A Norwegian Adventure

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN BUSINESS.

You've really turned the club on its head since your arrival, a promotion is a necessity to sort out the finances to a certain extent so fingers crossed you do!

Only first? I expected you to be higher in the league.

Berg Brann Bound?

Reports are emerging that current Bryne manager, Olav Berg, is favourite for the vacant role at Brann.

Having sacked Brede Tokvam, Branns former manager on Thursday, the club have received permission from Bryne to contact Olav Berg, the man currently at the helm at the Bryne Stadion.

Brann who sit in 8th place in the Eliteserien, Norway’s first division, parted ways with former manager Tokvam after being knocked out in the Europa league Qualifying round 2 by Slovan Liberec. The poor 3-0 defeat ended Tovkam’s reign having been in the role for just over a year totalling 377 days in the job.

Brann clearly believe the best man to take charge next is Bryne manager, Olav Berg, who himself only took over at his current club a year and 41 days ago. However, Bergs year in his role has gone a lot better than Tovkam.

After taking charge June 25th 2018, Bryne were sat in 13th position and faced a relegation battle just 11 games into the season. However, under Bergs management, he steered Bryne to safety eventually finishing the year off in 5th. Building on that success, Bergs side currently sit at the top of 2. Divisjon despite losing two in a row against Egersunds and Molde FK 2.

This impressive turnaround has supposedly made Brann take notice leading to contact being made between the two parties. It will be interesting to see the developments of this with the step up being a massive jump for Berg. Along with the much higher talent level that would be available to him, Berg would also have much deeper resources and finances available, something he doesn’t have currently at Bryne.

Up next at Bryne for Berg is a face off against Brann 2 which could see him potentially watching over his future players.

Replies

Scott: Being top almost half way through is a positive for sure, its just ensuring we stay there as I saw last season anyone can get a result against anyone!
SOA: Its been a very good season to this point for sure! Hopefully we can stick at it and get the promotion!
Jack:Promotion would certainly help considering where we are financially and hopefully we can keep up this form to make sure we do just that!
Justice: As my parents remind me daily, I am a disappointment.

Please don't go Olav

There's Nor-way he's leaving!

Interesting developments!

July and August

Results

Well, it has been a while since I have updated our monthly results missing out on July due to its short nature. The past two months have been beyond poor from us and I have been very disappointed with the way we have played and the results.

Starting off back in July we started the month in good form, beating Kjelsås away from home with goals coming through Per Arne Gauseth and Guate Høberg Vetti. The game was one of the very few positives over the last two months as we controlled the game and took our chances with a good win away stabilizing us at the top of the league.

This impressive performance then dropped off rapidly ending the month with a home loss to Egersunds. A Kristian Savland opener on the 12th minute signalled a good start, however it generated false hope as we slumped to 3-1 throwing our early lead. A brace from Marcus Naglestad and a 56th minute effort from Mathias Perttamo consigned us to our second defeat of the year with a consolation coming from Kristian in the 86th minute.

Hoping for a return to winning ways, we came up against Molde 2, a fellow title challenger and a side who was always going to be a tough opponent. They showed how tough they were as they never gave us a chance dominating every aspect of the match. Another loss was hard to take and only managing 2shots on target showed just how much we would miss Tor André Aasheim who broke his collarbone 2 days before our game against Molde.

After back to back losses for the first time in my management career we played host to Brann 2, a side whose senior team had offered me an interview to become their manager just a few days earlier. Recently arrived loan striker Einar Aadland bagged himself a debut brace that gave us the win and a much needed 3 points. The 17 year old comes in from our affiliate side Rosenborg and gives us a much needed rotation striker for Omar El Ghaouti who has begun to look tired at certain points this season.

Following the win we came up against the two sides sat bottom of the league, Florø at home before travelling to Lillestrøm 2 in two games we should be winning. However poor performances that summed up our poor couple of months resulted in us only taking a single point from each games.

A boring 0-0 against Florø in which we once again couldn’t convert our chances led to a lucky escape in the final game of the month against Lillestrøm 2 as Per Arne Gauseth scored a long range effort after a poor clearance from their keeper fell straight to the 17 year old who duly put the ball into the empty net saving our blushes slightly.

League Table

The Egersunds game started a run of just 1 win in 4 something that has seen us lose a 7 point lead at the top of the league to just the 1 point lead. With a very good start to the season we will be looking to find that form once again as soon as possible as this mid season drop off hasn’t been good enough. Having 8 games left to go, it looks like the promotion battle will be between us, Skeid and Molde 2 a battle we are as it stands in control of.

