more intense following his decision in December to swap the leading women's side in Sweden, Umeå IK, for Djurgårdens IF FF, one of the traditional powerhouses in the men's game. "Umeå IK are well known in Sweden, but Djurgården are a much bigger affair," Jeglertz told uefa.com. "So far, that extra attention has only been positive."

Media focus
Jeglertz is already feeling more attention than he received at Umeå, and will really find out first hand just how closely fans and the media follow the fortunes of Stockholm's traditional big three clubs when the Allsvenskan season kicks off in April. "When you're part of Djurgården, people keep their eyes on you – even when you're just down at the supermarket," he said.

Familiar face
Jeglertz and co-coach Zoran Lukić have replaced Siggi Jónsson and Paul Lindholm at the helm and after a disappointing 12th-place finish last season the pressure is on to get Djurgården, champions in three of the past seven years, challenging for honours again. Djurgården finished well behind city rivals Hammarby IF and AIK Solna last season and 28 points off champions Kalmar FF, yet Jeglertz is looking forwards, not back. "We haven't analysed what went wrong last year, and we have no intention to," he explained. "I can see this is a group of competent players, and we will all begin from scratch together."

Past success
Lukić is a familiar face at Djurgården having played a part in helping establish the club as a dominant force in Swedish football since the turn of the century. He and Sören Åkeby led Djurgården to two Allsvenskan titles and one Swedish Cup during their five years in charge between 1999 and 2003, and they furthered the careers of Swedish internationals such as Andreas Isaksson (now at PSV Eindhoven), Johan Elmander (Bolton Wanderers FC) and Kim Källström (Olympique Lyonnais) in the process. Jeglertz will now be hoping to emulate that success at Lukić's side. "We complement each other," Jeglertz, 36, said. "Zoran is really good at bringing out players' individual qualities. I'm stronger at organising a system. He's better at the attacking game, I'm better defensively. But we see football in the same way."

Possession game
Jeglertz is no stranger to success having led Umeå to four titles and one Swedish Cup between 2004 and 2008. He sees no major difference between coaching women's and men's teams and his philosophy, based on a possession game, will be the same. "It's still a matter of instructing the players according to a set football philosophy, regardless of what team it is," he said. As he runs the rule over his new charges, though, it is unlikely Jeglertz will come across a player as dominant as FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta, who he coached for five years at Umeå. "It's highly doubtful that I'll ever get to work with a player who towers so much over the opposition," he said. "It has been an honour and I'm glad to have been a part in her success."