Quality rant there.

I've always been a bit partial to Brann, myself. Any insight into why the wheels have come off in Bergen this season, Morten?

The wheels in Bergen have never fully been on.

Sure, they enjoyed some brief success over three seasons or so, but this was the exception to the rule. Brann have an uncanny way of always hiring the most incompetent leaders, time and time again. They have ran their economy to the ground more times than I can count, always creating internal power struggles and eventually spending a lot more money for quick solutions that don't really fix anything at all.

Sportswise, as I said before the season kicked off, they don't have a defence. At all. And in the attack, they have relied too heavily on Erik Huseklepp's skills. When he went for three months without scoring a goal, they were lost for ideas and just fell to the ground (had it not been for useless sides like Sandefjord and Kongsvinger). They've used madman Rudolph Austin as a centre-half, mistiming every tackle and getting himself booked or sent off all the time. They sacked their coach due to popular demand by the Bergen audience, without having a plan for replacing him (his assistant took over, and decided to use Eirik Bakke as a lone striker). Granted, they've won a couple of games since then, but they're still in heaps of trouble.

Add to that the mentality of the Bergen citizens: "Win or die", the club - even if the leaders were competent - can't really allow themselves to come up with a long-term plan to achieve lasting success, because if they have to tear down in order to build up, the fans will not stand for the few seasons in the bottom half, and eventually the coach and players who were to be the core of this plan will be sacked or sold to appease the retards.

Yeah. ;)

Are there any clubs in the league that aren't run by clowns?

I'd say Rosenborg, obviously. Aside from them... It's not easy to find, no. Before the new TV agreeements which started to pump serious amounts of money into the league the last five years+, Norwegian football was always done on an amateur level, from the board of directors to the players. Most clubs haven't really upgraded since then except investing in new stadiums and bad, but expensive, players.

Stabæk had a good thing going, but I've lost faith in them since they built their new home grounds INDOORS. Our season is during the warmer half of the year, so when it's 25-30 degrees in June and July, they play inside a hangar. This "stadium" of theirs is only referred to as the gymnasium by the rest of the country. (We'll play them there this Sunday, by the way.)

Right now I'd say Aalesund, Strømsgodset and Tromsø seem to be the best-run clubs. All three of them have been allowed to build solid fundaments. AaFK use the hometown enthusiasm and pack their stadium all the time, and the people there ("sunnmøringer") are well-known for being good with money. They've made wise investments and have given the immensely result-oriented coach Rekdal great freedom. This has paid off.

Tromsø is a club with no pressure, ever, so they have done a bit of the same. There is no enthusiasm in the north, but they buy cheap and sell for more. They also have a clear footballing philosophy ("WAR!") which sits in the walls in their clubhouse and stadium.

Strømsgodset have done just what Brann needs to do: Rebooted. They went down some years ago, spending some time on the second level getting investors and creating an excessive youth system. They now bring up more youth players than anyone, and are bound to make a lot of money on these players over time. In the meantime, the youthful playness on the pitch attracts the audience and gets the results, even. They also have the most folksy coach in the league, making it difficult to dislike them. Which, by the way, is an achievement in itself as the club and Drammen (their city) have been a laughingstock for decades.

Extremely interesting, thanks very much.

You, sir, are a fast reader! Glad to hear you appreciate it. Maybe I'll keep this thread alive after all :)

I hope you do.

Reports on less-publicised leagues from people on the ground are one of the most valuable aspects of this place.

I thought I should comment on that paranoid anti-Vålerenga rant upthread, but I am not sure it is worth it. Let me just say that I get equally amazed each time I come across people who manage to hate our dear, modestly run and cash-strapped club with such venom and hatred.

I mean, you go to games, you win some, you lose some, you may get excited by the talent of some new players, you moan about those crap central defenders, you know your best players will get sold, and more often than not we’ll finish somewhere mid-table. Occasionally we’ll get crowds of 20 000+, but usually they stay below 13,000. Good crowds by Norwegian standards, but nothing that give you much of an edge financially. In short, it is just the same football experience as that of hundreds of other football clubs. And the vast majority of us do not really expect much more, we hope obviously, but so does everybody else.

Still, somehow, along the way, this manages to become some kind of unspeakable crime in the eyes of a surprising large number of people, who seem to read all kinds of evil into this club. Apparently we control the media, run the FA and make huge amounts of money from wars in far-off countries. It is a shame we never manage to turn this enormous advantage into something tangible, like a steady supply of silverware, and Champions’ League participation.

As for this season, so far it has been better than I expected with a team based predominantly around local talent from our own youth squad or picked up on the cheap from neighbouring clubs. For a while it even looked as if we would be able to challenge Rosenborg for the league title, but a few defeats away from home put those hopes to rest. Instead, we look set for second or third place, which means we will get into Europe next year. More importantly, though, as we are Vålerenga, we have from time to time played a brand of football that has put a smile on everyone’s face, a free-flowing, passing-oriented football quite unlike your usual Norwegian staple. Not unexpectedly, we lost our main striker, Moa to Hannover in this transfer window, even though the price they paid was an insult more than a piss-take. If we’ll be able to hold on to the rest of the team, and in particular our two midfielders, Hahmet Singh and Mohammed Fellah, I'm hopeful we’ll be able to challenge for the top spot next season.

