Marked for Viktor Claesson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Dec 2027
23 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Carl Christensen 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
Alexander Salo 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Falkenberg could get for him.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Alexander Salo has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Falkenberg that is a harder question to answer.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
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 Bernardo Rodrigues has written the date down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anton Andersson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Falkenberg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Falkenberg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Falkenberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nils Bertilsson 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ovie Ejeheri
“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.
Market30 Nov 2026
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Falkenberg money.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Nils Bertilsson keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Falkenberg say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Alexander Salo has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Squad30 Nov 2026
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Falkenberg the difference is visible from the back of the stand.