Stuniverse Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 (edited) Episode 40 - 23rd January 2026 | Pre-Season Training "Random Press Quotes - I'm 'cagey ' apparently" -- -- -- -- Edited December 30, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 (edited) Episode 40 - 23rd January 2026 | Pre-Season Training "Are you happy or unhappy?" -- One minute Ole-Monrad Alme is happy. Spoiler The next minute he's unhappy. -- -- -- I'm happy for Ole-Monrad Alme to stay (he could easily be happy again next week) so I won't be doing anything to force a sale here. Edited December 30, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 Episode 40 - 23rd January 2026 | Pre-Season Training "More Relegation Release Clauses Removed" -- Three players have signed new contracts which get rid of their relegation release clauses. Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 (edited) Episode 40 - 23rd January 2026 | Pre-Season Training "Two Join Hødd" -- Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Recalled from Newcastle United Jets We've also recalled Isak Gabriel Skotheim from his loan with Newcastle United Jets. Spoiler Edited December 30, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 Episode 40 - 23rd January 2026 | Pre-Season Training "Five Leaving Høddvoll" -- Five players have left Høddvoll with assistance from their agents. Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Spoiler -- No Offers For Frøysa I'm not willing to transfer list Frøysa, as he's a very good player but wants to leave following relegation. We've agreed he can go if any club meets his £130,000 relegation release clause. Spoiler 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 (edited) Episode 40 - 23rd January 2026 | Pre-Season Training "Hard work... but we got there" -- Phew! We finally came in under our wage budget. -- Finances Edited December 30, 2023 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 Until Next Time Pre-Season Fixtures Our pre-season fixtures start on Sunday. Look who we're playing? -- Any questions... Thoughts, comments, general feedback appreciated. Any questions, just ask and I'll answer them if I can. Thank you for reading and following. Until next time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 (edited) Sunday 28th January 2026 Loddefjord (Tier 4) v Hødd (Tier 2) Friendly -- Normally for my first game of pre-season I give two sets of 11 players 45 minutes each. That was the same plan for my return to Loddefjord, although I wanted to take a look at some of our trialists in the second-half. -- There were a lot of players I didn't recognise from my time at Loddefjord. -- Our tactic wasn't working. Simple as that. Loddefjord were all over us. At 2-0 down (although the penalty looked harsh) we simplified things and pushed the two central midfielders further up. We were much better after that and their third goal, just before the break, was against the run of play. At half-time, I made the 11 changes I'd planned for. We were much better in the second-half, and were better than Loddefjord after the break, but they had something to hang onto, encouraged by their fans who were enjoying giving me stick, and we couldn't find a way past their goalkeeper. Our goal, when it finally came, was a mere consolation. Too little, too late. -- I enjoyed everything about my return to Loddefjord and the Alvoen Stadion... apart from our performance and the result. It was embarrassing and we have much to work on. The best part of the day was catching up with Tor Martin Hegrenes, my assistant at Loddefjord and now their manager. Spoiler Edited January 1 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Episode 41 - February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "What's the point?" -- You may recall that I mentioned we had a link with Aalesunds with them being the senior affiliate. I noted that it didn't make sense, particularly last season with Hødd being in the higher division Eliteserien and this season we are both in OBOS-ligaen. My guess is that nobody thought to cancel the link. Before making any rash decisions, I thought I'd see if we could use the affiliation to our advantage. Aalesund had one player listed for loan, Bjorn Martin Kristensen, but when I tried to loan him, Aaelsund refused to loan him out to a divisional rival. Spoiler So I spoke to my Managing Director, Kari Mette Sundgot, and... