Aberdeen have been without a manager since sacking his fellow Scandinavian, the Swede Jimmy Thelin, at the start of January.

Stavrum – who scored 29 goals in his two seasons at Pittodrie from 1999 – suggests his own playing style would not have fitted Horneland’s up-and-at-them approach but believes the Norwegian is perfectly suited to British football because of the “intensity” that marked his sides apart from their opponents.

“He would be a fantastic fit,” he said. “Brann has always been a difficult club to manage because they have not been getting the results they should, but he was the first one in a long long time to really get Brann up and performing again, so he did a fantastic job there.

“He turned Brann into a team that was really tough to play. They were a hard, pressing team, so you never got a lot of time on the ball.

“If you have strikers that are able to press hard to run a bit, he will be a really good coach for them. So I think it would be a really interesting appointment for Aberdeen.”

Stavrum revealed that Horneland’s intensity on the touchline is just as eye-catching.

“He was also the kind of coach that was always up and down the sidelines yelling at the players and getting them moving, so I think he was popular among the fans also because he was giving the intensity they wanted to see with a coach,” he said.

It did not work out for Horneland with Saint-Etienne, but Stavrum added: “I don’t think it is a bad idea to take a manager who has struggled a bit lately.

“He had a bad experience in France, he would like to turn things around and would be really hungry and up for revenge, so I think it would be an interesting and a good appointment for Aberdeen.”