Marked for Jesper Gregersen
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sarpsborg 08 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at Sarpsborg 08 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aimar Sher 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.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Sarpsborg 08 asked and Rosenborg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Jul 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Olaus Skarsem. 1‑0 against Viking, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Magnus Elyounoussi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Jul 2029
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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Aimar Sher and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Sarpsborg 08 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sondre Sørli 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.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match16 Jul 2029
Half the programme played, position 11, 17 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leopold Langedal Strand, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
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.
Match14 Jul 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Haugesund defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Nov 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sarpsborg 08 can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
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The dugout27 Nov 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Aimar Sher 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Sarpsborg 08 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harald Nilsen Tangen 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.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
87% of the income goes out in wages at Sarpsborg 08
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.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Anders Hiim has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sarpsborg 08 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 dugout27 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Markel Jiménez
“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.
Market27 Nov 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Michael Opoku’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Sep 2028
0‑4 against Bodo/Glimt, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market11 Sep 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match9 Sep 2028
4 matches without a win for Sarpsborg 08
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sarpsborg 08 are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Sarpsborg 08 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sondre Sørli 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Claus Niyukuri 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 dugout11 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Claus Niyukuri
“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.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
No place for Oskar Fenger on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sarpsborg 08 pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market14 Aug 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sarpsborg 08 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market14 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match12 Aug 2028
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Sarpsborg 08 scored in the 96th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Two goals and a mark of 9.37 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Tromso; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sarpsborg 08 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Aimar Sher 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.
Market14 Aug 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sarpsborg 08 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Aimar Sher and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A move Hannes Bäck would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Hannes Bäck is living that version at Sarpsborg 08, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Sarpsborg 08 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Reinhardsen 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bendik Berntsen, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Olaus Skarsem has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sarpsborg 08 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Sarpsborg 08 have gone and got theirs early.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sarpsborg 08 can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Joao Acosta
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joao Acosta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sarpsborg 08 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets22 Nov 2027
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Claus Niyukuri 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
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 dugout22 Nov 2027
“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.
Market22 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Aimar Sher’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Sigurd Rosted 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
Omar Jebali has been promised minutes
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 Omar Jebali has written the date down.