102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stromsgodset lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Rosenborg left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ole Enersen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings1 Sep 2031
Alie Conteh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
“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 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ole Enersen 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 phone has started ringing about Filip Artykiewicz again, and this time the name on the line is Arsenal Tula. Stromsgodset are listening politely and promising nothing.
Jesper Taaje damages knee ligaments — 116 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Felgueiras keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh 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.
Bent Sørmo 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.
123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from IK Start for Filip Artykiewicz was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ole Enersen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jesper Taaje damages knee ligaments — 130 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 130 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.
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 Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Herman Stengel is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
137 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset 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 Stromsgodset people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Artykiewicz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stromsgodset the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 Jul 2031
Alie Conteh 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.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noel Kovács, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Jul 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Stromsgodset dressing room was either.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Mjondalen? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Half the programme played, position 11, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
SquadBjorn Henriksen falls out with a teammate over standards
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Filip Artykiewicz again, and this time the name on the line is KAMAZ. Stromsgodset are listening politely and promising nothing.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Sandefjord had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
9 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stromsgodset has been clear about where Oliver Kapsimalis stands, which is more than many ever get.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stromsgodset will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bent Sørmo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alie Conteh. 1‑0 against IK Start, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjorn Henriksen 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stromsgodset will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alie Conteh is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stromsgodset they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
16 combined actions and 6.94. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A brace, and Alie Conteh takes the afternoon — 8.72
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alie Conteh provided it, and the 8.72 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
SquadBjorn Henriksen falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Villads Bertelsen and Stromsgodset agree another 4 years.
The dugout26 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
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.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stromsgodset 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 Stromsgodset 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 Alie Conteh 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stromsgodset lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Villads Bertelsen: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thomas Pedersen provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Artykiewicz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stromsgodset the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Thomas Pedersen has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 Alie Conteh 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and André Stavås Skistad 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.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Alie Conteh 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.
Bent Sørmo 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. Viking had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Villads Bertelsen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stromsgodset the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadWords at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stromsgodset is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stromsgodset people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Stromsgodset ran out of time with Bodo/Glimt. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
11 academy players handed senior numbers at Stromsgodset
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stromsgodset people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Add another name to the list: IK Start have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Villads Bertelsen. The answer from Stromsgodset has not changed — yet.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oliver Kapsimalis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Bodo/Glimt is saying, and nobody at Stromsgodset is enjoying the guessing.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alie Conteh is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The offer from IK Start for Villads Bertelsen was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh 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 Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Artykiewicz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stromsgodset the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julian Faye Lund was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bent Sørmo 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Stromsgodset would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Mattias Lamhauge was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Faye Lund 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.
Add another name to the list: IK Start have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Villads Bertelsen. The answer from Stromsgodset has not changed — yet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alessandro Cardinali and Stromsgodset agree another 3 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stromsgodset. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Stromsgodset and Bodo/Glimt have settled on $1.8M. 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and IK Start waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stromsgodset is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Viking will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ziyad Baha has pre-agreed a move to Stromsgodset, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fredrik Hoff Birch-Aune was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Stromsgodset asked and Bodo/Glimt 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 name of Filip Artykiewicz has come up in conversations Stromsgodset were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Stavås Skistad 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 easiest signature of my career.” Leonardo Draguzet and Stromsgodset agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 deal with Rosenborg is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alie Conteh 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.
Stromsgodset 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 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.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stromsgodset lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stromsgodset can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jesper Taaje and Stromsgodset agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
Bent Sørmo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SV Ried have kept their man, and Stromsgodset go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Samuel Silalahi has his answer from Stromsgodset; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stromsgodset lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stromsgodset 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 Stromsgodset 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on André Rømer
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Day 12 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Håvard Vatland Karlsen has written the date down.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wellington Phoenix waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stromsgodset is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Elias Hoff Melkersen has taken the hint, and Stromsgodset are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Stromsgodset 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stromsgodset have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Casper Kristensen-Fodnes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
Bent Sørmo 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.
