retired_samiam

21st October 2002
With the season over for us, I wasted no time in getting my squad sorted for next season. I wasn't happy with the performances we put in in the last 8-10 games of the season. Ever since we resumed after the World Cup break, our games were hugely inconsistent. We had lost to Fredrikstad, Lyn, Odd Grenland, Rosenborg and Ham Kam, and drawn against Molde, Viking and Brann. It was very frustrating and I wasn't happy with several players.


I already had some transfer business agreed upon. Audun Holt, a 26 year old forward was due to join us on a free transfer on November 9th. Freddy Dos Santos was moving to Rosenborg on a free transfer on November 4th, and Jarl Andre Storbaek, a 26 year old left sided defensive midfielder was due to arrive on a free transfer from Ham Kam on November 12th.


At the moment, our first-team squad looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Stensrud Arason (transfer listed) Hjulstad Grotta GravJohnsen Aliga ForsellKrohn HaalandHauglandSkrbic Kindervag Brathen Mabizela (transfer listed) Dos SantosHovi Kjaer GabrielsenPersson Heggem (normally reserve)Bertheussen Bjorn Johansen GashiBerreFredheim Holm Jonas Johansen GuigouMagallanes Iversen Sando Alkhag</pre>

I had signed Magallanes and Guigou to give the side some experience, and hopefully some goals, and they hadn't really produced the goods. Jonas Johansen was an expensive £800,000 player who had never produced the sort of form I had seen him produce at Tromso. Gashi had never been consistent enough to replace either Bjorn Johansen or Bertheussen on a permanent basis. Gabrielsen and Heggem had not shown themselves to be good enough, and when we lost Hovi, we often struggled. In defence, Mabizela had been transfer listed for some time without any takers, although I was expecting interest now the season had ended. Brathen was surplus to requirements after the capture of Krohn Haaland. Haugland wasn't good enough, and neither, in my opinion, was Forsell, Kindervag or Skrbic.

Some serious rebuilding needed to be done.


I made a brief shopping list - I would need two or possibly three central defenders to act as backups or competition to Johnsen and Aliga. I would need two quality right backs. I would need one quality left sided defensive midfielder to act as competition for Hovi (although Storbaek's arrival would probably tick this aim). I may need a new central midfielder as I had thoughts of converting Bjorn Johansen into a full time coach. I would need a quality player to act as competition for both Berre on the left, and Fredheim Holm on the right.

I would also need to start trying to sell off some of the players not needed and try and get a squad settled before the new season started on the 13th April. I had just under 6 months.



I started today by offering our goalkeeper Arason to several clubs and received several bids back. English side Aston Villa, Danish side FC Kobenhavn, and Turkish side Buyuksehir Belediye Ankarapor all made offers of £675,000, and we accepted them all.


23rd October 2002
We made our first signing of my new rebuilding process today. We picked up the 26 year old Slovenian international right back Matej Mavric from Molde. Mavric had terrific pace, a good crossing ability and great stamina.


24th October 2002
Rosenborg drew 1-1 with Molde to successfully defend their title.

We were awarded £550,000 from the Norwegian Football Association for finishing in 4th position.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Norwegian Premier Division - Thursday 24th October 2002********************************************** ************************************************** FINAL STANDINGS========================================= ================================================== ===== 2002 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Rosenborg 26 12 0 1 39 13 3 4 6 16 22 49 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Tromsø 26 11 0 2 33 12 5 0 8 18 25 48 3rd Start 26 9 2 2 36 15 5 3 5 21 26 47 4th Vålerenga 26 7 3 3 32 15 6 2 5 26 21 44 5th Brann 26 8 2 3 26 20 4 4 5 19 25 42 6th Ham Kam 26 9 2 2 27 14 3 2 8 15 29 40 7th Lyn 26 9 1 3 22 13 2 4 7 20 27 38 8th Lillestrøm 26 6 3 4 33 19 4 3 6 21 27 36 9th Odd Grenland 26 5 2 6 27 26 6 1 6 18 23 36 10th Fredrikstad 26 8 1 4 27 19 2 2 9 18 34 33 11th Viking 26 6 4 3 30 23 2 3 8 13 26 31 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12th Pl Molde 26 6 4 3 27 20 2 2 9 19 39 30 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13th R Bodø/Glimt 26 4 5 4 19 18 1 2 10 17 38 22 14th R Aalesund 26 3 4 6 17 20 1 1 11 6 33 17 </pre>

It was indeed proving difficult to compete with the domination of Rosenborg.


