Örvar Eggertsson 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Stjarnan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Palac 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 Örvar Eggertsson is on it.
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.
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.
46 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Örvar Eggertsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Antonio Palac 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.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Benedikt V. Warén may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alpha Conteh signs something — a contract at Stjarnan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stjarnan 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 Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Bertil Grønkjær's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 Örvar Logi Örvarsson is on it.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Stjarnan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gils Gíslason 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.
Stjarnan have gone to Vikingur 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.
A loan enquiry to IFK Norrkoping: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Birnir Snær Ingason is on it.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Gils Gíslason 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stjarnan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Örvar Eggertsson 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.
Stjarnan offered $110.0K; Vikingur said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Carl Krafth has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Stjarnan have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Something was said to Guðmundur Baldvin Nökkvason and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The offer from Vikingur for Viggó Valgeirsson 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 about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Stjarnan asked and Wolfsberger AC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Stjarnan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Palac 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stjarnan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viggó Valgeirsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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.
In brief
SquadFrane Bobanović falls out with a teammate over standards
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stjarnan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Örvar Eggertsson 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stjarnan, another week without a signature from Stígur Diljan Þórðarson.
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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Antonio Palac 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stjarnan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Stjarnan would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viggó Valgeirsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Antonio Palac 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stjarnan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Bertil Grønkjær 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.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frane Bobanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stjarnan, another week without a signature from Freddie Lantz.
Kristijan Gagović has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sigurður Gunnar Jónsson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stjarnan 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 Stjarnan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Stjarnan training over how hard people work
“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 Stjarnan, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Birnir Snær Ingason is on it.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Stjarnan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Palac 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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Freddie Lantz is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Benedikt V. Warén may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guðmundur Rafn Ingason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Örvar Eggertsson 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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Stígur Diljan Þórðarson has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
5.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stjarnan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stjarnan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Örvar Logi Örvarsson and Stjarnan agree another 4 years.
Örvar Eggertsson 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 goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guðmundur Rafn Ingason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Örvar Eggertsson 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Hjalti Sigurðsson has just signed for Stjarnan, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Haugesund have kept their man, and Stjarnan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Árni Snær Ólafsson.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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.
In brief
SquadFrane Bobanović falls out with a teammate over standards
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stjarnan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at FC Nordsjaelland is saying, and nobody at Stjarnan is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan 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. Sochi have kept their man, and Stjarnan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 22 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.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stjarnan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stjarnan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Örvar Eggertsson 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. NK Maribor have kept their man, and Stjarnan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alpha Conteh. 2‑1 against FH, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The name of Darri Bergmann Gylfason has come up in conversations Stjarnan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darri Bergmann Gylfason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It needed Alpha Conteh to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Fylkir, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Damil Dankerlui's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
SquadAntonio Palac falls out with a teammate over standards
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stjarnan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stjarnan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Árni Snær Ólafsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guðmundur Rafn Ingason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Árni Snær Ólafsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Alpha Conteh 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.
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.
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 Árni Snær Ólafsson is on it.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stjarnan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Leiknir waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stjarnan 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 Stjarnan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stjarnan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Stjarnan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Árni Snær Ólafsson 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.
Stjarnan asked and Botev Plovdiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Emil Atlason 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hrafn Guðmundsson and Stjarnan agree another 4 years.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stjarnan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal with Lyngby 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.
Alpha Conteh 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.
Stjarnan have made the call to FC Copenhagen. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stjarnan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stjarnan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 nothing has moved for months. Not backwards, which would at least be a conversation — simply nowhere, and somebody at the club has to decide whose fault that is.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Stjarnan told Damil Dankerlui something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 Benedikt V. Warén is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frane Bobanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stjarnan, another week without a signature from Viggó Valgeirsson.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stjarnan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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 5, 33 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stjarnan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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 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.
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. Stjarnan will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stjarnan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Stjarnan can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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 Árni Snær Ólafsson is on it.
In brief
The dugoutAlpha Conteh knocks on the manager's door
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stjarnan 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 Stjarnan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Örvar Eggertsson 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.
21 appearances and 5 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kristijan Gagović and Stjarnan agree another 4 years.
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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Mudražija will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Keflavik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Alpha Conteh 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Ásgeir Páll Magnússon 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luka Raičević signs something — a contract at Keflavik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 6 on 29 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Keflavik will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Alpha Conteh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Keflavik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Brigić 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stjarnan 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 Stjarnan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frane Bobanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Gustav Kjeldsen's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stjarnan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
This is not rotation. Sigurður Gunnar Jónsson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Stjarnan is pretending otherwise.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Damil Dankerlui's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nobody at Stjarnan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armandas Raudonis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Stjarnan has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jóhann Árni Gunnarsson signs something — a contract at Stjarnan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Alexander Ljubičić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Keflavik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Alpha Conteh 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 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.
“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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alan Correa's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Mudražija will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Keflavik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Alpha Conteh 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Marin Brigić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nobody at Keflavik 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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Keflavik would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Alpha Conteh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Keflavik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Brigić 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Keflavik. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darri Bergmann Gylfason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Guðmundur Baldvin Nökkvason is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armandas Raudonis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 5, 33 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Sigurður Gunnar Jónsson may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Halid Alghoul will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Keflavik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Keflavik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jóhann Árni Gunnarsson signs something — a contract at Stjarnan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Keflavik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alpha Conteh 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Keflavik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Brigić 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Keflavik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alpha Conteh 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.
20 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Keflavik now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Marin Brigić 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.
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. Keflavik will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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 Halid Alghoul is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darri Bergmann Gylfason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alex Þór Hauksson.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Kristinn Bjarnason to a room that had heard them before.
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 Guðmundur Baldvin Nökkvason is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frane Bobanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Alpha Conteh’s exile
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Halid Alghoul will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Keflavik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Keflavik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Axel Ingi Jóhannesson and Keflavik agree another 4 years.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Holmar Bjarnason to a room that had heard them before.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Keflavik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alpha Conteh 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.
“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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Holmar Bjarnason was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Keflavik dressing room was either.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Breidablik will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alan Correa's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sindri Kristinn Ólafsson’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Keflavik needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Keflavik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alpha Conteh 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Muhamed Alghoul, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Keflavik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ásgeir Páll Magnússon 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Keflavik, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Muhamed Alghoul.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Holmar Bjarnason to a room that had heard them before.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ásgeir Páll Magnússon scored, was marked 7.62, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Keflavik close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.99, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Keflavik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 3‑2 win over Valur, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Keflavik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Heras 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.
At 23 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Keflavik have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Two goals and a mark of 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 goals in one match, Stefan Alexander Ljubičić on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Keflavik and IA.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacho Heras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Keflavik can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Keflavik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dagur Ingi Valsson 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.
Half the programme played, position 6, 15 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Nacho Heras 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 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Breidablik next, and one man in the Keflavik dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Mudražija will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Keflavik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Nacho Heras 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.
Alpha Conteh 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.
At 21 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.
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Holmar Bjarnason could afford to be generous.