Marked for Viktor Ekblom
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Falkenberg waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tromso is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Atvidaberg had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Tromso
Casper Øyvann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
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.
Match24 Jul 2027
1‑3 to Lillestrom, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sandefjord have kept their man, and Tromso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Ekblom, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 39, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Gustav Nøhr arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Gustav Nøhr has, at Tromso, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Match3 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Tromso
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruben Yttergård Jenssen 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 terraces5 Jul 2027
Tromso supporters have found a favourite in Tomás Pérez
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Tomás Pérez 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
A 2‑0 win over Stabaek, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Vegard Erlien was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Viktor Ekblom slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Viktor Ekblom is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
At 39 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.84, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Casper Øyvann 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 terraces28 Jun 2027
He is 18 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.
Match26 Jun 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Vegard Erlien’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tromso.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Viktor Ekblom
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Bop Guèye beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Martin Lien could afford to be generous.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Belts tighten at Tromso
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Bop Guèye 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruben Yttergård Jenssen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Jun 2027
3 matches without a goal for Tromso
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Tromso
David Edvardsson 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
“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 dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Martin Lien was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Tromso dressing room was either.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“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.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The plan did not have a place for Viktor Ekblom
Nobody at Tromso is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruben Yttergård Jenssen 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 ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Daniel Braut 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Tromso
Abderrahmane Sarr 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
Viktor Ekblom knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tromso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The form table has caught Leo Cornic
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
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.” Martin Lien chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad14 Jun 2027
One booking too many, and Casper Øyvann sits out. Tromso lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Tromso will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 May 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 May 2027
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 May 2027
A falling-out at Tromso
David Edvardsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 May 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Vegard Erlien’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tromso.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Viktor Ekblom
“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 dugout31 May 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.” Martin Lien kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Tromso counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Tromso now.
The dugout31 May 2027
Leo Cornic 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
Player ratings24 May 2027
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 7.77 for the rest of it.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Tromso
Casper Øyvann 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.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
Match22 May 2027
Odd take the points off Tromso
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abderrahmane Sarr commits to Tromso for another 3 years.
The dugout24 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 Martin Lien to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout24 May 2027
The plan did not have a place for Viktor Ekblom
Nobody at Tromso is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout24 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Casper Øyvann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match15 May 2027
Sandefjord made Tromso work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings17 May 2027
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.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
A mark of 7.74, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout17 May 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.” Martin Lien kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad17 May 2027
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad17 May 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Casper Øyvann 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
0‑2 to Valerenga, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Ekblom, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Tromso
Abderrahmane Sarr 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
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.
Market26 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Casper Øyvann’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Tromso
Casper Øyvann 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
Match17 Apr 2027
0‑1 to Bodo/Glimt, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Apr 2027
19 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jonas Lien commits to Tromso for another 4 years.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“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 dugout19 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The plan did not have a place for Viktor Ekblom
Nobody at Tromso is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Tromso
David Edvardsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Troy Nyhammer 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Three points for Tromso, 1‑0 the final word against Lillestrom in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“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 dugout12 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.” Martin Lien, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
William Kaastrup 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
Market5 Apr 2027
Tromso say no — this time
The offer from Lillestrom for Viktor Ekblom 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.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Tromso 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Casper Øyvann 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.
Transfer targets5 Apr 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Almirante Brown have kept their man, and Tromso go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Tromso
Tomás Pérez 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sondre Rossbach is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Looking ahead5 Apr 2027
Lillestrom next, and one man in the Tromso dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Tromso. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Mar 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Mar 2027
Viking pay $1.5M, 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ruben Yttergård Jenssen and Tromso agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
Transfer targets8 Mar 2027
Tromso asked and Almirante Brown said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Tromso
Abderrahmane Sarr and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Mar 2027
Jesper Grundt is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tromso has been clear about where Jesper Grundt stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Jesper Grundt
“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.
Market8 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Viktor Ekblom signs something — a contract at Tromso or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Casper Øyvann 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Vince Osuji
“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 dugout11 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexander Warneryd trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market11 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Viktor Ekblom signs something — a contract at Tromso or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market11 Jan 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruben Yttergård Jenssen 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Viktor Ekblom signs something — a contract at Tromso or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tromso may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tromso told David Edvardsson something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match24 Oct 2026
After 10 games, Tromso finally taste it again
The first defeat in 10 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Rosenborg; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to William Kaastrup, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 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 1‑2 Martin Lien left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Sondre Rossbach
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.71, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match10 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Tromso
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Tromso training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruben Yttergård Jenssen 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Viktor Ekblom’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tromso.
Squad12 Oct 2026
13 new faces, and Tromso 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tromso this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Martin Lien: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 unbeaten for Tromso
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Tromso did not have in the autumn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruben Yttergård Jenssen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sander Innvær, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Martin Lien after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than William Kaastrup
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Vegard Erlien has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Tromso?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Haugesund? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tromso lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
IK Start wanted more than $830.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Tromso
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruben Yttergård Jenssen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Aug 2026
Late, late show earns Tromso a point
Minute 85, against IK Start, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Leon Hien
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leon Hien, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Tromso
Abderrahmane Sarr and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
It needed Viktor Ekblom to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against IK Start, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Leo Cornic
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Daniel Braut, 21, steals the show — 7.92
Marked 7.92 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Sarpsborg 08 wanted more than $1.1M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Albacete keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Tromso
Casper Øyvann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Stromsgodset 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Braut commits to Tromso for another 5 years.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Tromso supporters have found a favourite in Daniel Braut
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniel Braut 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Valerenga made Tromso work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.