26th October 2002
The Turkish side Ankaraspor completed the £675,000 capture of Arason today.


27th October 2002
I held a meeting with my entire squad and detailed the plans for next season. Afterwards, I transfer listed Guigou, Magallanes, Jonas Johansen and Forsell. I was determined to rebuild the squad into a title winning squad next season.

With Guigou's departure imminent, I signed a right sided attacking midfielder to replace him. Charalabos Stefanidis was a 25 year old Greek, and he joined for £425,000 from Danish champions Brondby.


2nd November 2002
We received huge £2m bids from German sides VfL Wolfsburg and LR Ahlen, French side Racing Lens, Brazilian side Guarani and Belgian side Standard Liege for Gianni Guigou. We accepted them all.


4th November 2002
Freddy Dos Santos made his free transfer move to Rosenborg today.


6th November 2002
Gianni Guigou completed a £2m move to French club Racing Lens today - giving us a huge boost in finances to help rebuild the squad.


9th November 2002
Audun Holt joined up with our squad today after completing his free transfer move from Sandefjord. He was a right sided forward, so he could provide competition to Fredheim Holm and Stefanidis, as well as to Iversen/Sando/Alkhag. I felt it was useful to have as many options as possible, since my squad suffered from a lack of fitness all through the season, so having quality in depth was going to be key.


14th November 2002
Scottish side Hearts made a bid of £275,000 for Jonas Johansen today, even though we valued him at £800,000. Despite Johansen being on the transfer list, we rejected the bid, and made it clear to future bidders that we expected a figure much closer to our asking price.

The contract of one of our scouts, Espen Bjornevik, expires today. I am still in two minds whether to extend it or not.


18th November 2002
After talking to several people, I eventually manage to sign two new scouts. Kenneth Eikrem from non league side Norild and Andreas Hoseth from amateur side Manglerud/Star IL. As a result of the new staff coming in, Bjornevik is released.


20th November 2002
Continuing with my bid to freshen up all areas of the club, three more new scouts come in. Jostein Solstad from semi-professional side Romerike, Tommy Bendisen from non league Vigra and Kare Magnussen from non league side Lom.

The Norwegian Player of the Year awards are handed out today, and I was delighted that three of our players featured in the awards.

Steffan Iversen came third in the Norwegian Attacker of the Year, coming behind Rune Lange of Club Brugge and John Carew of Beskitas.
William Aliga won the Defender of the Year, fighting off competition from Rosenborg's Benjamin Kibebe.
Tom Henning Hovi won the Midfielder of the Year, fighting off competition from Trond Andersen of Danish side aAB.


26th November 2002
In addition to his third place in the Norwegian Attacker of the Year award, Steffan Iversen picked up the Valerenga Fans Player of the Year award. A terrific achievement.

My personal player of the year award would have gone to Hovi - his contributions this season have been tremendous, but Iversen's goals certainly helped us stay in touch with the title for as long as we did.


28th November 2002
We received a triple transfer enquiry today from Rosenborg, who offered us a total of £1.75m for our left back Brathen, our right back Forsell and our left midfielder Gabrielsen. We accepted the offer, and all three players travelled to Rosenborg to discuss terms.

We also received a bid of £1.1m from German side Kaiserslautern for Federico Magallanes, which we accepted.

retired_samiam

1st December 2002
As Magallanes travelled to Germany to discuss terms with Kaiserslautern, and with the possible departure of Gabrielsen as part of the 3-man deal to Rosenborg, I turned my attention to spending some of the money in securing a new left sided defensive midfielder.