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Episode 41 - February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "New Signings" -- We've made four new signings. -- I'm delighted to have signed Abel Stensrud on loan. The only slight downside is that Brann want him used as a poacher. I tried to exclude that from negotiations but Brann wouldn't budge on it. Spoiler -- We paid a small fee for Teodor Haltvik but I believe it will be worth it. Spoiler -- I've signed Marius Ulla as my back-up goalkeeper. This does create a dilemma and / or headache for me in the goalkeeper department but I'll discuss that in my next post. Spoiler -- Aleksandar Van der Spa is one for the future. He'll join our 2nd Team while our Technical Director, Kenneth Karlsen attempts to find a loan move for him. Spoiler 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 (edited) Episode 41 - February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "How do you solve a problem like goalkeepers?" -- Last season Goran Karacic was our #1 goalkeeper and Ole-Monrad Alme was our back-up. Goran's form wasn't great last season and in the three matches he started for me it was the same. I wasn't convinced by him, so I didn't register Goran with the plan of bringing other goalkeepers in on trial and deciding further down the line whether to let Goran keep the gloves or whether to sign a free agent to be my #1. Unfortunately, Goran didn't react very well to not being registered (even though the registration deadline is ages away) and is currently unhappy. He has a relegation release clause of £29,500 but there doesn't appear to be much interest in him. Ole-Monrad Alme only started one match last season, a match I was in charge for, and Ole-Monrad did very well in that game with a 7.80 rating. I was going to let Ole-Monrad have plenty of playing time in pre-season to challenge Goran and see if he could be our #1... but Ole-Monrad has other ideas, or should I say illusions of grandeur, and he wants to leave for a bigger club even though nobody appears interested in him. So I've signed Marius Ulla to be our back-up and we're trying to move Ole-Monrad on. Quite a lot of goalkeepers have come in on trial so far this pre-season but Gentian Selmani is the only one still here at Høddvoll. Gentian's trial expires in about 10 days time and I'm not sure what to do. My coaches rate Gentian as a better all-round goalkeeper than Goran Karacic but Gentian is Albanian, does not speak a word of Norwegian, and has only ever played in Albania. If I do sign Gentian, I'll then have the issue of trying to offload Goran. I'm still hoping to find a Norwegian #1, or at least a goalkeeper who speaks Norwegian, but we're struggling to find anybody or, rather, we're struggling to find anybody who's better than Goran and is willing to join Hødd. So I may end up registering Goran and keeping him as our #1 by default. At least Marius is an upgrade on Ole-Monrad so will be better placed to challenge Goran for the gloves. Spoiler Thoughts, comments, suggestions on how to handle the #1 goalkeeper situation would be appreciated. -- Tagged: @Blarney @Dean Gripton @I have nothing to say @JaytheGreat @Jogo Bonito @phnompenhandy @Punch @samboing @warlock @XaW Edited December 31, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Episode 41 - February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "Eight Players to Offload, but nobody wants them!" -- We're trying to offload eight players, but nobody wants them. With the exception of Ole-Monrad Alme (who is currently registered), the others have all been moved to the 2nd Team or the U19s. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Episode 41 - February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "First Team Squad streamlined... but 2nd Team needs work" -- After a lot of hard work, we've now got the First Team Squad streamlined to 26 players plus a few trialists. This has come at the expense of the 2nd Team Squad though which now has far too many players in it and will need work over the rest of pre-season. We need to move players out on loan for development or to get their wages off the books and / or offload some players permanently. At least we're under our wage budget and Isak Gabriel Skotheim no longer wants to leave Hødd for a bigger club. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 (edited) Episode 41 - February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "End of January Review - C+" -- Results -- Board Confidence -- Supporter Confidence -- Finances -- Dynamics Edited December 31, 2023 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Until Next Time February's Pre-season Fixtures -- Any questions... Thoughts, comments, general feedback appreciated. Any questions, just ask and I'll answer them if I can. Thank you for reading and following. Until next time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 (edited) Sunday 1st February 2026 Lysekloster (Tier 3) v Hødd (Tier 2) Friendly -- We deliberately picked Lysekloster for this friendly match because