Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Axel Sjöström Falk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zakaria Mugeese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Dicko Eng 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.
Something was said to Blerton Isufi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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 Fredrik Pålerud 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 Blerton Isufi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Stabaek 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Stabaek that is a harder question to answer.
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 The request is on a desk at Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Dicko Eng 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Stabaek pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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 Jacob Dicko Eng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Stabaek know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Chaihane Badoro commits to Stabaek for another 4 years.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Axel Sjöström Falk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 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 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.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Stabaek will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Position 15 and 20 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.
0‑4 against Bodo/Glimt, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacob Dicko Eng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Stabaek can tell you which week it ends in.
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 dugout22 Sep 2031
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Jacob Dicko Eng.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stabaek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Tobias Elyounoussi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Something was said to Brage Tobiassen and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Blerton Isufi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Stabaek needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 Aalesund, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Sep 2031
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Something was said to Kimi Løkkevik and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kimi Løkkevik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Rosenborg.
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.
Stabaek 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.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Jacob Dicko Eng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom18 Aug 2031
Stabaek close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 18 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Everything agreed with Rosenborg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stabaek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kimi Løkkevik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Stabaek asked and Benfica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stabaek people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Golden Arrows had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The clubs have shaken hands with Bodo/Glimt; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stabaek is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAleksa Matić falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
“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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stabaek have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Stabaek had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Molde, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Stabaek asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stabaek people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Stabaek and Rosenborg have settled on $1.4M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Molde have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Felgueiras is saying, and nobody at Stabaek is enjoying the guessing.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Kimi Løkkevik 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.
“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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Axel Sjöström Falk has come up in conversations Stabaek were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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 Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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 Kimi Løkkevik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Stabaek who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Valerenga spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stabaek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
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.
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.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kimi Løkkevik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 Kimi Løkkevik is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tobias Elyounoussi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Minute 87, against Lillestrom, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The mood at Stabaek 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.
Position 15 and 4 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
1‑6 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stabaek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Stabaek and Rosenborg, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad26 May 2031
Kimi Løkkevik 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.
Beaten 6 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek 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.” Stabaek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stabaek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 May 2031
Aleksa Matić 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 club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Sarpsborg 08 go through and Stabaek go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Kimi Løkkevik: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
5 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 Stabaek 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 Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 93 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Kimi Løkkevik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout5 May 2031
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stabaek has been clear about where Marius Lundemo stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stabaek will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stabaek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Matić 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 Apr 2031
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stabaek 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oskar Nilsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Matić 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stabaek will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Marcus Isane Kjos reports back to Stabaek with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kimi Løkkevik 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.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stabaek will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Stabaek can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stabaek people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Porto keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Zakaria Mugeese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Aleksa Matić 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Stabaek have done the hard part with Bodo/Glimt, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stabaek they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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.
Stabaek asked and SV Ried said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Kevin Tshiembe 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 Mar 2031
Aleksa Matić 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Malmo FF have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bradford City 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stabaek know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces10 Mar 2031
The mood at Stabaek 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Molde; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Molde keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Zakaria Mugeese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Mar 2031
William Wendt 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zakaria Mugeese signs something — a contract at Stabaek or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius Lundemo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Stabaek have done the hard part with Olympique Lyonnais, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Marius Lundemo has agreed terms with Viking for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stabaek will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Karpaty is saying, and nobody at Stabaek is enjoying the guessing.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Squad24 Feb 2031
Aleksa Matić 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.
Stabaek asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Olympique Lyonnais: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Malmo FF keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 Feb 2031
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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. Malmo FF have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces10 Feb 2031
The mood at Stabaek 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Molde keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Squad10 Feb 2031
William Wendt 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SV Ried have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“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 Stabaek, 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 Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stabaek will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stabaek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kevin Tshiembe 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 William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Oskar Nilsson
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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. Stabaek know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 142 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andreas Hoven trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody from Viking has seen every one of Kimi Løkkevik’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Stabaek knows it.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aron Berge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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 William Wendt 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 Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Matić 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. Stabaek know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces16 Dec 2030
The mood at Stabaek 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stabaek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
William Wendt 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stabaek. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aron Berge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stabaek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Matić 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.
122 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Kevin Tshiembe 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.
Squad25 Nov 2030
William Wendt 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stabaek know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
129 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stabaek lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Zakaria Mugeese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Nov 2030
William Wendt 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stabaek 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 Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Matić 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 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 Axel Sjöström Falk has written the date down.
In brief
BoardroomThe Stabaek production line keeps running
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Stabaek
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aron Berge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jon Øya commits to Stabaek for another 4 years.
Squad4 Nov 2030
William Wendt 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Thomas Ryerson did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Kevin Tshiembe 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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Matić 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 is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Stabaek 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 hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Lars Selnaes did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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 William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Valerenga had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
1‑5 against Bodo/Glimt, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
6 goals in one match, Zakaria Mugeese on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Stabaek and Bodo/Glimt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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 goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
William Wendt 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marius Lundemo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Stabaek needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stabaek know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Stabaek and Rosenborg, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
9.25. 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.
