Marked for Jesper Gregersen
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer from OB for Daniel Karlsbakk 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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Sigurd Rosted: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sarpsborg 08 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Harald Martin Hauso 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.
Loan watch18 Jan 2027
9 goals in 23 games at Notts County — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sarpsborg 08 updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Leander Øy
“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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Brage Kvithyld knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sarpsborg 08, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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 Jesper Gregersen is on it.
Market18 Jan 2027
The Andreas Nibe story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andreas Nibe signs something — a contract at Sarpsborg 08 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Michael Opoku has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Sarpsborg 08 that is a harder question to answer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sarpsborg 08 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Harald Martin Hauso 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“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 Sarpsborg 08 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
19 appearances at Notts County and the goals keep coming. Sarpsborg 08 are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sarpsborg 08. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market21 Dec 2026
The Andreas Nibe story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andreas Nibe signs something — a contract at Sarpsborg 08 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Word from the training ground: Anders Hiim
The sharpest man in every session this week, by all accounts. Lines like this run the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market23 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sarpsborg 08 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Bjørn Inge Utvik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Victor Halvorsen, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Sarpsborg 08 will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sarpsborg 08 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.63 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Michael Opoku at 21 — 7.62
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Michael Opoku did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jesper Gregersen commits to Sarpsborg 08 for another 4 years.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Patrick Ajer, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.