A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tromso will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Skeid for Deni Dashaev 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.
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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tromso have done the hard part with KFUM Oslo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
$9.0K was the most the club would pay and Stabaek 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valerenga have kept their man, and Tromso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tromso they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 dugout14 Jun 2032
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Thorsby 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibaider Garriz provided it, and the 8.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
1 for Deni Dashaev, marked 7.69, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Mads Sande 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 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Jakob Haugaard knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tromso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tromso have done the hard part with Kristiansund, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Tromso had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Brann, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“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 dugout22 Mar 2032
The manager has not finished forgetting Amir Jama'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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tromso people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Tromso 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Stabaek keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Mads Sande 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.
Tromso have gone to Sarpsborg 08 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 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tromso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Mads Sande 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibaider Garriz 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 dugout26 Jan 2032
The manager has not finished forgetting Amir Jama'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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Deni Dashaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tromso will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tromso can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tromso is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mads Sande and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibaider Garriz 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tromso, another week without a signature from Jakob Haugaard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tromso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Something was said to Akhmed Davudov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tromso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tobias Flem signs something — a contract at Tromso or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Tromso 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 Tromso is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Tromso would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tromso is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Marius Jacobsen 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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Jakob Haugaard was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Snorre Strand Nilsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Marcus Mehnert and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso 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 Snorre Strand Nilsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 17 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Nobody at Tromso 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.
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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.48 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tromso, another week without a signature from Jakob Haugaard.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Amir Jama'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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tromso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso 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 Ibaider Garriz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Julius Ødegaard will call it something else in private.
“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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tromso has been clear about where Birger Selnaes stands, which is more than many ever get.
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibaider Garriz 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.
Julius Ødegaard 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tromso has been clear about where Marcus Mehnert stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 Tromso will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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 Tromso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tromso is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tromso can pretend not to have heard.
Tromso offered $780.0K; Brann 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.
$160.0K on the table at Viking. 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 offer went to Lillestrom 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.
$20.0K on the table at Viking. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
KFUM Oslo left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mads Sande 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Tromso people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tromso can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Viking 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.
Tromso have gone to Viking 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 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.
Deni Dashaev 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 phone has started ringing about Birger Selnaes again, and this time the name on the line is Egersund. Tromso 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 Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Mads Sande 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 won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.59, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Tromso 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Deni Dashaev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Tromso needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutAmir Jama asks for a word with the manager
Mads Sande 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 Ibaider Garriz 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 Jakob Haugaard is on it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“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 Tromso, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tromso they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mads Sande 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 Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Tromso is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mads Sande was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tromso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tromso has been clear about where Amir Jama stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mads Sande was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Deni Dashaev 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.
KFUM Oslo left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
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 1‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Ibaider Garriz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Mads Sande 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marcus Mehnert trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Tromso. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
43 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mads Sande 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Ask Rodahl had Tromso level again within 1 minutes, and Mjondalen never got to play with a lead at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tromso can pretend not to have heard.
Ibaider Garriz 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mads Sande 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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Deni Dashaev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Tromso needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Ibaider Garriz has written the date down.