The Utsikten Chronicle
The terraces10 Dec 2035
The mood at Utsikten has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market10 Dec 2035
Xander Ekberg has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Utsikten they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Home is on Desmond Ojietefian's mind
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Utsikten are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom10 Dec 2035
Christian Stensheim will join Utsikten for nothing
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Christian Stensheim has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Utsikten have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Tempers go at Utsikten
Simone Martino 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.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Desmond Ojietefian 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 dugout10 Dec 2035
Jack Zardes 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.
The dugout10 Dec 2035
Simon Lindelof 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 dugout10 Dec 2035
The manager makes Viktor Claesson a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Utsikten. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
- Squad Richard Robert still has not settled
- Market Ianis Keseru leaves for nothing
- Market The clock does Gabriel Nguyen’s negotiating for him