Marked for Bossman Debra
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Nov 2026
Alagie Sanyang has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stabaek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Nov 2026
An average of 7.02 in a first team he is several years too young for. Stabaek have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad30 Nov 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 Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Jon Øya
“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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Olav Veum 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 Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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 Kristian Onsrud has written the date down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Stabaek
8 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Gottfrid Rapp at 21 — 8.32
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gottfrid Rapp did not need any: 8.32, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market23 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stabaek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marius Ulla, and the manager let it.
Match21 Nov 2026
Late, late show earns Stabaek a point
Minute 96, 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Bossman Debra 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Stabaek
Bossman Debra 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Aleksa Matić 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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jacob Hanstad’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Stabaek needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Frederik Ellegaard is on it.
Market16 Nov 2026
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Stabaek money.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Karsten Ekorness’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match17 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Stabaek
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Stabaek are no longer polite ones.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match17 Oct 2026
Stabaek are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bossman Debra, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Valerenga in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The plan did not have a place for Alagie Sanyang
Nobody at Stabaek is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Stabaek
Bossman Debra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
William Wendt 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Kimi Løkkevik
“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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stabaek know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nobody at Stabaek 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A wage question at Stabaek
Marius Lundemo has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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 Kristian Onsrud has written the date down.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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 Stabaek will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market12 Oct 2026
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Stabaek could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Stabaek
0‑4 against Molde, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market28 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Andreas Hoven
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andreas Hoven will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristian Onsrud, and the manager let it.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Ole Ajer to a room that had heard them before.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bossman Debra 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Beaten 4 times, with 4 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sebastian Olderheim did not need any: 8.13, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stabaek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alagie Sanyang has agreed terms with Sarpsborg 08 for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Stabaek, 2‑1 the final word against Stromsgodset in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout31 Aug 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.” Ole Ajer kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
At 19 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2026
The small margins put Stabaek out
Out, 0‑2 to Molde, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Magnus Lankhof Dahlby will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Stabaek 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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
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.
Match22 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Stabaek against Viking
1‑3 to Viking, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Aug 2026
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Ole Ajer faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ole Ajer after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 42. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$5.0M on the table at Sarpsborg 08. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vikingur keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Magnus Lankhof Dahlby has agreed terms with Sarpsborg 08 for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jacob Hanstad commits to Stabaek for another 4 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Stabaek asked and FC Copenhagen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match8 Aug 2026
Late, late show earns Stabaek a point
Minute 96, against Haugesund, 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Stabaek are still strangers to each other
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Bossman Debra 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.