Marked for Patrick Daehli
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Jun 2027
Håkon Lorentzen wins it after the whistle should have gone
95 minutes played. Håkon Lorentzen found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Haugesund went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Squad14 Jun 2027
20 days out for Patrick Daehli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. IK Start will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” IK Start have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Eirik Schulze 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Markus Soomets 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Haugesund made IK Start work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Terry Benjamin 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Mikael Ugland
“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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Håkon Lorentzen was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.56. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Jun 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
A brace, and Eirik Schulze takes the afternoon — 9.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eirik Schulze provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad7 Jun 2027
29 days out for Patrick Daehli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. IK Start will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match5 Jun 2027
The drought breaks for IK Start
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Mjondalen were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad7 Jun 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 IK Start this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at IK Start training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Soomets 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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
“I did not go to Tromso to sit and watch. I want to come back to IK Start and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” João Nuno and IK Start agree another 3 years.
In brief
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Market
Lukas Gausdal is free to find somewhere else
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Jacob Pryts knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
36 days out for Patrick Daehli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. IK Start will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match29 May 2027
7 matches without a win for IK Start
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around IK Start are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at IK Start
Eirik Schulze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at IK Start
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Soomets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch31 May 2027
“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 IK Start, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Altin Ujkani, and the manager let it.
Boardroom31 May 2027
IK Start counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at IK Start now.
The dugout31 May 2027
Jacob Pryts 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 Jacob Pryts trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 May 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ruben Hauge after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 May 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.
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for IK Start
6 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” IK Start may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at IK Start
Eirik Schulze 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at IK Start training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Soomets 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.
Loan watch24 May 2027
“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 IK Start, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout24 May 2027
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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.62 on the card, and the IK Start support went home talking about one name.
In brief
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The dugout
Jens Husebø gets it from the manager
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Match
Point won or two lost for IK Start?
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 May 2027
50 days out for Patrick Daehli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. IK Start will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 May 2027
5 matches without a win for IK Start
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around IK Start are no longer polite ones.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad17 May 2027
Eirik Schulze 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.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at IK Start
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Soomets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 May 2027
1‑3 to Aalesund, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 May 2027
Jacob Pryts 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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout17 May 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ruben Hauge 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
Uneasy
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. 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.
Match5 May 2027
The small margins put IK Start out
Out, 0‑0 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.
Squad10 May 2027
57 days out for Patrick Daehli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. IK Start will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad10 May 2027
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Jasper Torkildsen: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match8 May 2027
4 matches without a win for IK Start
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around IK Start are no longer polite ones.
Squad10 May 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 IK Start this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Markus Soomets 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.
Match8 May 2027
IK Start cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
65 days out for Patrick Daehli after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. IK Start will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at IK Start
Eirik Schulze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
John Olav Norheim 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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I watch every IK Start game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Odd runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 May 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Trent Kone-Doherty is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Boardroom3 May 2027
IK Start counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at IK Start now.
The dugout3 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at IK Start, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout3 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ruben Hauge chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Håkon Lorentzen: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” IK Start have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Patrick Daehli out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason IK Start will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Apr 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 IK Start, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at IK Start
Eirik Schulze 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at IK Start
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Soomets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Apr 2027
1‑3 to Bodo/Glimt, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Jacob Dicko Eng
“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.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“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 IK Start, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ruben Hauge 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
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Patrick Daehli out for 80 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason IK Start will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.93, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match17 Apr 2027
At last: IK Start win one
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Lillestrom. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
23 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at IK Start
Eirik Schulze 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Markus Soomets 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Håkon Lorentzen
“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.
Match17 Apr 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Eirik Schulze’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to IK Start.
Squad19 Apr 2027
IK Start are still strangers to each other
9 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.