they narrowly lost out on penalties in the playoff final for promotion into OBOS-ligaen. It should prove a good test for us. Today, we'll look to give the starters 60 minutes and then 11 players off the bench around half an hour. -- Edited January 1 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 Sunday 8th February 2026 Voss (Lower Division) v Hødd (Tier 2) Friendly -- We made a new signing ahead of the Voss game. Welcome to Hødd, Andreas Dybevik. Spoiler -- -- We would have been better off wearing snow shoes rather than football boots. -- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 (edited) Episode 42 - Early February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "More Players Offloaded" -- -- -- -- Transfer Window So Far... I have to be honest, I'm happy with the business we have done so far. And we remain under our wage budget. Edited January 1 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 Until Next Time Upcoming Fixtures We'll be heading off to Turkey next for our Training Camp. I'll be honest, the Training Camp was all arranged by the Board so I have next to no idea about our Turkish opponents. -- Any questions... Thoughts, comments, general feedback appreciated. Any questions, just ask and I'll answer them if I can. Thank you for reading and following. Until next time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 (edited) Thank you to everybody who has read, liked, followed and / or commented on this thread in 2023. I wish you and your families a happy and healthy 2024. Until next time… Best wishes, Edited January 1 by Stuniverse 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 8 hours ago, Stuniverse said: Thank you to everybody who has read, liked, followed and / or commented on this thread in 2023. I wish you and your families a happy and healthy 2024. Until next time… Best wishes, Happy New Year to you and yours as well Stu, all the best for 2024! As for GK, pick whichever one you think gives your team the best chance to win. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phnompenhandy Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 40 minutes ago, Punch said: As for GK, pick whichever one you think gives your team the best chance to win. Maybe it's the level I play at, but I've not come across a single decent keeper in FM24. The dudes I watch on YouTube - also lower league but far higher than me, seem to have a similar experience. How I pine for the days of the 'superkeeper'! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 6 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said: Maybe it's the level I play at, but I've not come across a single decent keeper in FM24. The dudes I watch on YouTube - also lower league but far higher than me, seem to have a similar experience. How I pine for the days of the 'superkeeper'! To be fair, at low levels, most strikers are considered brilliant if they have a finishing of 5, so you can't expect too much from keepers at the other end I guess. Sometimes it's worth picking the one with the best attitude 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 (edited) Wednesday 11th February 2026 Hødd (Tier 2, Norway) v Kırşehir (Tier 3, Turkey) Friendly - Neutral Ground -- -- The idea on this training camp is to give 11 players their first 90 minute run out today and then a different 11 players will play the full 90 minutes in the other game. That's the plan anyway. -- In the last 20 minutes most of our players looked shattered but we kept them out there to get 90 minutes in their legs. Edited January 2 by Stuniverse 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
samboing Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 The goal keeper situation is tough, I have similar in my save with Bath City. First choice last season was a loanee from Southampton and my second choice has left on a free, most keepers at this level aren’t great so replacing the loanee will be nigh on impossible. I think go with what your coaches are saying and also your gut! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 23 hours ago, Punch said: As for GK, pick whichever one you think gives your team the best chance to win. 22 hours ago, phnompenhandy said: Maybe it's the level I play at, but I've not come across a single decent keeper in FM24. The dudes I watch on YouTube - also lower league but far higher than me, seem to have a similar experience. How I pine for the days of the 'superkeeper'! 