From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Östersund they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Östersund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Östersund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hjalte Boe 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“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 Östersund know it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Sunday Anyanwu asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Östersund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Hjalte Boe falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Tyree Griffiths
“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.
Market23 Nov 2026
The name of Melker Uppenberg keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Östersund say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Emil Özkan gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Emil Özkan is on it.
Market23 Nov 2026
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Östersund money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
Sunday Anyanwu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Östersund they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Dennis Widgren and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Yannick Adjoumani falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Amar Begić gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
Market16 Nov 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Tyree Griffiths has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Östersund.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clock does Ali Suljić’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Östersund could ask drops and the wages Ali Suljić can ask rise.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Božičković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Hjalte Boe runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Donald Molls breaks a bone — 18 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Östersund is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Östersund
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Östersund are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Simon Marklund commits to Östersund for another 4 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Östersund
Dennis Widgren 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Östersund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hjalte Boe 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Helsingborg left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dejan Claesson 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
Donald Molls breaks a bone — 27 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market2 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Östersund they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Hjalte Boe at 19 — 8.03
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hjalte Boe did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Yannick Adjoumani has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Simon Marklund commits to Östersund for another 4 years.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Östersund
Hjalte Boe and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Östersund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andreas Troelsen 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
Donald Molls breaks a bone — 34 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Oct 2026
Östersund refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Östersund is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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 7.63 for the rest of it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Hjalte Boe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Östersund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andreas Troelsen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Östersund
17 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Donald Molls out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Östersund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Keyano Marrah is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Östersund did not have in the autumn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Östersund
Andreas Troelsen 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 terraces19 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Hjalte Boe 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.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Top-of-the-table clash for Östersund
Landskrona BoIS next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Östersund
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Božičković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Sunday Anyanwu
“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.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody on the pitch touched Hjalte Boe
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The dugout
When it matters, Melker Uppenberg plays
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Donald Molls breaks a bone — 50 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Östersund is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A move Simon Trier would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Simon Trier is living that version at Östersund, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Östersund
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andreas Troelsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Charlie Nildén 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Östersund told Keyano Marrah something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Edgar Navassardian’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Östersund needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Donald Molls out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Östersund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Oct 2026
The view from the top for Östersund
19 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Östersund is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Hjalte Boe, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 8.23
A mark of 8.23 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dennis Widgren 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Östersund do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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; Östersund are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Hjalte Boe 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Donald Molls out for 66 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Östersund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Simon Marklund
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simon Marklund will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Östersund the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Simon Marklund has agreed terms with Hammarby for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Hjalte Boe runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Östersund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Östersund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Božičković 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Luka Božičković
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Östersund caught on 95 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Örgryte scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.76, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
73 days out for Donald Molls after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Östersund will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dennis Widgren and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Andreas Troelsen falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Melker Uppenberg has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Östersund will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Emil Guidetti on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Simon Marklund knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simon Marklund trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Östersund will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Donald Molls out for 81 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Östersund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Sep 2026
Markus Naglestad wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Markus Naglestad found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and GIF Sundsvall went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Hjalte Boe, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99
A mark of 7.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.94, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ali Suljić goes up and wins it — 7.92
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 7.92 for the rest of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Hjalte Boe 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 4‑3, and it was Markus Naglestad’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Östersund.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Andreas Troelsen falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Donald Molls out for 88 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Östersund will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Östersund
Hjalte Boe 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Luka Božičković 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Hjalte Boe needs a bigger stage
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Östersund know which stage they are at.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market7 Sep 2026
The clock does Ali Suljić’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Östersund could ask drops and the wages Ali Suljić can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
97 days out for Donald Molls after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Östersund will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Östersund is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Östersund
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andreas Troelsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Malmo FF have kept their man, and Östersund go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Abel Stensrud 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Östersund, 1‑0 the final word against IK Brage in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and Östersund 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
The small margins put Östersund out
Out, 0‑1 to Malmo FF, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Östersund
Andreas Troelsen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Östersund training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Božičković 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Östersund asked and Vikingur said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Luka Božičković
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
No place for Charlie Nildén in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Östersund are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Aug 2026
Östersund march on in the cup
Djurgarden are out and Östersund go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A move Charlie Nildén would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Charlie Nildén is living that version at Östersund, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Window shuts: 13 in, 6 out at Östersund
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match15 Aug 2026
Östersund cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Östersund
Dennis Widgren 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Östersund
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Božičković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Östersund asked and Vejle said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Aug 2026
Umeå FC will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Östersund were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A brace, and Abel Stensrud takes the afternoon — 8.92
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abel Stensrud provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Andreas Troelsen arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Andreas Troelsen has, at Östersund, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dennis Widgren commits to Östersund for another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Östersund this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Östersund
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andreas Troelsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dennis Widgren was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Östersund
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Božičković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Östersund
11 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Hammarby 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Lillestrom: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Half-satisfied: Emil Guidetti on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.