Marked for Patrick Lien
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Aug 2036
No end in sight to Stabaek's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Stabaek has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Aug 2036
Only the photograph left for Vegard Daehli
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vegard Daehli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom18 Aug 2036
Stabaek close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 22 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2036
The deal with Åsane 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.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2036
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Molde is saying, and nobody at Stabaek is enjoying the guessing.
Market18 Aug 2036
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Alexander Ajer reports back to Stabaek with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match16 Aug 2036
Stabaek cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match16 Aug 2036
0‑2 to Egersund, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces28 Jul 2036
Supporters organise against the Stabaek 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.
Boardroom28 Jul 2036
Pressure builds in the Stabaek boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match26 Jul 2036
0‑4 to Kongsvinger, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market28 Jul 2036
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stabaek have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad28 Jul 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market28 Jul 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.
Match26 Jul 2036
4 matches without a win for Stabaek
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Stabaek are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings28 Jul 2036
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2036
Stabaek asked and Valerenga said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jul 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.
Market21 Jul 2036
Only the photograph left for Alexander Ajer
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexander Ajer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2036
Everything agreed with Molde, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match19 Jul 2036
6 unbeaten for Stabaek
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Stabaek did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valerenga have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout21 Jul 2036
This is not rotation. Patrick Haaland has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Stabaek is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom21 Jul 2036
The borrowing at Stabaek reaches $16.3M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $16.3M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Match19 Jul 2036
Level with 86 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Stabaek had all but put away. Lyn will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Match19 Jul 2036
Honours even between Stabaek and Lyn
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces30 Jun 2036
Anger at Stabaek spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom30 Jun 2036
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Stabaek
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market30 Jun 2036
Vegard Daehli 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 Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings30 Jun 2036
Vegard Daehli, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.66
A mark of 7.66 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The terraces30 Jun 2036
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match28 Jun 2036
Three points for Stabaek, 1‑0 the final word against Skeid in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad30 Jun 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 Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jun 2036
Marcus Ajer 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 dugout30 Jun 2036
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Jun 2036
IK Start will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Stabaek were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad23 Jun 2036
Ivar Winje takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings23 Jun 2036
Marked 8.11 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market23 Jun 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.
Market23 Jun 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stabaek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The terraces23 Jun 2036
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout23 Jun 2036
This is not rotation. Patrick Haaland has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Stabaek is pretending otherwise.
Match21 Jun 2036
Stabaek settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. IK Start spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Player ratings23 Jun 2036
Ivar Winje was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. 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
Uneasy
Market16 Jun 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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings16 Jun 2036
Ivar Winje has a hand in both — 7.99
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.99, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Player ratings16 Jun 2036
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom16 Jun 2036
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
The dugout16 Jun 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.
Player ratings16 Jun 2036
Saku Ylätupa did the work nobody counts — 7.10
11 combined actions and 7.10. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad16 Jun 2036
Saku Ylätupa 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.
Match14 Jun 2036
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad16 Jun 2036
Words exchanged at Stabaek
Pablo Blanco 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 May 2036
A brace, and Mathias Odegaard takes the afternoon — 8.13
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mathias Odegaard provided it, and the 8.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings26 May 2036
No sign of nerves from Patrick Lien at 18 — 7.75
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Patrick Lien did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market26 May 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
Match24 May 2036
The drought breaks for Stabaek
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Mjondalen were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Market26 May 2036
Alexander Ajer has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stabaek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The terraces26 May 2036
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Vegard Daehli 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.
Match24 May 2036
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mathias Odegaard. 2‑0 against Mjondalen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout26 May 2036
This is not rotation. Patrick Haaland has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Stabaek is pretending otherwise.
The dugout26 May 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Stabaek debt reaches $17.0M
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Squad
A falling-out at Stabaek
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Squad
Saku Ylätupa falls out with a teammate over standards
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 May 2036
8 matches without a win for Stabaek
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Stabaek are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings19 May 2036
Two goals and a mark of 8.54 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 May 2036
No sign of nerves from Patrick Lien at 18 — 7.93
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Patrick Lien did not need any: 7.93, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market19 May 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.
Match17 May 2036
Hakon Odegaard scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Odd, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Match17 May 2036
Hakon Odegaard among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Hakon Odegaard on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Stabaek and Odd.
Player ratings19 May 2036
Successful dribbles: 21. 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 terraces19 May 2036
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout19 May 2036
The manager makes an example of Ivar Winje
“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
Uneasy
Match7 May 2036
The small margins put Stabaek out
Out, 1‑6 to Bodo/Glimt, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match10 May 2036
7 matches without a win for Stabaek
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Stabaek are no longer polite ones.
The terraces12 May 2036
A cup hiding at Bodo/Glimt leaves Stabaek explaining themselves
1-6, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Market12 May 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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 May 2036
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Stabaek and Bodo/Glimt, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The terraces12 May 2036
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Morten Singh 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.
Squad12 May 2036
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 5 saves does not settle it either way.
Boardroom12 May 2036
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad12 May 2036
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saku Ylätupa 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jan 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom28 Jan 2036
No signings allowed at Stabaek
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Marcus Berge 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.
Market28 Jan 2036
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stabaek know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout28 Jan 2036
Vegard Daehli 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 Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market28 Jan 2036
The shop window has Jonas King in it
Stabaek have let the market know Jonas King can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad28 Jan 2036
The penny has dropped for Morten Singh
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Stabaek the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Market28 Jan 2036
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Stabaek money.
Squad28 Jan 2036
The training reports on Patrick Haaland are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.