Brian Riemer

Brian Riemer (born September 22, 1978) is a Danish football coach. He has been head coach of Belgian Pro League club Anderlecht since December 2022.

Riemer joined Anderlecht after serving for four years as assistant coach at Brentford to Thomas Frank and had previously coached in his native Denmark.

Coaching career

Denmark

Riemer started coaching in his native Denmark with the Albertslund Under-17 team, before being approached by his equivalent at Hvidovre IF, Thomas Frank to join him in coaching that club's youths. Riemer took charge of the Under-19 squad in 2004, holding the position for four years.

During his time at Hvidovre, Riemer also had a brief spell as a technical youth coach at Norwich City while still in his mid-twenties, working part-time while still coaching in Denmark.

He stepped up following the sacking of Tom Nielsen to take charge of the Hvidovre first team in November 2008 for their final two First Division games of the year before the winter break, winning both - 2-0 away at Nykøbing and 4-1 at Køge BK.

Riemer then moved to the capital to take up the same youth and development role at FC Copenhagen in 2009.

The decision of then Copenhagen assistant coach Johan Lange to move with Ståle Solbakken to Wolves saw new FCK boss Ariël Jacobs promote Riemer from Under-19 coach to be his assistant for the senior team.

Copenhagen won the 2012-13 Danish Super League title in their first season under Jacobs and Riemer, qualifying them for the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League. But five winless games into the next campaign, Jacobs was sacked with Copenhagen near the bottom, prompting the return of Solbakken.

Riemer was retained as assistant coach by Solbakken, and FC Copenhagen finished second over the next two seasons. In 2015, Riemer returned to duties as Copenhagen youth coach at his request, and stayed in this position for another three years. Riemer's position as assistant coach was given to Peter Wettergren.

Brentford

On 26 October 2018, Riemer was recruited to become assistant head coach at EFL Championship side Brentford by his former coaching colleague in Denmark, Thomas Frank, three months short of fulfilling a full decade at Copenhagen.

Together, Frank and Riemer helped Brentford to promotion from the EFL Championship in 2021, guiding the Bees to their first English top-flight campaign since 1946-47, which saw them finish 13th, closer in points to the European places than the relegation spots. Reimer departed midway through Brentford's second season in the Premier League.

Anderlecht

Recruited by newly-appointed Anderlecht Sports CEO Jesper Fredberg - a fellow Dane - during the six-week break caused by the November-December staging of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Riemer took the reins on 2 December 2022 with Anderlecht 12th in the league.

However, he struggled to get the Brussels club away from the relegation zone until the final few weeks of the season, with the Mauves finishing 11th in the 2022-23 Belgian Pro League, their lowest finish since 1937.

Making a series of ambitious signings during the summer 2023 transfer window, including Anders Dreyer, Kasper Dolberg, Thomas Delaney, Kasper Schmeichel and Thorgan Hazard, Anderlecht had pushed their way up to second in the league table by Christmas 2023, on the way to building their first proper title challenge since last winning the league in 2017.

Because Riemer's first league game for Anderlecht was played on 26 December 2022 and he spent Christmas alone in Brussels, he was allowed fly home to Denmark on Christmas Eve the following year to spend Christmas with his family, before returning on the 26th for the traditional Tweede Kerstdag game against Cercle Brugge, which Anderlecht won 2-0.

Managerial statistics

As of 28 April 2024

References