Marked for Ivan Näsberg
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ivan Näsberg in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ole Sæter runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match29 Aug 2026
Whatever happens, Valerenga do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad31 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Ole Sæter
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ole Sæter, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Iván Pérez 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ole Sæter is still paying for one afternoon at Valerenga
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Fredrik Ardraa at 19 — 8.35
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fredrik Ardraa did not need any: 8.35, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ivan Näsberg 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 2‑0 win over Sandefjord, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Ofkir, and the manager let it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Valerenga keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Pérez 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Ole Sæter at his very best
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Valerenga.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kotaro Uchino dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Oscar Hedvall decides it from twelve yards
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Valerenga out
Out, 1‑1 to Sarpsborg 08, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Valerenga say no — this time
The offer from Stromsgodset for Magnus Westergaard 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ivan Näsberg in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
Rosenborg pay $390.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
At 19 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fredrik Ardraa 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
Triumph
Match8 Aug 2026
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Mohamed Ofkir decided nobody was going anywhere. Tromso had no time left to answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
Valerenga say no — this time
The offer from Sandefjord for Gustav Erik Stachowski 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oscar Hedvall and Valerenga agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ivan Näsberg in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Rosenborg have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Magnus Sjøeng. The answer from Valerenga has not changed — yet.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Henrik Bjørdal and Valerenga agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ivan Näsberg 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ole Sæter gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ole Sæter. 1‑0 against Aalesund, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Ole Sæter'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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
The afternoon belonged to Brice Ambina
7.58, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Valerenga had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Valerenga has been clear about where Magnus Westergaard stands, which is more than many ever get.