Henning Berg: ‘I’ve had some of my best days here in charge of Omonia’ | Will Unwin

Henning Berg needs a bottle of water as he talks about his curtailed title-winning season with Omonia but the Nicosia shopkeeper refuses to charge him. The Norwegian’s money is no longer good in parts of the Cypriot capital. Bringing the club its first title of a tumultuous decade has rapidly elevated him to hero status.

The triumph was confirmed with Omonia level on points with Anorthosis Famagusta and Berg’s side, despite a worse goal difference, were awarded the league on their head-to-head record, leaving his opposite number Temuri Ketsbaia to search for advertising hoardings to take out his frustration on.

Open-top bus parades and champagne spraying are not on the cards, leaving a low-key, almost surreal, response to what should be a momentous occasion. “There has not been much celebrating, as we have social distancing,” Berg says.

“We’ve only been allowed to train in small groups, so we had a quick meeting together, took a few photos but could not have everyone together and then we talked to the players to acknowledge the great season we’ve had.

“Even if we’d finished second we would have had a very good season. It would have been nice to have been able to play, then maybe we could have also won the cup. For sure, this coronavirus is difficult but it was better to be No 1 than No 2 when the league stopped.”

Berg spent lockdown in Cyprus where there were severe restrictions to the extent he needed to inform the authorities when he went out to buy food. At one stage there was hope football would return, with players going back to training, but it was decided it was not the right thing to do. It has at least given Berg longer to plan for next season.

Cyprus is the latest setting for Berg’s varied managerial career that has included winning the Polish league with Legia Warsaw and suffer a dramatic final-day defeat by Honved to miss out on the Hungarian title to their opponents during his season in charge at Videoton. In England he is remembered for his 57-day spell in charge at Blackburn in 2012, casting a shadow on a successful managerial career.

“In many ways, this has been some of my best days, even though in Legia we won the league and qualified for the Europa League, winning five out of the six group matches. This time we needed to build a new team. In Legia we were improving the team, whereas here we needed many new players. Most of the team was coming in and gelling, working together at the same time as we changed the way we played; there were definitely more things to do here.”

The Blackburn connections do not stop at Berg: Omonia’s captain is Matt Derbyshire, 34, and the experienced Spaniard Jordi Gómez, 35, plays a key role in midfield. Almost an entire team were signed last summer to breathe life into a fading club that has 20 league titles to its name and Berg is ahead of schedule.

“The president was very clear that he wanted to take Omonia back into the top four and compete in Europe – that was the goal for this season. We finished No 1 and we will play in the Champions League qualifiers in the summer, so it’s been better than expected.”

While overseeing the start of a new era at Omonia, Berg is also hoping Norway can make the most of a new generation of talent. Martin Ødegaard and Erling Braut Haaland are at the forefront, proving themselves at Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund respectively. “The generation coming through in Norway has a greater potential than our generation who qualified for two World Cups and a European Championship,” Berg says.

Berg played alongside Haaland’s father Alf-Inge in the national team, so has taken a keen interest in how the striker has developed since breaking through at Molde. “If you go through the best players in the world, they will have something magical that makes them great but they won’t have as many good things as Haaland.

“He is 19, quick, has an unbelievable head for making the runs into the box at the right time to score, an incredible finisher with his left foot, good with his right. I would say maybe he could be a little better with his head but he’s not needed to do much of that. If he does continue as he is, then he will be the best player in the world.”

Another former teammate, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, is trying to take Manchester United back to the glory days he and Berg enjoyed at Old Trafford. Berg is taking extra satisfaction in the current squad because he brought an 18-year-old Odion Ighalo to Europe when in charge at Lyn.

“I think [Solskjær] has shown over this period that he can improve the team – the way they play now is more similar to United’s DNA. They are closer to being a team who can compete in the top four regularly and win championships.”

If Solskjær does take United back to the Champions League, would Berg like to face them? “It would not be good for us because they are at a completely different level. It might be nice for the fans before the match but we would like to play someone we have a chance of beating. Against United it would be unthinkable to beat them – but stranger things have happened in football.”