At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Three points for Haugesund, 2‑0 the final word against IK Start in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miika Koskela 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ole Hauge on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Haugesund has been clear about where Håvard Vatland Karlsen stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miika Koskela 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. Haugesund told Fredrik Berglie 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 Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Tromso? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against IK Start in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
0‑3 to Valerenga, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Peter Reinhardsen 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Haugesund can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jason Dalle Molle was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Jun 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Niklas Sandberg provided it, and the 8.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Peter Reinhardsen 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Haugesund and Kristiansund in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miika Koskela 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miika Koskela 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 watch every Haugesund game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lyn runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout22 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 Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Haugesund lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Lillestrom were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Marked 8.20 — 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 words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
The terraces8 May 2028
The mood at Haugesund has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Fredrik Berglie 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 Miika Koskela was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. David Bosak has just signed for Haugesund, and for once the answer mattered.
Peter Reinhardsen 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 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.
“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.
In brief
SquadDavid Bosak falls out with a teammate over standards
Rasmus Møller 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Haugesund, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eirik Viland Andersen, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jason Dalle Molle 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ole Hauge was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Haugesund dressing room was either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Stromsgodset defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haugesund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
11 new faces, and Haugesund 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Haugesund, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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 0‑2 Ole Hauge left the room before anybody could ask which.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Amund Wichne may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mattias Jakobsen 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haugesund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
1 for Pyry Hannola, marked 7.84, 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.
Peter Reinhardsen 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Haugesund asked and Westerlo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lars Sorloth is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hakon Meling 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Haugesund can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Haugesund 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.
The chase for Mame Alassane Niang ended with $830.0K changing hands and Lyn out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Peter Reinhardsen 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. Burton Albion have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Haugesund have made the call to Westerlo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Frank Junior Adjei was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Lyn 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $889.9K — a club that wants Mame Alassane Niang enough to be asked twice.
Add another name to the list: Viking have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Almar Grindhaug. The answer from Haugesund has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Peter Reinhardsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Fabian André Jakobsen had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer from Falkenberg for Håvard Vatland Karlsen 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Raufoss 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $3.7M — a club that wants Rafik Zekhnini enough to be asked twice.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Eintracht Braunschweig keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rosenborg have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Haugesund is running low.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 Haugesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jason Dalle Molle has just signed for Haugesund, and for once the answer mattered.
Haugesund asked and Viborg 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Haugesund know it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Haugesund can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The deal with Rosenborg 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. IFK Värnamo have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fredrik Berglie 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 Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Rosenborg; Haugesund 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. FC Nordsjaelland have kept their man, and Haugesund 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 Vegard Solheim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Fredrik Berglie has written the date down.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bodo/Glimt have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
Haugesund 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Haugesund has been clear about where Pius Igwe stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haugesund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
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.
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 Haugesund would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
In brief
The dugoutVegard Solheim asks for a word with the manager
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 Haugesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Lyn have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Einar Fauskanger. The answer from Haugesund has not changed — yet.
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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Add another name to the list: Nyíregyháza have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jonathan Norbye. The answer from Haugesund has not changed — yet.
Haugesund have gone to Egersund 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Egersund have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
Haugesund have made the call to Bodo/Glimt. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
Rasmus Møller 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Haugesund will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The offer from Wellington Phoenix for Einar Fauskanger 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pyry Hannola signs something — a contract at Haugesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Haugesund. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Fredrik Berglie 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emir Derviskadic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The phone has started ringing about Jonathan Norbye again, and this time the name on the line is Udinese. Haugesund are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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; Haugesund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Niklas Sandberg signs something — a contract at Haugesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Haugesund 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.
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 Emir Derviskadic has written the date down.
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 Haugesund have no good answer.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Haugesund can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The phone has started ringing about Ismaël Seoné again, and this time the name on the line is AC Horsens. Haugesund are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 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 Jan 2028
Amund Wichne loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Amund Wichne's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Miika Koskela signs something — a contract at Haugesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Haugesund would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
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 Fredrik Berglie has written the date down.
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 Haugesund have no good answer.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Haugesund will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The mood at Haugesund has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
This is not rotation. Parfait Bizoza has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Haugesund is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haugesund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastian Lønning and Haugesund agree another 4 years.
