Marked for Morten Odegaard
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 May 2028
The mood at Kalmar FF has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Player ratings22 May 2028
A brace, and Anthony Olusanya takes the afternoon — 8.93
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anthony Olusanya provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout22 May 2028
Morten Odegaard: 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.” Kalmar FF have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match20 May 2028
8 matches without a win, and then this, against GIF Sundsvall. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad22 May 2028
Anthony Olusanya 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Kalmar FF training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrej Đurić 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 ratings22 May 2028
Oliver Hagen beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match20 May 2028
GIF Sundsvall made Kalmar FF work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout22 May 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 May 2028
8 matches without a win for Kalmar FF
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Kalmar FF are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 May 2028
Dino Beširović 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.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Kalmar FF
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrej Đurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 May 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Kalmar FF told Mert Demirci something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad15 May 2028
Kalmar FF are still strangers to each other
6 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.
Market15 May 2028
Deniz Yaldir is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kalmar FF has been clear about where Deniz Yaldir stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout15 May 2028
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.” Simon Jansson chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout15 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Morten Odegaard
“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 ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jan 2028
Melker Hallberg 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 Jan 2028
Andrej Đurić 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
Nassef Chourak 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 Kalmar FF, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jan 2028
Dino Beširović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Kalmar FF training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrej Đurić 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
7 new faces, and Kalmar FF are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Market10 Jan 2028
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Nerves in the Kalmar FF squad
Dino Beširović 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.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Ole Singh has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Sandefjord can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 Sandefjord, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Sander Risan Mørk 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Jakob Vester 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 Sandefjord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Jakob Dunsby loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Jakob Dunsby's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout3 Jan 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 dugout3 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elliot Lavlund, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Armand Wangen: 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.” Sandefjord have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market29 Nov 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 Sandefjord, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Vetle Walle Egeli 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Armand Wangen 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vetle Walle Egeli signs something — a contract at Sandefjord or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mário Nsumbu, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sandefjord may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Sandefjord
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sander Risan Mørk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Neo Drugge Hysén 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
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 Nikolaj Möller is on it.
The dugout15 Nov 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
The name of Sander Risan Mørk keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sandefjord say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sandefjord have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Sandefjord
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Dunsby was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elias Hadaya, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Jakob Dunsby beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Armand Wangen 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.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Rosenborg to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sandefjord and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 31 matches say the rest.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Ole Singh to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Sandefjord
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Dunsby was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Jun 2027
Sarpsborg 08 left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Armand Wangen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Jakob Vester 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
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.
Looking ahead28 Jun 2027
A test against the best for Sandefjord
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Viking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Jun 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Sandefjord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vetle Walle Egeli 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Harald Martin Hauso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“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.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
“I watch every Sandefjord game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rosenborg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Ervin Gigović 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 Sandefjord, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Lillestrom, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Sandefjord
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Dunsby was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Apr 2027
The goals have deserted Sandefjord
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sandefjord can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elias Hadaya, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Armand Wangen 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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
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 0‑3 Ole Singh left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market26 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sandefjord know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Rosenborg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market8 Feb 2027
Viking say no — this time
The offer from Odd for Niklas Fuglestad was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Viking asked and Sandefjord 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 targets8 Feb 2027
$280.0K on the table at Stromsgodset. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market8 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Jakob Segadal Hansen again, and this time the name on the line is Mjondalen. Viking are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simen Kvia-Egeskog and Viking agree another 5 years.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Viking
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henrik Falchener was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market8 Feb 2027
Morten Odegaard has left for Sandefjord in a $130.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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.