Marked for Vidar Skulason
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 May 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 May 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vidar Skulason
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout14 May 2029
This is not rotation. Jónatan Ingi Jónsson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Jakob Franz Pálsson 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 dugout14 May 2029
“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.
Match12 May 2029
IA take the points off Valur
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 May 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 May 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 May 2029
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings7 May 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market7 May 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout7 May 2029
This is not rotation. Birkir Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Match5 May 2029
Valur make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Valur have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad7 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samúel Kári Friðjónsson and Valur agree another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Tempers go at Valur
Markus Nakkim 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.
Boardroom7 May 2029
Graduation day at Valur
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Apr 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vidar Skulason
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout30 Apr 2029
Nobody at Valur 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Apr 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Vidar Skulason damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Valur
Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
Patrick Pedersen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Apr 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vidar Skulason
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Valur
Kristján Flóki Finnbogason and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Egill Arnarsson gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Egill Arnarsson has just signed for Valur, and for once the answer mattered.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Nobody at Valur 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.
Market16 Apr 2029
Valur spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Market16 Apr 2029
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Mads Schütt Rasmussen arrives at Valur with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Market16 Apr 2029
Valur shop where it costs nothing
Egill Arnarsson signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valur, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Apr 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad9 Apr 2029
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market9 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valur is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Birkir Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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 targets9 Apr 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Maribor have kept their man, and Valur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout9 Apr 2029
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 Schram is on it.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
A promise honoured for Uroš Ilić
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valur told Uroš Ilić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Apr 2029
Vidar Skulason damages knee ligaments — 58 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market2 Apr 2029
The name of Kristján Flóki Finnbogason has come up in conversations Valur were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Valur 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.
Transfer targets2 Apr 2029
Valur asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Valur
Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Apr 2029
Valur ran out of time with Breidablik. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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.
Transfer targets2 Apr 2029
NK Maribor have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Nobody at Valur 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Mar 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vidar Skulason
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets26 Mar 2029
Valur have gone to Vikingur with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad26 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Mar 2029
Valur offered $110.0K; Vikingur said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets26 Mar 2029
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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Senjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Mar 2029
75 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market19 Mar 2029
“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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Shkelzen Veseli has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Šimun Šabijan gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Šimun Šabijan has just signed for Valur, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets19 Mar 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and Valur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bjarni Mark Duffield was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Valur
Gísli Laxdal 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.
Transfer targets19 Mar 2029
Raufoss have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets19 Mar 2029
A loan move for Jakob Raspet is in the works
Valur have made the call to NK Celje. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Mar 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vidar Skulason
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market12 Mar 2029
Vikingur come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Valur did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market12 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valur is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market12 Mar 2029
“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.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Ludogorets; Valur go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Birkir Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2029
Valur have gone to Vikingur with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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 targets12 Mar 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Mar 2029
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market5 Mar 2029
“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.
Market5 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lúkas Logi Heimisson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market5 Mar 2029
The name of Kristján Flóki Finnbogason has come up in conversations Valur were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson commits to Valur for another 2 years.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets5 Mar 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Maribor have kept their man, and Valur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad5 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Valur
Bjarni Mark Duffield and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Gísli Laxdal 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Feb 2029
Vidar Skulason damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market26 Feb 2029
“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.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
Valur offered $110.0K; Vikingur said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Halmstad have kept their man, and Valur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout26 Feb 2029
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.
Market26 Feb 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Feb 2029
Vidar Skulason damages knee ligaments — 103 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 103 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market19 Feb 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Shkelzen Veseli has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Valur asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bjarni Mark Duffield was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
A loan enquiry to NK Maribor: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Viking have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
Nobody at Valur 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.