Player of the Month

After being impressive all season, Petter Havsgård Martinsen has finally been awarded our Player of the Month award. The 29 year old has been one of the better players over the last two months and deservedly wins the award. Along with his performances at the back, his assist against Brann was of the upmost importance to secure us the vital win.

Young Player of the Month

Claiming another Young Player of the Month award, Per Arne Gauseth has been of crucial importance coming off our bench this season. With 2 goals in the past 2 months in just 4 substitute appearances it might be time to start the now 18 year old.

Injuries

Unfortunately we have two injuries to report this month, with both our starting wingers, Kristian Savland and Tor André Aasheim being out with injury.
Kristian pulled a back muscle during training but luckily won’t be out for long with just 3 days before he returns to training and will most likely be able to play a part in our first game of next month against Skeid.
However Tor will still be out for at least another 2 weeks with the more likelihood being a month out of action. Tor suffered a nasty broken collarbone and has been out since the start of this month. Missing his quality we are keen to see him back as soon as possible.

Other News

In other news I have received further approaches by teams in the Eliteserien with SK Brann even offering me an interview to become their new manager. However I declined this offer due to the love I have for this club and wanting to take them further, something I believe I am capable of doing.
Financially we have made a profit for the first time this month as our final repayment for our previous loan was paid off. This means we are finally debt free and can focus on rebuilding our finances something we need to focus on desperately. This showed as we moved on both Robert Undheim and Sean Aerts in the transfer window. Unable to get a free for the pair we moved them on to reduce the wage bill of the club taking an enormous £1,000 a week of the wage bill.

Despite our finances we did make moves to bring in a few players on free transfers with Belgian duo Yoran de Ketelaere and Milan Vanacker joining alongside Sebastian Vraalsen. The three youngsters will be used in our 2nd side for the next half of the season with the ability of them having a lot of game time before we evaluate them next year. Joining the first team as previously mentioned is Einar Aadland who joins us on loan to bolster our options upfront.

Next Months Fixtures

A busy month ahead sees us face some tough teams with us going away to Skeid in the first game of the month in a massive 1st vs 2nd game. We then face Hødd, Vålerenga Fotball 2, Levanger FK and finally Vard. With some big games coming up we will need a lot of improvement after this month in order to stay top of the league and gain promotion.

Replies

Jopa: Doesn’t look like hes ready to go just yet!
Justice: Re-using puns!? I expect better from you!
Scott: Very interesting. Not leaving just yet tho!

Mixed results but good to see you keep the team above the others. Incredible news about the debt being wiped, now you can really build your own dynasty.

Great news about the end of the loan repayments and even better that you’re topping the league with the league coming to a close. Good luck!

You're still top, which is all that matters for the time being. The aim is to ensure this patchy run ends and you pick up some more consistent results, like you did earlier in the season. It's still in your hands - so make sure it stays that way.

Onsager Sends Bryne Top

Ruben Onsager scored the all important winning goal for Bryne FK in there home fixture against Vålerenga Fotball 2. The result sends Bryne back to the top of the table, overtaking Skeid by a point after there 2-0 loss yesterday away to Egersunds.

Having gone on a run of 1 win in 7 games, manager Olav Berg was clearly delighted with the result, “Its an important win, Vålerenga are challenging now being in 3rd so it was always going to be a tough game. The past few months have been disappointing, and we just haven’t seen our share of the luck as of late but I am hopeful that that will change after today. The boys were impressive and showed the same quality we had shown earlier this season and I am pleased to be back atop of the table, now we have to stay here.”

After a tight first half a 49th minute red card to Vålerenga 2, midfielder, Osame Sahroui opened the opportunity for Bryne to take the game to their opponents. Three minuets after the sending off and Ruben Onsager found himself with space at the back post for an easy tap in finish.

With Bryne continuing to push, Vålerenga goalkeeper Krisstoffer Klaesson played superbly keeping it to just the single goal making a total of 10 saves in the game. Yet it was enough for Bryne who now retake their lead at the top of the table with just 7 games to go.

Man of the Match Onsager said this post match “I am very happy to have helped us win today. The manager has been very good to me since I cam through the academy this season. I am still young, at 16 I think I still have a long way to go and I hope I can repay the bosses faith with more goals like this one.”

