Marked for Mathias Meling
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Oct 2035
Supporters organise against the Odd board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market29 Oct 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Odd is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout29 Oct 2035
Jiří Floder says Odd went back on their word
“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.
Squad29 Oct 2035
A row about effort at Odd
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Skree Skjeldal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Oct 2035
Tempers go at Odd
Isaac Frimpong 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.
Looking ahead29 Oct 2035
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Odd know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout29 Oct 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Enoch Dzeble, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Oct 2035
Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Market29 Oct 2035
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mathias Meling has his answer from Odd; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom22 Oct 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Odd
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match22 Oct 2035
Odd sink to position 15
20 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market22 Oct 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Odd is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Tempers go at Odd
Samuel Skree Skjeldal 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 Oct 2035
Stefan Melentijević 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.
Match20 Oct 2035
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
A promise honoured at Odd
Something was said to Magnus Knutsvik and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 Sep 2035
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
The dugout17 Sep 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Odd may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 Sep 2035
A falling-out at Odd
Tommaso Benvenuti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Sep 2035
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.
Match15 Sep 2035
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 Sep 2035
“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 dugout17 Sep 2035
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 1‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Looking ahead17 Sep 2035
A test against the best for Odd
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 Brann.
Squad17 Sep 2035
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Sep 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Odd can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Sep 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Odd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Sep 2035
A row about effort at Odd
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Melentijević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
“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.
Boardroom10 Sep 2035
Wages swallow 89% of the Odd income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Magnus Knutsvik's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Boardroom10 Sep 2035
Nobody arrives at Odd until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Odd this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Market10 Sep 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Odd, another week without a signature from Einar Iversen.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
Levy Varisli gets picked when it counts
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 Levy Varisli is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Jun 2035
Odd march on in the cup
Stromsgodset are out and Odd go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match2 Jul 2035
Odd sink to position 15
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Odd
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad2 Jul 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Odd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jul 2035
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 terraces2 Jul 2035
Odd supporters have found a favourite in Erling Normann
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Erling Normann has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
Wages eat 115% of everything Odd 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.
Market2 Jul 2035
“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.
Player ratings2 Jul 2035
Marked 7.89 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Odd had the best player on the pitch.