Alexander Munksgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Steve Mvoué 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kristiansund lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings29 May 2028
A brace, and Steve Mvoué takes the afternoon — 8.32
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Steve Mvoué provided it, and the 8.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steve Mvoué was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 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.
Three points for Kristiansund, 2‑0 the final word against Fredrikstad in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout29 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stian Linnes, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout15 May 2028
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Stian Linnes to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutStefan Hagerup is still being punished for one mistake
SquadKristiansund are still strangers to each other
“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 Kristiansund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Lukas Helgeland 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Stian Linnes chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Wilfred George scored, was marked 7.79, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steve Mvoué was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 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.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tobias Elyounoussi and Kristiansund agree another 3 years.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Steve Mvoué 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.
The shirt still fits. Richard Ferrington is back at Kristiansund, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Kristiansund are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
Kristiansund asked and Lyn said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Steve Mvoué was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $2.2M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilfred George was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kristiansund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Kristiansund know which stage they are at.
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 Adrian Kurd Rønning is on it.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Copenhagen have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
6 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kristiansund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer went to IK Start this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Kristiansund heard it as anything else.
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.
Kristiansund asked and IF Elfsborg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kristiansund can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wilfred George and Kristiansund agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Munksgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. BK Hacken have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Kristiansund will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
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 Adrian Kurd Rønning is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The fee is $1.9M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Tromso drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The deal with Viking 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.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Alexander Warneryd from Tromso for $1.9M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Kristiansund asked and Moss said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutNiklas Ødegård has become a man the manager trusts
Lillestrom have accepted the money. What Kristiansund do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Kristiansund hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sogndal have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $96.7K — a club that wants Gift Sunday enough to be asked twice.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilfred George was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kristiansund asked and Molde said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$860.0K was the most the club would pay and Lillestrom were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$64.0K on the table at Bodo/Glimt. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kristiansund has been clear about where Niklas Ødegård stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Kristiansund will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Munksgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kristiansund can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kristiansund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 David Tufekçiç is on it.
The offer from Sheffield United for Wilfred George 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfred George 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kristiansund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
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 Adrian Kurd Rønning is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sander Kilen signs something — a contract at Kristiansund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adrian Kurd Rønning trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Sander Kilen’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kristiansund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Alexander Munksgaard plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
In brief
BoardroomThe Kristiansund production line keeps running
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfred George 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Kristiansund than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
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.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Kristiansund heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Munksgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 David Tufekçiç is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kristiansund, another week without a signature from Elias Sandøy Myrvågnes.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Haakon Haugen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
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 Niklas Ødegård is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kristiansund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Didrik Fredriksen has written the date down.
A new face in his position, and Sander Rød suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Kristiansund have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Kristiansund and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Henrik Heggheim signs something — a contract at Kristiansund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Lillestrom next, and one man in the Kristiansund dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Kristiansund would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Kristiansund that is a harder question to answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Awet Alemseged trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.72 for the rest of it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Kristiansund heard it as anything else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastian Jarl and Kristiansund agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Nov 2027
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Kristiansund. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
At 22 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Alexander Munksgaard has come out of that comparison in the side, and Kristiansund have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilfred George was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kristiansund, another week without a signature from Jesper Isaksen.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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 0‑1 Stian Linnes left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
He is 23 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Kristiansund. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Munksgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
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 0‑1 Stian Linnes left the room before anybody could ask which.
Sander Rød 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kristiansund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Alexander Munksgaard is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Stian Linnes could afford to be generous.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
3 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.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sander Kilen 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Anders Børset will call it something else in private.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stian Linnes, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Tufekçiç has become a man the manager trusts
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kristiansund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tobias Svendsen and Kristiansund agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilfred George was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nikolaj Möller. 1‑0 against Haugesund, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kristiansund can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Niklas Ødegård. 2‑1 against Molde, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 23 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.20, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Molde next, and one man in the Kristiansund dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“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 Kristiansund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Kristiansund 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.
Henrik Heggheim and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
“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 dugout23 Aug 2027
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 0‑1 Stian Linnes left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
At 22 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.
10 combined actions and 6.78. 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
A mark of 7.63, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
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.” Stian Linnes kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
1 for Wilfred George, marked 7.69, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Kristiansund hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jesper Isaksen and Kristiansund agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilfred George was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The fee is $670.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Odd drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Nordsjaelland have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Kristiansund and Odd have settled on $670.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
5 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.