22 hours ago, Punch said: To be fair, at low levels, most strikers are considered brilliant if they have a finishing of 5, so you can't expect too much from keepers at the other end I guess. Sometimes it's worth picking the one with the best attitude 12 hours ago, samboing said: The goal keeper situation is tough, I have similar in my save with Bath City. First choice last season was a loanee from Southampton and my second choice has left on a free, most keepers at this level aren’t great so replacing the loanee will be nigh on impossible. I think go with what your coaches are saying and also your gut! Thanks @Punch, @phnompenhandy and @samboing for your comments about the goalkeeping situation at Hødd. There have been developments. Yes, Gentian Selmani, the goalkeeper my coaches rated better than the goalkeepers on Hødd's books and also better than about a dozen other goalkeepers we brought in on trial, has left Høddvoll at the end of his trial. Even though Gentian doesn't speak a word of Norwegian, and has only ever played in Albania, I was very, very tempted to offer him a deal. But I didn't, apart from his high wage demands (for us anyway)... My Assistant Manager, Egil Ulfstein, made me aware that Gentian was showing "worrying signs of a total collapse as a footballer" and that didn't sound like somebody I wanted to make Hødd's highest paid player. -- On 31/12/2023 at 21:45, Stuniverse said: Episode 41 - February 2026 | Pre-Season Underway "How do you solve a problem like goalkeepers?" -- Last season Goran Karacic was our #1 goalkeeper and Ole-Monrad Alme was our back-up. Goran's form wasn't great last season and in the three matches he started for me it was the same. I wasn't convinced by him, so I didn't register Goran with the plan of bringing other goalkeepers in on trial and deciding further down the line whether to let Goran keep the gloves or whether to sign a free agent to be my #1. Unfortunately, Goran didn't react very well to not being registered (even though the registration deadline is ages away) and is currently unhappy. He has a relegation release clause of £29,500 but there doesn't appear to be much interest in him. Ole-Monrad Alme only started one match last season, a match I was in charge for, and Ole-Monrad did very well in that game with a 7.80 rating. I was going to let Ole-Monrad have plenty of playing time in pre-season to challenge Goran and see if he could be our #1... but Ole-Monrad has other ideas, or should I say illusions of grandeur, and he wants to leave for a bigger club even though nobody appears interested in him. So I've signed Marius Ulla to be our back-up and we're trying to move Ole-Monrad on. Quite a lot of goalkeepers have come in on trial so far this pre-season but Gentian Selmani is the only one still here at Høddvoll. Gentian's trial expires in about 10 days time and I'm not sure what to do. My coaches rate Gentian as a better all-round goalkeeper than Goran Karacic but Gentian is Albanian, does not speak a word of Norwegian, and has only ever played in Albania. If I do sign Gentian, I'll then have the issue of trying to offload Goran. I'm still hoping to find a Norwegian #1, or at least a goalkeeper who speaks Norwegian, but we're struggling to find anybody or, rather, we're struggling to find anybody who's better than Goran and is willing to join Hødd. So I may end up registering Goran and keeping him as our #1 by default. At least Marius is an upgrade on Ole-Monrad so will be better placed to challenge Goran for the gloves. Reveal hidden contents Thoughts, comments, suggestions on how to handle the #1 goalkeeper situation would be appreciated. -- Tagged: @Blarney @Dean Gripton @I have nothing to say @JaytheGreat @Jogo Bonito @phnompenhandy @Punch @samboing @warlock @XaW 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phnompenhandy Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Stuniverse said: "worrying signs of a total collapse as a footballer" Woah, that's strong language! Should I be expecting "worrying signs of a total collapse as a football manager"? Edited January 2 by phnompenhandy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 2 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said: Woah, that's strong language! Should I be expecting "worrying signs of a total collapse as a football manager"? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Sunday 15th February 2026 Hødd (Tier 2, Norway) v Hes İlaç Afyonspor (Tier 3, Turkey) Friendly - Neutral Ground -- Today we'll make 11 changes and try to get all the starters through a full 90 minutes. I've named a full 15-man substitutes bench just in case. -- The fourth official held up five additional minutes on his board but the referee played an extra eight and a half. The match ended with us bravely defending four successive corners which, with both our centre-backs on instructions to ease off tackles due to yellow cards, was far from ideal. It was only when Hes İlaç Afyonspor hit a shot high and wide, and we had a goal-kick, did the referee remember to check his watch and blow the full-time whistle. I'm delighted with how our Training Camp in Turkey has gone. Two wins against Turkish opposition, and 22 players with a full 90 minutes in their legs. