Marked for Martin Odegaard
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Aug 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mjondalen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Molde is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad18 Aug 2036
A fracture rules Lars Meling out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Molde will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings18 Aug 2036
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Market18 Aug 2036
“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 The request is on a desk at Molde, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Aug 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Molde they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings18 Aug 2036
Harley Mills pops up at the right end — 7.91
7.91, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Boardroom18 Aug 2036
Deadline passes with 27 signed and 36 gone
That is the business done at Molde 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 targets18 Aug 2036
The deal with Valerenga 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.
Match16 Aug 2036
No end in sight to Molde's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Molde has to find a result from somewhere.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match3 May 2036
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
The dugout5 May 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valerenga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings5 May 2036
A brace, and Steven Dixon takes the afternoon — 9.11
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Steven Dixon provided it, and the 9.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings5 May 2036
A brace, and Elliot Myles takes the afternoon — 8.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Elliot Myles provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match3 May 2036
Nobody wants to play Valerenga right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market5 May 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 May 2036
A row about effort at Valerenga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krešimir Radoš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 May 2036
Words exchanged at Valerenga
Alexander Ingi Arnarsson 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.
Match3 May 2036
Valerenga settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Aalesund spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings21 Apr 2036
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market21 Apr 2036
“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.
Market21 Apr 2036
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.
Squad21 Apr 2036
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.
Squad21 Apr 2036
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krešimir Radoš 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 Apr 2036
It finished 2‑0, and it was Elliot Myles’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Valerenga.
The dugout21 Apr 2036
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Innokentiy Shatov kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Boardroom21 Apr 2036
Valerenga can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
Boardroom21 Apr 2036
Valerenga bank $7.0K from an old deal
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Adrian Sæther is somebody else's player now, and $7.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Apr 2036
Valerenga strike at the death to beat Bryne
There were 86 minutes on the clock and Bryne had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Valerenga did not stop to explain themselves.
Market14 Apr 2036
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Valerenga have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market14 Apr 2036
Only the photograph left for Neo Jönsson
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Neo Jönsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Matyáš Šilhavý 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.
Squad14 Apr 2036
A row about effort at Valerenga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krešimir Radoš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Apr 2036
Bryne made Valerenga work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
“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.
Market14 Apr 2036
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Valerenga have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings14 Apr 2036
Elliot Myles was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Mar 2036
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Valerenga people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Matyáš Šilhavý and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Valerenga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krešimir Radoš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
“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.
Market31 Mar 2036
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Valerenga will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
Elliot Myles 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 Valerenga, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market31 Mar 2036
The Elliot Myles talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valerenga know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout31 Mar 2036
When it matters, Neo Jönsson plays
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.
Market31 Mar 2036
“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 Tochukwu Michael.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Mar 2036
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Valerenga have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market24 Mar 2036
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yuri Palitsevich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Mar 2036
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.
Squad24 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Valerenga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krešimir Radoš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Mar 2036
Valerenga asked and Zurich said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market24 Mar 2036
The name of Martin Odegaard has come up in conversations Valerenga were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market24 Mar 2036
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Valerenga will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout24 Mar 2036
Elliot Myles 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 Valerenga, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout24 Mar 2036
The manager makes an example of Morten Ryerson
“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
Steady
Market17 Mar 2036
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Valerenga people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market17 Mar 2036
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market17 Mar 2036
“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 Mar 2036
Neo Jönsson 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 Mar 2036
Words exchanged at Valerenga
Mirza Mulac 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.
Squad17 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Valerenga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steven Dixon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
Ole Hauge 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.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
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 Morten Ryerson is on it.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
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
Steady
Market11 Feb 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ranheim waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match11 Feb 2036
Valerenga are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 63 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market11 Feb 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Feb 2036
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.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Mustapha Sissoko arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mustapha Sissoko has, at Valerenga, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krešimir Radoš 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.
Market11 Feb 2036
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lucas Batbedat has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Valerenga.
Market11 Feb 2036
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Too much change too quickly at Valerenga
12 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Aug 2035
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Molde waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market13 Aug 2035
“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.
Match11 Aug 2035
Valerenga cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The dugout13 Aug 2035
Hayden Ford: 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.” Valerenga have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market13 Aug 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Aug 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Elliot Myles and Valerenga agree another 4 years.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Michel Ayvazyan 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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emil Hillestad 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.
Match11 Aug 2035
It finished 1‑0, and it was Michel Ayvazyan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Valerenga.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Jan 2035
Balázs Tóth 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 Valerenga can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Jan 2035
Valerenga say no — this time
The offer from SuperSport United for Balázs Tóth 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.
Squad8 Jan 2035
Florian Schlager arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Florian Schlager has, at Valerenga, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market8 Jan 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ghalil Bousnane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Jan 2035
Abdou Aziz N'Diaye 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.
Squad8 Jan 2035
Víctor wants to go home
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Valerenga can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad8 Jan 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Martin Odegaard and Valerenga agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 Jan 2035
When it matters, Matteo Kitz plays
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.
Market8 Jan 2035
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.