Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Randy Obam Bandolo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around GIF Sundsvall the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at GIF Sundsvall training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Forsberg 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.
Philip Engelbrektsson 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.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the GIF Sundsvall dressing room was either.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Utsikten will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. GIF Sundsvall were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
A brace, and Åke Andersson takes the afternoon — 8.96
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Åke Andersson provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Lucas Forsberg 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.
8 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Malmo FF have kept their man, and GIF Sundsvall go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremiah Björnler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jeremiah Björnler 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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. GIF Sundsvall will try not to make too much of it.
“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 GIF Sundsvall, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at GIF Sundsvall has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at GIF Sundsvall training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ackermann 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 GIF Sundsvall, and 9 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
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 0‑2 Martin Isak left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at GIF Sundsvall is running low.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Forsberg 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 GIF Sundsvall, another week without a signature from Kevin Ackermann.
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 Simen Hestnes.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Åke Andersson is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Up for the corner, and Åke Andersson delivers — 7.49
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Åke Andersson scored, was marked 7.49, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at GIF Sundsvall training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ackermann 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.
GIF Sundsvall asked and Valerenga 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Patrik Svensson has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mattias Ibrahimovic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adam Kulusevski has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alexander Olsson has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at GIF Sundsvall training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ackermann 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 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. GIF Sundsvall will try not to make too much of it.
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at GIF Sundsvall and a proper look at me.” He remains Ranheim’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
“I watch every GIF Sundsvall game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Varbergs BoIS runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martin Isak after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexander Abrahamsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around GIF Sundsvall the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 GIF Sundsvall, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremiah Björnler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Sebastian Isak obliged against Öster. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is GIF Sundsvall.
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.34 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. GIF Sundsvall scored in the 100th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Åke Andersson, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83
A mark of 7.83 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Åke Andersson, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83
A mark of 7.83 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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 GIF Sundsvall, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at GIF Sundsvall is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Åke Andersson 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.
Three points for GIF Sundsvall, 1‑0 the final word against Falkenberg in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at GIF Sundsvall training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeremiah Björnler 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Martin Isak could afford to be generous.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason GIF Sundsvall will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Malte Hallin did not need any: 8.14, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 GIF Sundsvall, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Åke Andersson, marked 7.51, 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at GIF Sundsvall is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at GIF Sundsvall training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Ackermann 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.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 GIF Sundsvall, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Umeå FC waiting with a shirt. Nobody at GIF Sundsvall is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have shaken hands with Sandviken; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Marked 7.65 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at GIF Sundsvall until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jakob Jäger Röding will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around GIF Sundsvall the goodbyes have quietly begun.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Mjällby were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason GIF Sundsvall will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around GIF Sundsvall they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $370.2K — a club that wants Fred Božičević enough to be asked twice.
GIF Sundsvall have gone to IFK Värnamo 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.
GIF Sundsvall offered $78.0K; Örgryte 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Ackermann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what IFK Norrkoping can pretend not to have heard.
IFK Norrkoping and Helsingborg have settled on $3.1M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Malmo FF have kept their man, and IFK Norrkoping go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
GIF Sundsvall pay $490.0K, 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at IFK Norrkoping training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryan Nelson 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 IFK Norrkoping, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
BoardroomThe IFK Norrkoping production line keeps running
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. GIF Sundsvall have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with IFK Norrkoping 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Samir Ben Sallam is living that version at GIF Sundsvall, and it tends to show in the first month.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $111.2K — a club that wants Tony Miettinen enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to Mjällby 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around IFK Norrkoping they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Ryan Nelson 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 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.
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 Tim Prica is on it.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Tim Prica could not do