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Sunday 22nd February 2026 Hødd (Tier 2) v Odds Ballklubb (Tier 1) Friendly -- As a lifelong Oddrane fan it was a dream (pinch me) moment to manage Hødd in Eliteserien against Odds Ballklub last season in their Skagerak Arena. We lost 2-1. As we're in OBOS-ligaen this season, I thought Odds Ballklubb would be a good challenge for us and I'm thrilled they accepted our request for a friendly match. -- Pinch me, I'm dreaming! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) @XaW @I have nothing to say (or anybody), any idea why Odds Ballklubb's nickname is Oddrane? And weren't they called Odd Grenland some time back as well? I have a scarf from 2001 (that was given to me as a gift) with "Odd Grenland UEFA Cup 2001" on it. Edited January 2 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Episode 43 - End February 2026 | Pre-Season Results Improving "Youth Intake" -- Don't get excited, not a Golden Generation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) Episode 43 - End February 2026 | Pre-Season Results Improving "Goalkeeper saga... where are we at?" -- Well, after being repeatedly told that there was no interest in Ole-Monrad Alme, we finally got bids for him. -- Alme's departure created a registration slot so I finally bit the bullet and registered Goran Karacic who was last season's #1 albeit his form wasn't great. Giving Goran the benefit of the doubt, maybe his poor form was down to being in a struggling team at the foot of Eliteserien, I offered him a new contract. Goran signed for the same money he was on before and we've now removed his £29,500 release clause. -- We have brought Lars Jendal in on trial. Actually, we brought him in before Goran signed his new deal to potentially cover for the loss of Goran. As Goran is now staying, and appears happy, I don't think we'll be offering Lars a contract. Spoiler -- 3 hours ago, Stuniverse said: Thanks @Punch, @phnompenhandy and @samboing for your comments about the goalkeeping situation at Hødd. There have been developments. Yes, Gentian Selmani, the goalkeeper my coaches rated better than the goalkeepers on Hødd's books and also better than about a dozen other goalkeepers we brought in on trial, has left Høddvoll at the end of his trial. Even though Gentian doesn't speak a word of Norwegian, and has only ever played in Albania, I was very, very tempted to offer him a deal. But I didn't, apart from his high wage demands (for us anyway)... My Assistant Manager, Egil Ulfstein, made me aware that Gentian was showing "worrying signs of a total collapse as a footballer" and that didn't sound like somebody I wanted to make Hødd's highest paid player. -- Edited January 2 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) Episode 43 - End February 2026 | Pre-Season Results Improving "Monthly Review" -- Results I'm not getting ahead of myself, but Hødd are startin g to look like a Stuni Stuniverse team. -- Board Confidence -- Supporter Confidence -- Finances That's impressive because the Net Debt was over £1,000,000 (if I remember correctly) after the 2025 Eliteserien season. -- Dynamics Edited January 2 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Until Next Time March Pre-season Fixtures March will see us complete our pre-season fixtures ready to start our OBOS-ligaen campaign at home to KFUM Oslo. -- Any questions... Thoughts, comments, general feedback appreciated. Any questions, just ask and I'll answer them if I can. Thank you for reading and following. Until next time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Starting to take shape now. A good pre-season, and hopefully you can carry those performances into competitive matches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 2 minutes ago, warlock said: Starting to take shape now. A good pre-season, and hopefully you can carry those performances into competitive matches. Thanks, @warlock. On Extended Highlights I'm really liking the way my Hødd team are playing with simpler, less complicated tactics. The new signings are making a real difference. Hopefully, they can keep it going through the remaining pre-season fixtures and make a good start to our OBOS-ligaen campaign. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) Sunday 1st March 2026 Hødd (Tier 2) v Sandefjord (Tier 1) Friendly -- We thought Sandefjord would offer us a real challenge and a litmus test as to where we're at. Last season Sandefjord finished 14th in Eliteserien and faced Aalesund (3rd OBOS-ligaen) in the Eliteserien/OBOS-ligaen playoff final. The match went to extra-time at 2-2 and was heading for penalties until 120+1 minutes when Mathias Bringaker scored to give Sandefjord a last-gasp 3-2 victory, enough to retain Sandefjord's place in Eliteserien. On 29/12/2023 at 08:52, Stuniverse said: Saturday 6th December 2025 Sandefjord (14th Tier 1) v Aalesund (3rd Tier 2) Eliteserien / OBOS-ligaen Playoff Final -- After 90 minutes: After 120 minutes: -- Eliteserien: OBOS-ligaen: -- -- I'm absolutely delighted with that performance. We completely outplayed Sandefjord and thoroughly deserved the win. Edited January 2 by Stuniverse 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Sunday 8th March 2026 Brattvåg (Tier 4) v Hødd (Tier 2) Friendly -- In this game against Brattvåg we're going to give playing time to those players who haven't got as much playing time as they would've liked so far this pre-season, as well as players we're nursing back from injury. -- I'll be honest, without any of our main players, this was very much a cobbled together team of fringe players, players coming back from injury, and young players who will be probably play with Hødd II this season if we can't get them out on loan. That said, I thought the starting 11 and the subs did well. Unfortunately, the day was spoilt by a serious injury to Per Christian Nguyen. Spoiler 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Sunday 15th March 2026 Florø (Tier 4) v Hødd (Tier 2) Friendly -- Ahead of the Florø game we made another signing. Spoiler -- We've also been having trouble loaning out our young players for development. Not because of a lack of interest but because of clubs not meeting our wage requirements. We started off at a weekly playing wage of 30% and non-playing of 50% and we've just gone down to a weekly playing wage of 0% and non-playing of 10%. Hopefully, we'll now see some movement. In an attempt to help that along, and also for me to take a look at them, the majority of the players we're looking to loan out are in today's starting 11 and / or on the subs bench. -- Again, with a makeshift team and subs bench, I'm delighted with the performance all of the players put in. Hopefully we'll be able to generate some loan moves for our younger players now. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) Sunday 22nd March 2026 Kristiansund (OBOS-ligaen) v Hødd (OBOS-ligaen) Friendly -- Our final two pre-season friendlies are against teams we'll play in OBOS-ligaen this season. To be honest, I'm surprised they accepted our request. First up are Kristiansund who finished 10th in OBOS-ligaen last season but defied the odds to beat Eliteserien Champions Bodø/Glimt on penalties to win the Norgesmesterskapet i fotball Final (Cupen). On 29/12/2023 at 08:56, Stuniverse said: Saturday 6th December 2025 Kristiansund (10th Tier 2) v Bodø/Glimt (1st Tier 1) Norgesmesterskapet i fotball Final (Cupen) -- After 90 minutes: After 120 minutes: -- Eliteserien: OBOS-ligaen: -- Ahead of this friendly match we brought Mathias Johnsrud Emilsen in on loan. Spoiler -- This was an incredible roller-coaster of a game and I went through all the emotions there are during the 90 minutes. When we went 4-3 up, we changed our mentality to Balanced and, whilst I'm not proud of it, I told the players to waste time often. After going 2-3 down on 56 minutes, the players showed great character and team spirit to come back and win the game 5-3. Edited January 2 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Sunday 29th March 2026 Hødd (OBOS-ligaen) v Aalesund (OBOS-ligaen) Friendly -- Our final pre-season friendly of the season is at home to Aalesund. Last season Aalesund finished 3rd and lost the Eliteserien/OBOS-ligaen Playoff Final to Sandefjord who scored a very late 120+1 minute winner. On 29/12/2023 at 08:52, Stuniverse said: Saturday 6th December 2025 Sandefjord (14th Tier 1) v Aalesund (3rd Tier 2) Eliteserien / OBOS-ligaen Playoff Final -- After 90 minutes: After 120 minutes: -- Eliteserien: OBOS-ligaen: -- The last friendly match against Kristiansund was a bit too open for my liking so I've asked the players to play with a Balanced mentality today. -- I'm delighted that we were able to beat Aalesund but I'm not getting ahead of myself because it was a very even game. On the day, we were more clinical in front of goal than they were. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