My attention was alerted to Toni Kallio, a 27 year old Finnish international, playing for Molde, and due to Molde's poor season, he would be available for a cut price £450,000. Kallio had shown great versatility throughout the season, and had played over 10 games at left back, left midfield, and left attack each, which showed how well he could perform in a variety of roles.

I knew that Storbaek had joined up with the squad, and Hovi was firmly established as the first choice left midfield, but the opportunity to secure a player of Kallio's flexibility at almost half his value was too good to turn down.


2nd December 2002
Magallanes agreed terms with the German club, and completed his move today.

One of my new scouts had been visiting Sweden recently, and he contacted me today to alert me to two talents he had found.

The first was Jon Inge Hoiland, a 28 year old Norwegian international right back playing for Swedish Premier Division club Malmo FF. He had played 40 times for Malmo last season, and came very highly rated. I made an offer of £550,000.

The second was a Swedish First Division player. Torbjorn Nilsson was a 31 year old Swede, capable of playing anywhere across the midfield. He had looked decent over the last few weeks for his club, Mjallby AIF, and although he probably wouldn't be first choice, his contract had expired, and I was able to secure him on a free transfer. He would provide adequate backup over a gruelling season.


3rd December 2002
Hoiland agreed terms with us, and flew in to join the squad. I was delighted at securing such a quality player.


4th December 2002
German side FC Energie Cottbus made an offer of £475,000 for our out-of-favour right back Trond Inge Haugland today. We accepted the offer.

A few hours later, we received another bid, this time from a First Division side here in Norway. Sogndal IL had offered £525,000 over 6 months, which we accepted as well.


6th December 2002
Haugland accepted the deal from Sogndal, and said that remaining in Norway was a huge contributing factor in his decision.


17th December 2002
The last few weeks had been difficult for me, trying to track down the players that I thought were neccessary for a realistic attempt at the Norwegian Title next season. I was happy with all of our signings so far, but was determined to track down a quality centre back.

Christian Kalvenes had come to my attention during our two games against Brann this season, and our striker Iversen (who had played in both the league games, and the Cup game against a Kalvenes-led Brann) had spoken extremely highly of him. He was capable of playing at left back or centre back, although his price tag of £900,000 could prove a stumbling block.

I got in touch with the Brann chairman Magne Revheim and offered £575,000. It was considerably less than the price tag, but I was happy to do some negotiation from a starting point of £575,000.


22nd December 2002
The Polish First Division side Legia Warszawa made an offer of £1.7m for Jonas Johansen today. This was substantially more than the £800,000 we were asking for, and made the £275,000 bid from Hearts seem even more laughable. We of course accepted, and it didn't take long for Johansen to agree terms. This was an excellent deal for us.


24th December 2002
After a week of negotiation, we finally managed to make Brann accept a deal of £675,000 for Christian Kalvenes, and the player quickly agreed terms with us. Another excellent deal.


30th December 2002
There had been rumours in many of the national newspapers ever since we placed Ardian Gashi on the transfer list about his possible move. Some newspapers were quoting that some clubs had offered in the region of £5m for him, and the most persistent rumour was that Rosenborg were planning a £5.5m bid.

We had received no bids, despite the rumours, until today. The Russian Premier Division side CSKA Moscow made an offer of £4.4m, and we quickly accepted. Such a high amount signalled terrific business for our club, especially considering the player was surplus to requirements. A bid from Rosenborg never materialised, and Gashi agreed the move to Russia within a few hours.


31st December 2002
I received word from my assistant manager Geir Bakke that both Iversen's and Ronny Johnsen's contracts were due to expire within 6 months. Both the players, although old, were key to next season's plans, so I offered both of them 2 year extensions. Both of them said they would consider the offer.


9th January 2003
After some negotiation about their basic wages, and minimum fee release clauses, both Iversen and Johnsen signed their 2 year extensions.

