56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mjondalen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lucas Myklebust is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fanuel Ghebreyohannes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Mjondalen told Tobias Flem something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mjondalen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mjondalen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mjondalen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mjondalen have done the hard part with Rosenborg, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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 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.
Words at Mjondalen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fanuel Ghebreyohannes 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.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Ware Peter Natana 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Sander Marthinussen is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Brinder Singh has his answer from Mjondalen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Hødd next, and one man in the Mjondalen dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
7.77, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eirik Wollen Steen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 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.” Marcus Riise, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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 Mjondalen will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“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 Mjondalen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Meliga Promise is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Mjondalen close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 1 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.
Thomas Grøgaard 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Mjondalen is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mjondalen can pretend not to have heard.
Peder Klausen 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 Eirik Wollen Steen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mjondalen have made the call to Rosenborg. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mjondalen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mjondalen have done the hard part with Kongsvinger, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Fredrikstad is saying, and nobody at Mjondalen is enjoying the guessing.
Kweku Kekeli 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mjondalen can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Rosenborg; Mjondalen go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Mjondalen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Mjondalen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Wollen Steen 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mjondalen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HamKam have kept their man, and Mjondalen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eirik Wollen Steen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mjondalen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Mjondalen will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Thomas Grøgaard 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 offer went to Valerenga 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dylan Alexander Twiddy is living that version at Mjondalen, and it tends to show in the first month.
Mjondalen asked and Raufoss 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 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.
Mjondalen have made the call to Sarpsborg 08. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mjondalen can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kweku Kekeli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Valdemar Schmølker 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Armand Wangen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mjondalen 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 Tobias Bjørnebye was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Markus Ottesen and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tobias Flem trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Eirik Wollen Steen arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Sogndal next, and one man in the Mjondalen dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mjondalen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A new face in his position, and Christian Mork Breivik suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Mjondalen have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Mjondalen know it, and so does everybody who watches him.