I have nothing to say Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 (edited) 7 hours ago, Stuniverse said: @XaW @I have nothing to say (or anybody), any idea why Odds Ballklubb's nickname is Oddrane? And weren't they called Odd Grenland some time back as well? I have a scarf from 2001 (that was given to me as a gift) with "Odd Grenland UEFA Cup 2001" on it. The only information I can find online about being called Odd is that they are named after a character from a novel about an athlete called Odd. Wikipedia however does have the "citation needed" note next to that but I can't find anything elsewhere relating to it. They were originally just Odd, then in the 90's changed to Odd Grenland as Grenland is the district of Telemark they are in (Telemark being the equivalent of a county), but dropped it about 10 years later saying they wanted to represent all Telemark. Edited January 2 by I have nothing to say 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 16 minutes ago, I have nothing to say said: The only information I can find online about being called Odd is that they are named after a character from a novel about an athlete called Odd. Wikipedia however does have the "citation needed" note next to that but I can't find anything elsewhere relating to it. They were originally just Odd, then in the 90's changed to Odd Grenland as Grenland is the district of Telemark they are in (Telemark being the equivalent of a county), but dropped it about 10 years later saying they wanted to represent all Telemark. Thank you, @I have nothing to say. Much appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Episode 44 - End March 2026 | Transfer Deadline Day "I've bagged another coaching badge" -- -- If you don't ask, you don't get... so I asked for another coaching course. I did take them up on their "willing to listen" offer. Ah, that one again. I decided not to press things any further right now. I'm happy with my National B Licence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Episode 44 - End March 2026 | Transfer Deadline Day "Stuff to do with our players" -- Captains -- Forsberg signs new contract I'm absolutely thrilled that Lucas Forsberg has committed his future to Hødd. It was a long, drawn out process as Forsberg, via his agent, was holding out for £2.4K per week at the beginning of pre-season. In the end, he's still got a £200 per week pay rise. The big bonus though is that we've got rid of his £250K relegation release clause, replacing it with a £500K non-promotion release clause. Spoiler -- Latvian International Spoiler -- Squad Details The players assigned numbers 30 and upwards will be with our 2nd Team due to the OBOS-ligaen registration rules and we're trying to get as many of them as possible out on loan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) Episode 44 - End March 2026 | Transfer Deadline Day "Monthly Review - C+" -- Results After a shaky start to our pre-season, with an embarrassing defeat against my former employers, Tier 4 Loddefjord, our results and performances improved after that when the new signings arrived and started settling in. To win nine straight, including two victories against teams from the division above, Eliteserien, and two wins against teams from our own division, gives us confidence for the upcoming OBOS-ligaen campaign. -- Board Confidence -- Supporter Confidence -- Finances -- Dynamics Edited January 2 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) Episode 44 - End March 2026 | Transfer Deadline Day "2026 Season Preview" -- Board Expectations -- OBOS-ligaen Preview The Bookmakers are predicting we'll finish 11th. But the bookmakers also think the OBOS-ligaen top goalscorer will be a Hødd player. -- Cupen First Round Draw It's an all OBOS-ligaen cup-tie but at least we'll be home at Høddvoll. Edited January 2 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 (edited) Episode 44 - End March 2026 | Transfer Deadline Day "Transfer Window Slams Shut" -- -- -- We had one new addition on Deadline Day, welcome to Hødd on loan, Runar Hauge. I'm absolutely delighted with this one. We tried to sign Runar permanently at the beginning of the window, we verbally agreed a contract, but Jerv made him an offer as well and he decided to join them. It was only yesterday when we heard Jerv were willing to loan him out. We moved quickly and I'm thrilled Runar has agreed to join Hødd on loan for the season. Spoiler We're still under our wage budget and I'm very pleased with the transfer business we've been able to do. -- -- Promises Edited January 2 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Until Next Time April's Fixtures Next up we kick-off our OBOS-ligaen campaign. -- Any questions... Thoughts, comments, general feedback appreciated. Any questions, just ask and I'll answer them if I can. Thank you for reading and following. Until next time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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