I also received word today that a 16 year old attacking midfielder, Daniel Solberg, had been promoted from the Valerenga Youth Academy into our reserves. I would have to take a look at him carefully over the next month or so and see if he will be worth keeping on.

retired_samiam

11th January 2003
After nearly 6 weeks of negotiation, we finally concluded the triple deal of Brathen, Forsell and Gabrielsen. Brathen signed a deal for £525,000, Forsell went for £350,000 and Gabrielsen went for £975,000 - a total deal of £1.85m.



15th February 2003
We had spent the last month or so training hard and fitting our new players into some new training schemes. I had also been travelling across Norway trying to find some quality youngsters who could fit into our reserve team setup.

I had seen first hand the benefits of having quality players in a reserve team - Heggem had played several games for us, and whilst his performances weren't of the highest quality, he had shown some small glimpses of improvement. Hansen Krogstad had developed excellently through his spell in the reserves, and had played the last few games for us, and shown some good signs. I was determined to give him a little bit more of a chance in the upcoming season.


There were a few spaces available in our reserves, and after watching 21-year-old Swedish left back Fredrik Lund train with Swedish side Sandvikens IF over the last three weeks, I was impressed and I was able to secure his services for £70,000.

I would continue my search for more talented youngsters over the next few months - it was vital to have a thriving youth system.


16th February 2003
After watching Daniel Solberg train for the last month or so, I decided to release him on a free transfer. His favourite position was left midfield, and I felt that his talents wouldn't fit into our formation. He was only 16, but it will be in his best interests to search for a new club.


18th February 2003
I received some bad news today. Daniel Fredheim Holm had requested a meeting with me, and it emerged that he felt that his career would develop further elsewhere in Europe. It was a huge blow to my plans, as Fredheim Holm had been an extremely consistent performer. He did mention to me that he would be happy to stay at the club until another club made their interest known, but it was hugely disappointing news.


14th March 2003
The last month had been a useful month for us, getting all of our players up to full fitness and getting them used to each other.

Our central defender Skrbic completed a £95,000 move to the semi-professional side Levanager. I was a fan of Skrbic, and thought he had performed well in Aliga's absence, but I was convinced that the club needed to be taken forward and new central defenders needed to be brought in.


Due to the departure of Skrbic, I was able to focus my attentions on bringing in a player I had long admired.

Bo Svensson was a 26 year old Danish central defender, who had terrific tackling and acceleration, and we were able to bring him in for £220,000 from Danish side FC Kobenhavn. He had been the captain of Kobenhavn last season and played 43 games. I was delighted at bringing him into the club, and our central defenders of Johnsen, Aliga, Kalvenes and Svensson was a terrific line-up.


25th March 2003
With just a few weeks to go before the start of the new season, I concluded my transfer business by bringing in another youngster. Rune Kristiansen was a 16 year old right back, brought in on a free transfer from Lillestrom.


9th April 2003
The first round of the Norwegian Cup was drawn today, and we had an excellent draw against amateur side Baerum. The game would be played on the 7th May at Baerum's small stadium.

Our first league game will be against Odd Grenland away from home in 4 days time - a tricky opener.

I was happy with our transfer dealings throughout the winter break, and I was happy with the squad. I felt it had a realistic chance of winning the league and breaking Rosenborg's domination.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Stensrud HjulstadKrohn Haaland Johnsen Aliga HoilandGrotta Grav Kalvenes Svensson Mavric Hovi Kjaer Kallio Persson Storbaek Bertheussen Bjorn Johansen Nilsson Berre Fredheim Holm Hansen Krogstad Stefanidis Holt Iversen Sando Alkhag</pre>

I was excited about our prospects, although there was a slight question mark being raised in the media about our strikeforce. It was true that Sando and Alkhag were untested and both had not impressed during their brief runs in the team last season. I, however, was convinced that this season was their time to shine, and both of them would probably play a decent amount of games. Iversen would start as first choice, but I expected there to be many times when Iversen would be unavailable, and gametime will help both Sando and Alkhag improve and establish themselves.


I was looking forward to trying out our new squad against Odd Grenland in 4 days time.

zipman

R.I.P. Vålerenga?

Was a nice story ...