Marked for Stefan Odegaard
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Aalesund
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market27 Mar 2028
Tor Erik Larsen has left for Stromsgodset in a $720.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Aalesund
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Endre Osenbroch was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad27 Mar 2028
5 new faces, and Aalesund 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.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
The numbers do not look good at Aalesund
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market27 Mar 2028
The Uba Charles story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Uba Charles signs something — a contract at Aalesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Aalesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Aalesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uba Charles 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.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
Aalesund asked and 1º Dezembro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Janus Seehusen 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Aalesund will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market21 Feb 2028
Aalesund have made Tor Erik Larsen available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Emil Engqvist keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aalesund say nothing, which says plenty.
Market21 Feb 2028
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Aalesund have gone and got theirs early.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Feb 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Aalesund have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market7 Feb 2028
Yuri Laptev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aalesund can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
The deal with Rosenborg is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Market7 Feb 2028
The phone has started ringing about Max Nielsen again, and this time the name on the line is Rosenborg. Aalesund are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Aalesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uba Charles 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aalesund has been clear about where Jakob Nyland Ørsahl stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad7 Feb 2028
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad7 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aalesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ulrik Fredriksen is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Sep 2027
Odd made Aalesund work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.52 on the card, and the Aalesund support went home talking about one name.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Erling Svensson could afford to be generous.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Tor Erik Larsen 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Philip Storås has his answer from Aalesund; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Adrian Rogulj has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aalesund 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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Stefan 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.
Looking ahead20 Sep 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Moss in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market20 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emil Engqvist signs something — a contract at Aalesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.