“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Brann, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Brann they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ethan Wheatley is living that version at Brann, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Sørensen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brann this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Brann are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Brann has been clear about where Tobias Børkeeiet stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rosenborg will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kristiansund have kept their man, and Rosenborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Sander Risan Mørk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Brann paid $270.0K and Rosenborg took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dávid Ďuriš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Keidi Bare
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tromso waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Brann is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Brann, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KFUM Oslo have kept their man, and Brann go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
$270.0K on the table at Rosenborg. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The name of Andreas Helmersen has come up in conversations Brann were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ole-Didrik Blomberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.66 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rosenborg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Moss for Mark Mampassi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The deal with Aalborg is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rosenborg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Mampassi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rosenborg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rosenborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Otso Liimatta’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rosenborg.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Dávid Ďuriš falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Position 4, 27 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rosenborg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rosenborg can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Sander Risan Mørk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
SquadMads Bomholt falls out with a teammate over standards
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rosenborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Samson Tijani was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mads Bomholt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Rosenborg know which stage they are at.
Marked 3.57. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Nobody at Rosenborg will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sander Risan Mørk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Mads Bomholt falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Bodo/Glimt spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Rosenborg know it.
Greg Taylor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Ďuriš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rosenborg, another week without a signature from Sander Risan Mørk.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rosenborg can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sander Risan Mørk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isak Määttä is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout20 May 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Bruno Fournier left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rosenborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Jesper Robertsen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Ďuriš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A point taken on 92 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rosenborg have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rosenborg can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rosenborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Rosenborg know it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Copenhagen have kept their man, and Rosenborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Leander Øy has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mjondalen had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Rosenborg, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mjondalen know it.
Peder Klausen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Mjondalen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words at Mjondalen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Inuwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $16.6M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rosenborg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Rosenborg have gone to Brann with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rosenborg can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sondre Tronstad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Åsane they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matej Matić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Herman Geelmuyden is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Åsane go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $24.2M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rosenborg can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rosenborg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Anders Molund was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Aleksander Borgersen has come up in conversations Rosenborg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sondre Tronstad is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sander Risan Mørk is on it.
In brief
The dugoutMark Mampassi knocks on the manager's door
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mjondalen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The name of Mark Mampassi has come up in conversations Rosenborg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The deal with Aalborg is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Hjalte Bidstrup was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Brondby have kept their man, and Rosenborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sondre Tronstad, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Blixt Flaten is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Rosenborg have made the call to FC Nordsjaelland. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Raufoss waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AIK is saying, and nobody at Rosenborg is enjoying the guessing.
Add another name to the list: Moss have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Trent Kone-Doherty. The answer from Rosenborg has not changed — yet.
Rosenborg asked and FC Nordsjaelland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Åsane can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Åsane will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Åsane is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Åsane go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Åsane they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Åsane go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rosenborg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Skeid had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aalborg have kept their man, and Rosenborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
FC Nordsjaelland have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Rosenborg know which stage they are at.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and Rosenborg are still learning each other
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mjondalen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rosenborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Mark Mampassi again, and this time the name on the line is Lyn. Rosenborg are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rosenborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Rosenborg asked and Fredrikstad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sondre Tronstad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Rosenborg will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Rosenborg have gone to Fredrikstad with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The offer went to Aalesund this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Hjalte Bidstrup was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Rosenborg know it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and CFR Cluj waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sondre Tronstad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sander Risan Mørk is on it.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rosenborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Hjalte Bidstrup and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sander Risan Mørk is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rosenborg, another week without a signature from Isak Jønvik Holmen.
Done, and with games to spare. Next season has floodlit nights against clubs from other countries in it, and the accounts have a line they did not have last year.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Rosenborg will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Magnus Sylte has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rosenborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
29 appearances and 3 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sondre Tronstad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Mark Mampassi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rosenborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacob Blixt Flaten was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Leander Øy is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simen Bolkan Nordli signs something — a contract at Rosenborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
27 graduates, from a department now rated 11 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rosenborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleksander Borgersen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rosenborg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sondre Tronstad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rosenborg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rosenborg has been clear about where Daniel Thorstensen stands, which is more than many ever get.
Jonas Ryerson is 18, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Lars Jendal was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Brann have kept their man, and Sogndal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everybody at Sogndal saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sogndal told Mark Mampassi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Ole Lien to a room that had heard them before.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Sogndal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikkel Wennberg Lindbäck is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sogndal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ole Lien after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadWords at Sogndal training over how hard people work
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matty Cudjoe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lars Jendal and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Sogndal, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Khadar Abdi Ibrahim obliged against Stabaek. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Sogndal.
Mark Mampassi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matty Cudjoe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Lars Jendal was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Martin Vinjor falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Sogndal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑4 Ole Lien left the room before anybody could ask which.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sogndal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Molde have kept their man, and Sogndal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Sogndal will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rosenborg have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rosenborg can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iver Fossum will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rosenborg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amin Chiakha and Rosenborg agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sander Risan Mørk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Jesper Reitan-Sunde was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I watch every Rosenborg game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Odd runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mjondalen will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marcus Andersen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mjondalen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mjondalen, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rosenborg keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mjondalen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Mjondalen can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Brann have kept their man, and Mjondalen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Mjondalen will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Godson Kyeremeh is living that version at Sogndal, and it tends to show in the first month.
Everything agreed with Rosenborg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
$830.0K was the most the club would pay and Molde were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matty Cudjoe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sogndal asked and Bodo/Glimt said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rosenborg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Stabaek have accepted the money. What Rosenborg do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rosenborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Rosenborg heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rosenborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kongsvinger have kept their man, and Rosenborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mjondalen can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mjondalen will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aalesund waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mjondalen is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Everything agreed with Bodo/Glimt, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Aalesund is saying, and nobody at Mjondalen is enjoying the guessing.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Marcus Andersen has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Marcus Andersen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mjondalen will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Mjondalen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamin Sundo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Mjondalen can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Mjondalen have made the call to Rosenborg. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Mjondalen this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rosenborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Momodou Njie, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Feb 2029
7 new faces, and Rosenborg are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The words a physio says slowly. 55 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sander Risan Mørk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Rosenborg can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Jesper Reitan-Sunde and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Nobody at Rosenborg will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Noah Sahsah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rosenborg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rosenborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Rosenborg will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rosenborg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sander Risan Mørk has written the date down.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Ole Selnæs was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonas Svensson and Rosenborg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Rosenborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sander Risan Mørk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
29 appearances and 0 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Håkon Røsten is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.