Rasmus Møller 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ole Hauge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haugesund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fredrik Berglie 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” William Valenza and Haugesund agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Sory Diarra
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Sory Diarra has come out of that comparison in the side, and Haugesund have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Håvard Vatland Karlsen's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haugesund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fredrik Berglie 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 Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abduljeleel Abdulateef trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Position 13 on 30 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haugesund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Fabian André Jakobsen has his answer from Haugesund; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haugesund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Einar Fauskanger has his answer from Haugesund; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Haugesund will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
KFUM Oslo next, and one man in the Haugesund dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ole Hauge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Haugesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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; Haugesund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Fabian André Jakobsen 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Bryne spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Pyry Hannola at his very best
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haugesund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund 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 Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. 10 actions, 6.83, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
Squad1 Nov 2027
5 new faces, and Haugesund 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Parfait Bizoza
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
0‑3 to Rosenborg, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Position 14 and 25 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Haugesund is running low.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
3 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.
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. 12 actions, 6.60, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Amund Wichne
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haugesund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haugesund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sogndal left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haugesund will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Haugesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fredrik Berglie 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 Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Haugesund has been clear about where Almar Grindhaug stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Niklas Sandberg signs something — a contract at Haugesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Haugesund, and 7 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Fredrik Berglie.
The mood at Haugesund has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match25 Sep 2027
Rocco Ascone wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Rocco Ascone found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Viking went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Up for the corner, and Rocco Ascone delivers — 7.83
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Rocco Ascone scored, was marked 7.83, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rocco Ascone. 2‑1 against Viking, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haugesund will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonathan Norbye is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haugesund will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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.
Tore André Sørås 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 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Haugesund can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Haugesund can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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 squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Amund Wichne was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
0 appearances and 0 clean sheets. A goalkeeper learns his job by playing it, and a season that gave him neither the games nor the shut-outs is a year taken off the front of a career.
Market6 Sep 2027
Ismaël Seoné returns from a loan that gave him nothing
2 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Pius Igwe
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Haugesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Haugesund is running low.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rio Ave have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Abduljeleel Abdulateef was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $2.4M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Haugesund asked and Lillestrom said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
Haugesund asked and Brann said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tore André Sørås was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
Haugesund asked and Odd said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eirik Viland Andersen and Haugesund agree another 3 years.
“I watch every Haugesund game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at CSKA Sofia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tore André Sørås 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Haugesund is running low.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Darian Mink has just signed for Haugesund, and for once the answer mattered.
Sandefjord paid $410.0K and Haugesund took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sogndal have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sandefjord have kept their man, and Haugesund 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 Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Victor Torisheju 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emir Derviskadic, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Jul 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
FC Midtjylland have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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. 17 actions, 7.22, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The name of Petcho Camara has come up in conversations Haugesund were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fredrikstad have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
“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 Haugesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund 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 Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“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; Haugesund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Haugesund, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Victor Torisheju 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.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
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.
Victor Torisheju 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Bodo/Glimt in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Uzoma Chinonso trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
1 for Pyry Hannola, marked 7.83, 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.
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.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Parfait Bizoza has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Haugesund.
The dugout21 Jun 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.” Ole Hauge kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Emil Rohd commits to Haugesund for another 5 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
Pius Igwe 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 watch every Haugesund game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at CSKA Sofia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ole Hauge after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
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.
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.
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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“I watch every Haugesund game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Åsane runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A 1‑1 draw with Viking leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ole Hauge was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Haugesund dressing room was either.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Emil Rohd 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 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.
“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 Haugesund, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
8 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 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Haugesund, and 5 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout17 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
7 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
Victor Torisheju 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Linus Alperud, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Miika Koskela
1‑5 to Brann, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Haugesund and Brann, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“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; Haugesund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
Rasmus Møller 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 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 1‑5 defeat, delivered by Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haugesund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Pyry Hannola 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then IK Start scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ole Hauge after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haugesund have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Haugesund and Tromso, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Emil Rohd 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 Jonathan Norbye, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Emil Rohd was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.39. 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.
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.