Mattias Lamhauge was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marcus Mehnert commits to Stromsgodset for another 3 years.
Squad9 Dec 2030
André Rømer 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. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marcus Mehnert commits to Stromsgodset for another 3 years.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Kevin André Dæhlin is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stromsgodset. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Stromsgodset will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Marcus Mehnert has written the date down.
Stromsgodset have let the market know Casper Kristensen-Fodnes can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 easiest signature of my career.” Samuel Silalahi and Stromsgodset agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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 Stromsgodset that is a harder question to answer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stromsgodset. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
39 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Stromsgodset
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom4 Nov 2030
the manager has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Stromsgodset can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset 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 André Rømer 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. Elias Hoff Melkersen was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Samuel Silalahi has moved up it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
26 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad28 Oct 2030
André Rømer 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; André Rømer will call it something else in private.
Boardroom28 Oct 2030
90% of the income goes out in wages at Stromsgodset
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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 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.
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 Gustav Wikheim.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
the manager answers for it
“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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Stromsgodset know it.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Oct 2030
André Rømer 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gustav Wikheim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
the manager on the point
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” the manager after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
the manager answers for it
“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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Victor Dedes
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Sep 2030
André Rømer 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.
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.
Boardroom30 Sep 2030
94% of the income goes out in wages at Stromsgodset
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
In brief
The dugoutGustav Wikheim dropped after a run of poor form
Squad6 new faces, and Stromsgodset are still learning each other
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emil Haldorsen provided it, and the 8.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Stromsgodset and Bodo/Glimt in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout16 Sep 2030
the manager: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bent Sørmo commits to Stromsgodset for another 2 years.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
Bent Sørmo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stromsgodset has been clear about where André Rømer stands, which is more than many ever get.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Stromsgodset pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Gustav Wikheim
Mattias Lamhauge 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.” Bent Sørmo and Stromsgodset agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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 manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
The manager has not finished forgetting Gustav Wikheim's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
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 0‑3 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 92% of everything Stromsgodset earn
10 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Stabaek the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Stromsgodset will enjoy reviewing.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Stromsgodset will try again when the window opens; Bodo/Glimt may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everything agreed with Bodo/Glimt, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 14 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed 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 Stromsgodset 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
A brace, and Alie Conteh takes the afternoon — 8.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alie Conteh provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Danny Amankwaa has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Stromsgodset have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
255 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
André Rømer 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 easiest signature of my career.” Gustav Valsvik and Stromsgodset agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Toby Kompany has just signed for Stromsgodset, and for once the answer mattered.
Everything agreed with Istra 1961, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Esbjerg have kept their man, and Stromsgodset go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Stromsgodset, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
The offer from Wellington Phoenix for Villads Bertelsen was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stromsgodset 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 Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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: 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.
Position 11, 13 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stromsgodset have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Elias Hoff Melkersen has come out of that comparison in the side, and Stromsgodset have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oliver Kapsimalis and Stromsgodset agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout1 Jul 2030
the manager: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stromsgodset 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 Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jun 2030
André Rømer 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout24 Jun 2030
the manager answers for it
“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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
SquadGetting past Mattias Lamhauge has become the hardest job in the division
Mattias Lamhauge 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 Tobias Normann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Jun 2030
Alie Conteh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bodo/Glimt left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 Jun 2030
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 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Filip Loftesnes-Bjune and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jun 2030
André Rømer 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.
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Level with 86 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Stromsgodset had all but put away. Lillestrom will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It needed Elias Hoff Melkersen to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Lillestrom, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutTobias Normann asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sindre Mauritz-Hansen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stromsgodset the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sindre Mauritz-Hansen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 May 2030
the manager: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Molde? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Lillestrom next, and one man in the Stromsgodset dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad20 May 2030
André Rømer 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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout20 May 2030
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 0‑3 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Tromso go through and Stromsgodset go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stromsgodset can pretend not to have heard.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad13 May 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — the manager made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Stromsgodset can tell you which week it ends in.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 May 2030
Alie Conteh 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 resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Herman Stengel has taken the hint, and Stromsgodset are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stromsgodset has been clear about where Håvard Vatland Karlsen stands, which is more than many ever get.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutMarcus Mehnert dropped after a run of poor form
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Stromsgodset can tell you which week it ends in.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stromsgodset 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 Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Apr 2030
André Rømer 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.