Kristiansund had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at FC Copenhagen, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
The fee is $110.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Ranheim drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Ranheim; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kristiansund have done the hard part with Stabaek, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Max Williamsen has agreed terms with Molde for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Add another name to the list: Rosenborg have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Max Williamsen. The answer from Kristiansund has not changed — yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stabaek have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hrannar Snær Magnússon and Kristiansund agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
SquadWords at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Munksgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Storm Strand-Kolbjørnsen 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jesper Isaksen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Aalesund go through and Kristiansund go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
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.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. David Andersson is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“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.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Stian Linnes was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Kristiansund dressing room was either.
Looking ahead5 Jul 2027
Kristiansund take on the side everybody is chasing
Rosenborg arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Sebastian Jarl
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sander Kilen 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hrannar Snær Magnússon, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Wilfred George'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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Munksgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
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 Stian Linnes left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 HamKam.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfred George 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.
At 23 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kristiansund, another week without a signature from Jesper Isaksen.
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Tobias Svendsen 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Stian Linnes could afford to be generous.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexander Munksgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Tobias Svendsen’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Kristiansund needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilfred George was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Molde next, and one man in the Kristiansund dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sander Kilen signs something — a contract at Kristiansund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
1 for Didrik Fredriksen, marked 7.93, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
He is 21 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutLuciano Gondou has become a man the manager trusts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kristiansund may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
“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 dugout3 May 2027
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Stian Linnes to a room that had heard them before.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Max Williamsen has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Sander Kilen is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Henrik Heggheim signs something — a contract at Kristiansund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfred George 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.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sander Kilen did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21 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.
Three points for Kristiansund, 1‑0 the final word against Sarpsborg 08 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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.” Stian Linnes kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.75, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Thomas Haaland has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ruben Normann has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Patrick Thorsby is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Fredrik Berge has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Sarpsborg 08 have accepted the money. What Kristiansund do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Bodo/Glimt paid $1.1M and Kristiansund took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Tobias Svendsen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
5 new faces, and Kristiansund are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Kristiansund have no good answer.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Kristiansund have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Adrian Sæther has written the date down.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Kristiansund that is a harder question to answer.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: IF Elfsborg keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Adrian Kurd Rønning and Kristiansund agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Kristiansund know which stage they are at.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The offer from Rosenborg for Jesper Isaksen 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.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Kristiansund asked and BK Hacken said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Flex was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Niklas Ødegård is on it.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Kristiansund than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
In brief
The dugoutAnders Børset knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: BK Hacken keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The fee is $510.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Lyn drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wilfred George and Kristiansund agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilfred George 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Kristiansund will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The offer from Lyn for Heine Gikling Bruseth 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $568.8K — a club that wants Didrik Fredriksen enough to be asked twice.
The deal with BK Hacken 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.
Adrian Sæther and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vikingur have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jesper Isaksen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Kristiansund would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Haakon Haugen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kristiansund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Kristiansund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Adrian Sæther and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexander Munksgaard 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Júlíus Mar Júlíusson and Kristiansund agree another 4 years.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kristiansund. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Kristiansund have no good answer.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adrian Sæther and Kristiansund agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hrannar Snær Magnússon 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franklin Nyenetue will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kristiansund the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Sander Kilen 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kristiansund is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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; Kristiansund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sander Kilen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Awet Alemseged will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kristiansund the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
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 0‑1 Stian Linnes left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Haakon Haugen 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Lansing will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kristiansund the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Hrannar Snær Magnússon scored, was marked 7.51, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Sander Kilen 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.
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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stian Linnes, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Sander Kilen 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.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Stian Linnes on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Henrik Heggheim’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Kristiansund needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kristiansund they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
“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 Kristiansund know it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leander Alvheim, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Haakon Haugen 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.
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 David Tufekçiç is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kristiansund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against HamKam in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kristiansund. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kristiansund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Haugesund made Kristiansund work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stian Linnes, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Kristiansund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Haakon Haugen 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Leander Alvheim has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kristiansund they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Franklin Nyenetue has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sander Kilen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kristiansund, another week without a signature from Jesper Isaksen.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Hrannar Snær Magnússon has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Henrik Heggheim has moved up it.
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.
The offer from Egersund for Mustapha Isah 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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Wilfred George did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Kristiansund close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 15 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.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.88, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Alexander Munksgaard 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sander Kilen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stromsgodset have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kristiansund have done the hard part with Hammarby, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kristiansund can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Alexander Munksgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Kristiansund spend $4.4M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $4.4M for Henrik Heggheim, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Kristiansund asked and Åsane said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The offer from Valerenga for Sander Kilen 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.
Kristiansund have gone to Viking with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
13 seasons and 366 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexander Munksgaard and Kristiansund agree another 4 years.
“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 Kristiansund know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sander Kilen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Kristiansund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.