Marked for Daniel Risan Nakken
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout24 Dec 2029
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Market24 Dec 2029
“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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at Molde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Birk Risa 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Eirik Haugan in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Molde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Molde know it.
The dugout24 Dec 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.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Molde, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 Dec 2029
The clock does Sigurd Rosted’s negotiating for him
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Molde could ask drops and the wages Sigurd Rosted can ask rise.
Market24 Dec 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mads Eikrem Myklebust signs something — a contract at Molde or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Nov 2029
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Molde lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
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Market26 Nov 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Molde can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Molde
Isak Helstad Amundsen 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Molde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Hestad 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Lars Berge, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
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 Isak Helstad Amundsen is on it.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasmus Sandberg, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
Erlend Segberg 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 Molde, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Oct 2029
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Molde lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match29 Oct 2029
Full time on the season at Molde
Position 7 on 45 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad29 Oct 2029
35 days out for Fredrik Pålerud after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Molde will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
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Market29 Oct 2029
“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 Molde, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Oct 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 Molde this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Oct 2029
A row about effort at Molde
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Birk Risa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market29 Oct 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Tobias Børkeeiet has his answer from Molde; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout8 Jan 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Molde may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Molde
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Birk Risa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Molde
Eirik Haugan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tobias Børkeeiet, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
Jalal Abdullai has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Molde 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market8 Jan 2029
The Emil Breivik story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emil Breivik signs something — a contract at Molde or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samukele Kabini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“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 Molde will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Mar 2028
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Molde lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets20 Mar 2028
$20.6M on the table at Sochi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market20 Mar 2028
FC Dallas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Molde did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Molde training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Birk Risa 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Molde
Eirik Haugan 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.
Transfer targets20 Mar 2028
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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Molde pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
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 dugout20 Mar 2028
Jalal Abdullai 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.