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.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Apr 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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Day 10 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alie Conteh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout15 Apr 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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Sarpsborg 08 next, and one man in the Stromsgodset dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clock did what Viking would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stromsgodset will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sindre Mauritz-Hansen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stromsgodset the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset 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 André Rømer 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 Stromsgodset has been clear about where Samuel Silalahi stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stromsgodset will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Viking have accepted the money. What Stromsgodset do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Stromsgodset, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Stromsgodset asked and Lokomotiva Zagreb 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 Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alie Conteh 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stromsgodset will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to André Rømer and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Lokomotiva Zagreb 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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 Samuel Silalahi has written the date down.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stromsgodset will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have shaken hands with Rosenborg; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Mar 2030
André Rømer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Stromsgodset asked and Istra 1961 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Filip Loftesnes-Bjune signs something — a contract at Stromsgodset or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stromsgodset can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stromsgodset will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Kristian King recited it perfectly.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stromsgodset have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stromsgodset they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Boardroomnews_h_severance_paid
The dugoutHerman Stengel is playing like a man with something to prove
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Stromsgodset is running low.
“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 Stromsgodset, and it is not being withdrawn.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stromsgodset will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Viking; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stromsgodset lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Viking for Filip Loftesnes-Bjune was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stromsgodset will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stromsgodset can pretend not to have heard.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The deal with Viking 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 Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Loftesnes-Bjune 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. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stromsgodset will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Petrojet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stromsgodset is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bent Sørmo and Stromsgodset agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Feb 2030
André Rømer 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stromsgodset will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
20 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
“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 Stromsgodset, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
The name of Villads Bertelsen has come up in conversations Stromsgodset were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and André Rømer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Filip Loftesnes-Bjune has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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 Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
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.
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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 change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Herman Stengel's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Filip Loftesnes-Bjune signs something — a contract at Stromsgodset or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Stromsgodset have no good answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oliver Kapsimalis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
BoardroomThe Stromsgodset production line keeps running
Mattias Lamhauge and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oliver Kapsimalis and Stromsgodset agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marius Eriksrud trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Stromsgodset would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Somebody from Bodo/Glimt has seen every one of Filip Loftesnes-Bjune’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Stromsgodset knows it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Loftesnes-Bjune 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 Marcus Mehnert has written the date down.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marcus Mehnert signs something — a contract at Stromsgodset or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Stromsgodset, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Villads Bertelsen has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
29 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stromsgodset can pretend not to have heard.
Filip Loftesnes-Bjune 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 Kent-Are Antonsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $1.4M, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer 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 André Rømer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stromsgodset know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Marcus Mehnert has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stromsgodset can pretend not to have heard.
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 Stromsgodset, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have supported clubs like this one. I know what a bad Saturday feels like here.” The new man starts with nothing behind him and everything in front of him.
Mattias Lamhauge 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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.
“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 dugout5 Nov 2029
Herman Stengel is playing like a man with something to prove
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Herman Stengel is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
“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 Stromsgodset, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad29 Oct 2029
A Stromsgodset teenager takes the young player award
Filip Artykiewicz is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Odd defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
In brief
The dugoutMarcus Mehnert asks for a word with the manager
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Stromsgodset scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stromsgodset this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alie Conteh. 1‑0 against Sandefjord, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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 mark of 7.46, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Tobias Linnes kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stromsgodset have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Day 14 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at Stromsgodset training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Rømer 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Sebastián Maldonado 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.
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.
16 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.
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 am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Tobias Linnes recited it perfectly.
Mattias Lamhauge 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 André Rømer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.