Marked for Birkir Thorsteinsson
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Leiknir can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad3 Mar 2031
78 days out for Karan Gurung after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leiknir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
Emergency meeting at Leiknir
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.
Market3 Mar 2031
“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 The request is on a desk at Leiknir, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Mar 2031
The name of Viktor Andri Pétursson has come up in conversations Leiknir were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Ólafur Íshólm Ólafsson 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.
Transfer targets3 Mar 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fylkir have kept their man, and Leiknir go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Óskar Jónsson 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.
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
Leiknir trim $3.0M from the budget
The money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $3.0M, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Feb 2031
Leiknir sink to position 12
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad24 Feb 2031
A fracture rules Karan Gurung out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leiknir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 Feb 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leiknir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Feb 2031
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.
Squad24 Feb 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emil Skulason and Leiknir agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
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 Feb 2031
“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.
Market24 Feb 2031
The name of Đorđe Vladisavljević keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Leiknir say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leiknir, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Leiknir can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
Emergency meeting at Leiknir
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.
Market6 Jan 2031
“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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Ólafur Íshólm Ólafsson 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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at Leiknir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óskar Jónsson 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 dugout6 Jan 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hilmar Örn Pétursson, and the manager let it.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
Leiknir trim $3.0M from the budget
The money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $3.0M, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
Market6 Jan 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dagur Ingi Hammer signs something — a contract at Leiknir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Nerves in the Leiknir squad
Dagur Ingi Hammer has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom18 Nov 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leiknir
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Words exchanged at Leiknir
Ólafur Íshólm Ólafsson 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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
A row about effort at Leiknir
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óskar Jónsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market18 Nov 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leiknir know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
“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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
The training reports on Óskar Jónsson are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Sep 2030
Pressure builds in the Leiknir boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match21 Sep 2030
4 matches without a win for Leiknir
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Leiknir are no longer polite ones.
Match21 Sep 2030
4 matches without a goal for Leiknir
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad23 Sep 2030
A falling-out at Leiknir
Ólafur Íshólm Ólafsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Sep 2030
Leiknir come up short against KR
KR left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
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 Stefan Eyjolfsson left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Óskar Jónsson 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.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 10. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Aug 2030
12 matches without a win for Leiknir
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Leiknir are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom19 Aug 2030
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Leiknir 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.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leiknir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Aug 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leiknir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Match17 Aug 2030
3 matches without a goal for Leiknir
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match17 Aug 2030
A bad afternoon for Leiknir against IBV
0‑1 to IBV, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
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 0‑1 Stefan Eyjolfsson left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikael Hermannsson, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Jul 2030
9 matches without a win for Leiknir
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Leiknir are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom29 Jul 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Leiknir
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Leiknir is running low.
Squad29 Jul 2030
A falling-out at Leiknir
Ólafur Íshólm Ólafsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Leiknir asked and Fjolnir said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
A loan enquiry to Vikingur: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad29 Jul 2030
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Jul 2030
No end in sight to Leiknir's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leiknir has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Leiknir have done the hard part with FH, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad22 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leiknir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Jul 2030
The goals have deserted Leiknir
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Leiknir can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad22 Jul 2030
A row about effort at Leiknir
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Đorđe Vladisavljević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Jul 2030
A bad afternoon for Leiknir against FH
0‑2 to FH, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings22 Jul 2030
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sigurdur Smarason and Leiknir agree another 3 years.
The dugout22 Jul 2030
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Stefan Eyjolfsson to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jun 2030
“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 Jun 2030
4 matches without a win for Leiknir
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Leiknir are no longer polite ones.
Match22 Jun 2030
4 matches without a goal for Leiknir
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad24 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leiknir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Jun 2030
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Words at Leiknir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Đorđe Vladisavljević 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 dugout24 Jun 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Stefan Eyjolfsson was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Leiknir dressing room was either.
The dugout24 Jun 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Birkir Thorsteinsson, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Jun 2030
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jun 2030
Every point is an argument now for Leiknir
Position 11 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market17 Jun 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leiknir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Ólafur Íshólm Ólafsson 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.
Player ratings17 Jun 2030
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Match15 Jun 2030
The goals have deserted Leiknir
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Leiknir can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout17 Jun 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Örn Arnarson, and the manager let it.
Match15 Jun 2030
Fjolnir left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Words at Leiknir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hólmar Kári Tryggvason 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 dugout17 Jun 2030
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Stefan Eyjolfsson to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 May 2030
The wait goes on for Leiknir
5 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.
Market20 May 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leiknir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 May 2030
Ólafur Íshólm Ólafsson 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.
Match18 May 2030
3 matches without a goal for Leiknir
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Leiknir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Róbert Quental Árnason 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.
Match18 May 2030
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 May 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cameron Llewellyn commits to Leiknir for another 2 years.
The dugout20 May 2030
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stefan Eyjolfsson after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout20 May 2030
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.