Marked for Simen Haram
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 May 2028
Simon Skrabb hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Odd can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 May 2028
Tempers go at Odd
Yann Massombo 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.
Boardroom22 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Odd
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hinrik Harðarson, and the manager let it.
Squad22 May 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Daniel Godwin knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout22 May 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Aron Henriksen after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout22 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zakaria Mugeese trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Chances created: 9. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 May 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 Odd can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Apr 2028
Nobody wants to play Odd right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad1 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Odd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Nikolaj Möller’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Odd.
The dugout1 May 2028
Noah Kojo gets it from the manager
“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.
Boardroom1 May 2028
101% of the income goes out in wages at Odd
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.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Marked 7.77 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Odd had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout1 May 2028
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.
The dugout1 May 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Aron Henriksen could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Odd may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market24 Apr 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Nobody wants to play Odd right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Odd
Mirza Mulac and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Simen Haram
“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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Three points for Odd, 1‑0 the final word against Hødd in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Odd can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
7.75, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Odd had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Harvey Broad is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.87, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Frederik Elkær at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Odd.
Match11 Sep 2027
Late, late show earns Odd a point
Minute 91, against Sandefjord, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Odd
Ludvig Henriksen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Odd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Gunnerød 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Jul 2027
Odd come up short against Skeid
Skeid left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Odd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
No hiding place for Noah Kojo
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noah Kojo, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Odd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Gunnerød 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 dugout12 Jul 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Nobody at Odd 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 dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
One booking too many, and Simen Haram sits out. Odd lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Looking ahead12 Jul 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Raufoss in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Odd board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match22 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 May 2027
Simen Haram gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Odd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikolas Walstad 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 dugout24 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Aron Henriksen after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Odd
Harvey Broad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 May 2027
Julian Gunnerød 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Looking ahead24 May 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aalesund in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Marius Andresen 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Odd pay $510.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ulrik Fredriksen 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stromsgodset have kept their man, and Aalesund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Navbahor have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Emil Engqvist asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market15 Feb 2027
The Uba Charles story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Uba Charles signs something — a contract at Aalesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A season on the outside for Paul Ngongo
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Aalesund has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
IA come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Odd did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market15 Feb 2027
The paperwork is done: Simen Haram joins from Aalesund in a deal worth $510.0K. Now comes the harder part.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
Odd spend $1.8M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.8M for Nikolaj Möller, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
This league is too small for Nikolaj Möller
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. Odd will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Sogndal have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market15 Feb 2027
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Odd have gone and got theirs early.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Jakob Vadstrup'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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Aalesund people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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 Aalesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Feb 2027
Ólafur Guðmundsson has left for Bryne in a $340.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Uba Charles 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Aalesund asked and IK Start 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
Elias Myrlid gets it from the manager
“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 Feb 2027
Emil Engqvist knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emil Engqvist trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Nobody at Aalesund 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The paperwork begins on Simen Haram
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Odd have done the hard part with Aalesund, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market8 Feb 2027
Add another name to the list: Lillestrom have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jakob Vadstrup. The answer from Odd has not changed — yet.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 57 days on the sidelines for Hans Christian Bonnesen, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout8 Feb 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Godwill Ambrose, and the manager let it.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Odd pull $1.3M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market8 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Filip Rønningen Jørgensen signs something — a contract at Odd or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The window opens at Odd
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Elias Hagen 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Elias Hagen’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Aalesund.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Aalesund
Janus Seehusen 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Paul Ngongo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Erling Svensson kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Simen Haram
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Aalesund lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Elias Hagen 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Håkon Hammer has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Aalesund.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aalesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simen Haram, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nobody at Aalesund 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cheikh Mbacke Diop trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Oct 2026
The Paul Ngongo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Paul Ngongo signs something — a contract at Aalesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Ivan Djantou 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 Ivan Djantou has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aalesund can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ulrik Valderhaug Syversen 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Noah Dybvik gets it from the manager
“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.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kristoffer Nessø’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Aalesund needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Simen Haram 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 Simen Haram has written the date down.
Market7 Sep 2026
Aalesund have let the market know Ulrik Valderhaug Syversen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.