Onsager has featured in 16 games this season for Bryne coming off the bench 10 times. Having become Brynes youngest ever player and then youngest ever scorer in April he has continued to impress this season. Having shown his versatility being played as both a striker and a right winger the 16 year old still has a lot to develop but he is showing the signs of being a potential star in a few years time.

Bryne will be hoping that Onsager will be able to continue this form going in to there remaining matches as Skeid sit just a point behind them. The run in should be an entertaining one and one that Berg and his side will undoubtedly be doing everything they can to see it out.

Replies

Justice: Some strange games played, just struggling to score goals, but still top of the league gives us a lot to keep fighting for. Wiping the debt is massive and means I can finally start to rebuild the finances, however, we are still 700k in the red so we have a long way to go!
Jack: As I said to Justice, having that loan repayment paid off is a big start but we are still deep in the red. Hopefully we can continue making profit and start building a team of real quality here! In terms of the league, I am very happy where we are despite recent performances, hopefully we can keep it up.
Scott: This dip has come at a very strange time, there wasn’t much indication it was coming in terms of results but hopefully we get through it and continue to stay top!

Bad time for a blip in form, but you're still top, so can't complain too much i guess. Just hope you pick it up and keep Bryne at the top of the league.

Now stay there.

September

Results

After a mightily disappointing August, we came into September hopeful of improved performances, however, we didn’t manage to achieve this. Winning just one of our 5 games saw us temporarily lose our spot at the top of the league.

First up we faced 2nd place Skeid who had been on a tremendous run of form, not losing in 6 they had closed the lead we had to just a single point before our match. A boring 0-0 draw didn’t show the quality of either side that had led us to the top of the table which was a highly disappointing game. The one piece of action in the game saw our left back Petter Havsgård Martinsen get sent off in the 75th minute, not making the already tough game any easier for us.

Following on from the actionless match against Skeid we faced Hødd away from home and without key left back Petter due to suspension. A 29th minute strike from Joachim Osvold, who seems to enjoy scoring against us, gave them the 1-0 victory. Another disappointing result saw us lose top spot following Skeids 3-2 win over Molde 2.

Yet it didn’t take us long to reclaim pole position as following Skeids shock loss to relegation threatened Egersunds, we managed to win 1-0 against a tough opponent in Vålerenga Fotball 2. A Ruben Onsager goal gave us the important 3 points whilst also giving us the belief of turning our torrid form around.

But once again we faltered only managing a 0-0 draw against a poor Levanger side who look almost destined for relegation. The game highlighted how poor we were becoming in front of goal and despite the chances being created we just weren’t finishing. The game also extended Omar El Ghaouti, our star striker from last season, run without a goal to 10 matches. Having been so prolific last season, Omar has been highly disappointing this season.

This poor return on goals saw us switch up tactically going in to our next game against Vard, which seemed to of been a great decision. Going with two strikers up front we opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Einar Aadland. However, a second half collapse followed with us conceding 3 goals to lose the match 3-1.

League Table

The game against Vard, summed up the month and proved we needed to be a lot better if we were to see us gain promotion. Luckily due to results elsewhere we are still top of the league with just 3 matches to play and promotion is in our hands as both Vålerenga and Molde cannot be promoted due to being 2nd teams. However, the aim is still to be crowned champions and with Vålerenga just a point behind us we are going to need much improvement going in to next months games.

Player of the Month

Despite a poor month once again, Guate Høberg Vetti is Septembers player of the month. Grabbing an assist for Rubens winner against Vålerenga and being consistent throughout the month, Guate has been the best player out of a poor bunch this month. Hopefully the competition for next months player of the month is a lot stronger.

Young Player of the Month

Ruben wins the award simply due to his much needed winner against Vålerenga. At 17 Ruben has won this award a few times this season and we still believe he has the quality and potential to be a very important player for this club for years to come.

Injuries

With Tor André Aasheim back from his long term injury we have no current injury concerns which could be a major factor going in to the final month of the season.

Other News

After some very busy months off the field this season, we have had a much quieter September. With our loan fully paid off we have mad profit for the first time and we are looking to rebuilding our finances to hopefully continue our progression.

Next Months Fixtures

Going in to our final month of the season we face three big games in an all important month. We will play Flekkerøy, Vidar and a last game clash against Kjelsås. We know how tough it is going to be but we believe we can not just win promotion but do it in style by winning the league.

Replies

SOA: Its been a poor few months but hopefully our early form will outweigh this run!
Scott: That’s the plan!

Well you're still top, that's the main thing. Got to turn it around soon though.