In brief
SquadAleksa Matić falls out with a teammate over standards
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Stabaek 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.
5 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 87, against Aalesund, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The mood at Stabaek 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.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Stabaek ran out of time with Rosenborg. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Rosenborg have accepted the money. What Stabaek do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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.
Boardroom19 Aug 2030
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at Stabaek 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.
Kevin Tshiembe 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.
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Matić 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.
Stabaek asked and Juventus 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 deal with Bodo/Glimt 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad12 Aug 2030
William Wendt 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Esbjerg have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aron Berge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Stabaek have done the hard part with Rosenborg, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Zakaria Mugeese and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Aug 2030
William Wendt 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Stabaek asked and Rosenborg 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 Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Aleksa Matić 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Stabaek and Odd, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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.
100 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.
Half the programme played, position 8, 19 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“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 dugout15 Jul 2030
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Aron Berge, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutJon Øya is still being punished for one mistake
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and IK Start were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Aleksa Matić 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.
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.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Zakaria Mugeese 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.
William Wendt 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 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stabaek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
0‑3 to Bodo/Glimt, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Aleksa Matić 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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.
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.
The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Andreas Hoven, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout10 Jun 2030
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 Aron Berge to a room that had heard them before.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Stabaek told Kimi Løkkevik something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aron Berge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 William Wendt 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 dugout3 Jun 2030
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 Aron Berge to a room that had heard them before.
Kevin Tshiembe 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.
Aleksa Matić 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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.
Squad27 May 2030
The division's best last weekend was a Stabaek man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Zakaria Mugeese was the best thing in any 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 Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 May 2030
Zakaria Mugeese was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.65. 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.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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.
Sarpsborg 08 go through and Stabaek go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
4 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.
Kevin Tshiembe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 May 2030
William Wendt 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 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 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.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Aron Berge after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kimi Løkkevik has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stabaek has been clear about where Marius Lundemo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Evenezer Forcha has come out of that comparison in the side, and Stabaek have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Zakaria Mugeese 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 William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Sarpsborg 08; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 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.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout22 Apr 2030
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Aron Berge, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Two goals and a mark of 9.67 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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 7.96 for the rest of it.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
6 goals in one match, Zakaria Mugeese on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Stabaek and Mjondalen.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Stabaek can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
Lars Selnaes could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.44
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.44, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
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.
Boardroom8 Apr 2030
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Stabaek 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.
Stabaek have gone to Viking 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Wendt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stabaek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Club Brugge is saying, and nobody at Stabaek is enjoying the guessing.
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. William Wendt 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. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Stabaek can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Fredrik Pålerud has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Viking have accepted the money. What Stabaek do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deal with Club Brugge 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.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Stabaek asked and Viking said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Dicko Eng 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 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 Pålerud has written the date down.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Stabaek has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Stabaek had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Leixões, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nour Al-Mabhouh has, at Stabaek, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad18 Mar 2030
William Wendt 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Stabaek asked and Esbjerg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Red Bull Salzburg have kept their man, and Stabaek go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Kimi Løkkevik 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.
Add another name to the list: Mjondalen have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Andreas Nygård. The answer from Stabaek has not changed — yet.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Stabaek 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.
“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 Stabaek, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Habeeb Adedayo is living that version at Stabaek, and it tends to show in the first month.
Stabaek asked and SV Ried said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Axel Sjöström Falk and Stabaek agree another 4 years.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Andreas Hoven 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aleksa Matić signs something — a contract at Stabaek or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stabaek can pretend not to have heard.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Neil Frendo 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.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 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.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kimi Løkkevik 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 loan enquiry to Red Bull Salzburg: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
Stabaek and Viking have settled on $780.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Stabaek had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Esbjerg, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Neil Frendo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stabaek the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kimi Løkkevik 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 Stabaek has been clear about where Isiaka Soukouna stands, which is more than many ever get.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aron Berge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Kimi Løkkevik 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 Jacob Dicko Eng trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Kimi Løkkevik 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 Blerton Isufi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Stabaek will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stabaek. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
SquadMarius Lundemo is training like a man with a point to make
181Edition
The Stabaek Post
14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondentCrisis
The terraces14 Jan 2030
The mood at Stabaek 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.
Position 15 and 20 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.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Dicko Eng 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stabaek. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Kevin Tshiembe has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Stabaek would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aron Berge has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stabaek 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 Jacob Dicko Eng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Kevin Tshiembe was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kimi Løkkevik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kimi Løkkevik 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stabaek, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stabaek will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby 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 Dec 2029
Words at Stabaek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Dicko Eng 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 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.
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.
Magnus Lankhof Dahlby and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Kimi Løkkevik 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.
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 Kimi Løkkevik has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutAndreas Nygård asks for a word with the manager