A couple of key players left Tippeligaen in the dying days of the transfer window, most notably Abdellaoue to Hannover, and Marcus Pedersen from Strømsgodset to Vitesse. Both for a fee of around £1 million. Surprisingly, the world's most wanted player according to Norwegian pundits, Anthony Annan, is still in Rosenborg.

Last week of football saw Lillestrøm return to their losing ways with a 2-1 defeat at Stabæk's gymnasium. One of the worst first halfs ever saw us 2-0 down at half time, but we stood up and delivered a good second half, pulling one back through Anthony Ujah and getting close to equalise through the same man. Deserved win for Stabæk all in all, though.

Rosenborg and Vålerengen both won, keeping the top at status quo.

Most importantly is that Molde fell down to the play off spot (third from bottom), resulting in the sacking of coach Kjell Jonevret who was quickly replaced by Manchester City and Lillestrøm legend Uwe Rösler. His right hand will be Gunnar Halle, ex-Leeds and Oldham.

Also, Lillestrøm supporters Kanari-Fansen today announced that we will boycott the away game to Haugesund a couple of weeks from now. We will not organise a bus ride over there, and we urge LSK fans going to the game to dress neutrally and stay away from the away stand.

The reason for this is the television companies' increasing power in Norwegian football. They choose one match each week to be played on Monday, and for four of LSK's last five away games, we have had the honour. The argument is that the TV companies are killing the supporter culture as it's impossible to follow your team away in the long run when you keep having to take time off of work and school. It's also quite expensive as they schedule the matchdays a short time in advance, making it difficult to find other means of transportation such as cheap flights.

Recently promoted Haugesund are surprisingly good this season and have yet to lose at home

maybe it's somehow connected to the fact that our fave airline (Ryanair) have started flying there?

we (Lechia Gdansk) just signed Abdou Traore from Rosenborg. any word on him? he looked really excellent in his first game for us.

"...and thus give not so much as a slightly elevated fuck about what lies they perpetrate on the gullible and often simpleminded inhabitants of eastern Oslo."

He speak English very, very good.

Magik wrote:
we (Lechia Gdansk) just signed Abdou Traore from Rosenborg. any word on him? he looked really excellent in his first game for us.
I don't know him too well, other than that he was never able to clinch a place in their starting eleven. He was predominantly used as a left back, where team captain Mikael Dorsin is the best in the league.

Furtho wrote:
"...and thus give not so much as a slightly elevated fuck about what lies they perpetrate on the gullible and often simpleminded inhabitants of eastern Oslo."

He speak English very, very good.
He is also right on the money about everything he wrote ;)

Week 23 of 30 ends tonight with Strømsgodset taking on Molde. After yesterday's result, I'm almost tempted to hope for Molde to win, even though Molde are behind us in the table. For you see:

Our league is a pile of garbage. Lillestrøm went for nine matches (three months) without a win. With 1-0 against Aalesund a few weeks ago, then a loss at Stabæk and yesterday's narrow win against Start, we are only three points off of 5th place, and if Godset lose today we're five points off of 4th, which might take us to Europe next year.

So yeah, after going a goal down twice, we got a 3-2 win at home against Start - our ninth home win in a row against them. Goals by Frode Kippe, Khaled Mouelhi on a penalty and Anthony Ujah AGAIN. We had some luck with the referee, but since that never happens to us, no one is entitled to complain.

Rosenborg got only a draw and Vålerengen won, cutting the deficit to 7 points. Don't think it will matter, but I still don't like it...

Good 'ol Viking. According to Soccerway.com they've drawn their last five matches.

Pleased to see Sandnes still hanging in there in second division.

MachoMorten wrote:
Magik wrote:
we (Lechia Gdansk) just signed Abdou Traore from Rosenborg. any word on him? he looked really excellent in his first game for us.
I don't know him too well, other than that he was never able to clinch a place in their starting eleven. He was predominantly used as a left back, where team captain Mikael Dorsin is the best in the league.

My only lasting memory of him is his peculiar approach to blocking free-kicks.

Traore does alright so far....

we also bought this guy on the last day of transfer window:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_muoSLfOx4s

A miracle took place today!

Today is the day of the semi finals of the Norwegian cup. Rosenborg, with more silverware than the rest of Norway combined (give or take), were up against Follo - THE bottom club of 1. divisjon ("The Championship").

Home team Follo went under 1-0 after four minutes, and everybody expected a good asswhoopin'. But after 90 minutes, the score was 2-2, and after 114 minutes Follo scored again on their first chance in ages after massive domination from the shite. Three minutes from time, Steffen Iversen equalised with his hand, only to be denied by the quality ref. 3-2 Follo at full time - possibly the biggest upset ever. They shouldn't even be anywhere near the semi final!

Follo's opponents in the cup final in November will be Strømsgodset or Odd, who will battle it out in 30 minutes.

Does this mean a Gretnaesque possible European place for Follo?