Marked for Marcus Singh
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Jun 2042
A knee injury of the worst kind for Luca Ferretti
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valerenga lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad2 Jun 2042
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valerenga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Jun 2042
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings2 Jun 2042
Sven Bouland, 36, rolls back the years — 8.31
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.31 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad2 Jun 2042
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sven Bouland and Valerenga agree another 2 years.
Match31 May 2042
Three points for Valerenga, 1‑0 the final word against Sarpsborg 08 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings2 Jun 2042
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market2 Jun 2042
The clock does Stian Normann’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Valerenga could ask drops and the wages Stian Normann can ask rise.
Market2 Jun 2042
The Marcus Singh story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marcus Singh signs something — a contract at Valerenga or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Valerenga production line keeps running
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The terraces
The press have found their man in Sven Bouland
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Jan 2042
A knee injury of the worst kind for Stian Normann
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valerenga lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad13 Jan 2042
“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.
Market13 Jan 2042
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valerenga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Jan 2042
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Cabeçana 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.
Squad13 Jan 2042
Edvard Tagseth 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.
Market13 Jan 2042
At 37, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Nov 2041
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valerenga lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Nov 2041
“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.
Market18 Nov 2041
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Magnus Henriksen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Nov 2041
Brahima Diarra 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.
Squad18 Nov 2041
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Valerenga know it.
Market18 Nov 2041
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Valerenga, another week without a signature from Gustav Bjerge.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom24 Jun 2041
The numbers do not look good at Valerenga
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.
Market24 Jun 2041
Kirill Yershov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valerenga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings24 Jun 2041
A goal and an assist for Magnus Daehli — 7.93
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.93 beside his name.
Player ratings24 Jun 2041
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad24 Jun 2041
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahima Diarra 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.
Squad24 Jun 2041
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Jun 2041
A 2‑0 win over Stabaek, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad24 Jun 2041
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings24 Jun 2041
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Apr 2041
Bjorn Normann breaks a bone — 56 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom29 Apr 2041
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Valerenga now.
Player ratings29 Apr 2041
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market29 Apr 2041
Kirill Yershov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valerenga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Apr 2041
Brahima Diarra 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.
Match27 Apr 2041
A 3‑2 win over IK Start, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings29 Apr 2041
Ninety minutes of Magnus Daehli at his very best
Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Valerenga.
Squad29 Apr 2041
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Valerenga know it.
Squad29 Apr 2041
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Feb 2041
“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.
Boardroom25 Feb 2041
Valerenga move for the manager
The approach has been made to Shooting Stars and the answer is somebody else's to give. These things are settled in private and reported in public, usually in that order.
Squad25 Feb 2041
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahima Diarra 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.
Market25 Feb 2041
The phone has started ringing about Magnus Daehli again, and this time the name on the line is Stromsgodset. Valerenga are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad25 Feb 2041
Marcus Singh 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.
Market25 Feb 2041
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jan 2041
A fracture rules Razvan Puscas out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valerenga will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Jan 2041
“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 Valerenga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Jan 2041
Only the photograph left for Marcus Berge
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marcus Berge will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jan 2041
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jan 2041
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Cabeçana 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.
Squad14 Jan 2041
The medical room confirms 21 days on the sidelines for Marcus Singh, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jan 2041
Pressure builds in the Valerenga boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom7 Jan 2041
Interim Coach has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Valerenga can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad7 Jan 2041
A fracture rules Razvan Puscas out for 39 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valerenga will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Jan 2041
34 appearances across 15 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Market7 Jan 2041
“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 Valerenga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jan 2041
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valerenga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom7 Jan 2041
The Valerenga board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Boardroom7 Jan 2041
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Valerenga now.
Squad7 Jan 2041
The medical room confirms 40 days on the sidelines for Bjorn Singh, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Dec 2040
A fracture rules Razvan Puscas out for 60 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valerenga will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 Dec 2040
“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.
Market17 Dec 2040
Marcus Berge has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valerenga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Dec 2040
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francisco Cabeçana 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.
Squad17 Dec 2040
Tobias Hedl 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.
Squad17 Dec 2040
49 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Dec 2040
A fracture rules Razvan Puscas out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valerenga will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom10 Dec 2040
The scrutiny sharpens at Valerenga
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Valerenga is running low.
Squad10 Dec 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Dec 2040
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alessandro Rinaldi is living that version at Valerenga, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom10 Dec 2040
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Valerenga now.
Squad10 Dec 2040
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Gallego 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.
Boardroom10 Dec 2040
107% of the income goes out in wages at Valerenga
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market10 Dec 2040
“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.
Market10 Dec 2040
Valerenga shop where it costs nothing
Alessandro Rinaldi signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Nov 2040
A fracture rules Razvan Puscas out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valerenga will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Nov 2040
“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 Valerenga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom12 Nov 2040
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Valerenga now.
Squad12 Nov 2040
Juan Moreno 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.
Boardroom12 Nov 2040
Still no name above the door at Valerenga
Day 11 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Boardroom12 Nov 2040
Wages eat 120% of everything Valerenga earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad12 Nov 2040
Adam Morris 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 Adam Morris trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Nov 2040
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valerenga told Marcus Berge something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Boardroom12 Nov 2040
Valerenga keep producing them
174 graduates from an academy now rated 15 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Nov 2040
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Squad5 Nov 2040
A fracture rules Razvan Puscas out for 102 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valerenga will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Nov 2040
“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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2040
A stranger takes charge at Valerenga
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
Boardroom5 Nov 2040
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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2040
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Squad5 Nov 2040
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valerenga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Nov 2040
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Moreno 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.
Squad5 Nov 2040
A muscle injury sidelines Facundo Villarreal for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Valerenga will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.