“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; Haugesund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Haugesund lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Henrik Linnes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Erling Linnes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mathias Ajer 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sander Elyounoussi 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 words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Haugesund 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Miika Koskela 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haugesund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Haugesund asked and Ikorodu City 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 Parfait Bizoza 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nasarawa United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Haugesund lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Kongsvinger for Frank Stople 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mjällby have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sory Diarra signs something — a contract at Haugesund or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Haugesund lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Anders Bondhus had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Haugesund will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“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; Haugesund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hammarby have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Haugesund lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Anders Bondhus again, and this time the name on the line is Aalesund. Haugesund are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Haugesund can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Haugesund asked and Halmstad 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
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
Rasmus Møller 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.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Haugesund lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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; Haugesund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Haugesund asked and AJ Auxerre 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 Parfait Bizoza 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 Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Haugesund, another week without a signature from Petcho Camara.
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Haugesund lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Mjällby had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Pius Igwe has just signed for Haugesund, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lillestrom have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
The name of Håvard Vatland Karlsen has come up in conversations Haugesund were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Miika Koskela 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.
$60.0K was the most the club would pay and Hødd 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.
Haugesund 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Haugesund have made the call to IF Elfsborg. 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. 87 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $66.8K — a club that wants Mirza Mulac enough to be asked twice.
$26.0K was the most the club would pay and Sogndal 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Håvard Vatland Karlsen and Haugesund agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
Parfait Bizoza 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Petcho Camara 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Haugesund has been clear about where Mikkel Hope stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 Haugesund would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Haugesund lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Parfait Bizoza 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 Linus Alperud was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haugesund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Rasmus Møller has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 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 listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ismaël Seoné had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
Rasmus Møller 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 from Vejle for Ismaël Seoné 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund 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 Petcho Camara 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 Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonathan Norbye is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The name of Ismaël Seoné has come up in conversations Haugesund were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Haugesund can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Parfait Bizoza 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Linus Alperud 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.
Pyry Hannola 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haugesund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Parfait Bizoza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petcho Camara 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Parfait Bizoza 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 Haugesund 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 Linus Alperud was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haugesund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
In brief
SquadMikkel Hope is training like a man with a point to make
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonathan Norbye is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jonathan Norbye commits to Haugesund for another 5 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
Parfait Bizoza 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Viland Andersen 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.
Jonathan Norbye 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.
0‑1 to KFUM Oslo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Linus Alperud 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 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 Ole Hauge left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
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.
Rasmus Møller 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Haugesund man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Sory Diarra was the best thing in any of them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Einar Fauskanger has his answer from Haugesund; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haugesund know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Niklas Sandberg has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
A brace, and Sory Diarra takes the afternoon — 8.80
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sory Diarra provided it, and the 8.80 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Pyry Hannola 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Parfait Bizoza 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Jonathan Norbye'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.
Parfait Bizoza 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Linus Alperud 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Linus Alperud 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
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.” Ole Hauge kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonathan Norbye trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
4 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.
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
11 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 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Haugesund told Parfait Bizoza something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.18 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
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 39, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
A point taken on 88 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.
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.
Parfait Bizoza 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.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Linus Alperud 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haugesund 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Claes Kronberg commits to Haugesund for another 2 years.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 Ole Hauge to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Jonathan Norbye'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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Pyry Hannola
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Pyry Hannola has come out of that comparison in the side, and Haugesund have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Haugesund has been clear about where Almar Grindhaug stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Almar Grindhaug
Parfait Bizoza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Viland Andersen 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.
10 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ole Hauge after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haugesund, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
At 21 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pyry Hannola. 3‑1 against Kristiansund, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Linus Alperud 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jonathan Norbye is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
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.
The dugout14 Sep 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 Ole Hauge left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haugesund can pretend not to have heard.
Parfait Bizoza 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.
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Viland Andersen 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Emil Rohd is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rasmus Møller is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
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 7.76 for the rest of it.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Haugesund will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Linus Alperud 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.
10 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Haugesund will try again when the window opens; Brann may not be selling by then.
At 20 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 Parfait Bizoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Rasmus Møller 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: 15. 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.
Bryne go through and Haugesund go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Aarhus Fremad had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Brann have accepted the money. What Haugesund do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
$1.8M on the table at Viking. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Haugesund 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.8M — a club that wants Joe Bell enough to be asked twice.
Haugesund had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at FC Nordsjaelland, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ismaël Seoné had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Haugesund had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AC Horsens, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bryne have kept their man, and Haugesund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ruben Haaland 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Patrick Odegaard 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. Bjorn Sorloth is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The offer went to Lillestrom 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.
Pyry Hannola 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.
0‑1 to Viking, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Haugesund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Parfait Bizoza 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.
13 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.