– For my part, something happened that was an overstepping, which I thought for my part: “I will not tolerate this”. Then I became stubborn and vindictive, says the former Rosenborg hero Pål André Helland in the podcast “Mush Hour” with Mushaga Bakenga. For the first time since the surprising Rosenborg exit in the winter of 2021, the former national team player opens up about the turbulent farewell at Lerkendal and why he left the club in his heart. RENT: After leaving RBK, Pål André Helland wanted to take the inside track at Rosenborg. Here from the 2020 season. Photo: BILDBYRÅN NORWAY The background that Helland is referring to took place in autumn 2020, when the attacker claims that the club almost insisted that the trønder should appear in an interview with Adresseavisen. – What happened was that honor came and bit me in the ass, says Helland in the new podcast. After almost four straight series championships, Rosenborg finally finished fourth in the series behind Molde, Bodø/Glimt and Vålerenga, and in the series rush in autumn 2020, Helland was asked by Adressa “to put words to the differences” between the top clubs. – In the interview I say that “as it is now, we are behind the three clubs because we are not as good at our own game”. We had changed coaches in the middle of the season, we were behind in the table, in addition to the fact that we have Europe. We had to think about results all the way and couldn’t think about performance in the position we were in, he claims in the podcast. – That was the reason why I left Rosenborg. The headline in the article was “RBK star: Lacks clear playing style”. According to Helland, the next day he received “notification that I can take a holiday” – two and a half months before the end of the series. – Even with the fact that I became persona non grata. I was not allowed to stay at Lerkendal between 08:00 in the morning and 15:30 in the afternoon, says Helland in the podcast. Read a larger extract from the podcast with permission from Bakenga here: This is what Helland says in the podcast – It wasn’t super cool. I could imagine playing in Rosenborg until I finished my career and gradually taking on a greater leadership role in teaching the youngsters until it was natural to give up. It didn’t want to. For my part, something happened that was an overstepping, which I for my part thought “I will not tolerate this”. Then I became stubborn and vindictive. I wanted to go to another Norwegian club and catch up. I wanted to make sure that that club was better than Rosenborg. That’s because it was the club Rosenborg I was dissatisfied with, but certain people I wanted to take the inside swing at, says Pål André Helland in the podcast “Mush Hour” with Mushaga Bakenga. – What actually happened?, asks Bakenga. – What happened was that the honor came to bite me a little in the ass. We were a good distance behind Vålerenga, Bodø/Glimt and Molde. Then Adressa should have a larger portfolio where they interviewed players who have been in Rosenborg for a while, where we were asked to put words to the differences. I replied “can’t anyone else talk, I talk all the time?”. I got a reply from the club that they wanted me to take it because I had been at the club for a long time and “you are good at putting words to it”. They almost insisted that I do that interview. There were a lot of cool things I wasn’t allowed to do, which I would have liked to have been involved in, but instead I was sent to do things I didn’t necessarily want, but I did it because it’s my job, says Helland. – In that interview I say that “as it is now, we are behind the three clubs because we are not as good at our own game”. Then the headline became something about them being better than us in terms of playing style. I’ll explain what’s behind it. We had changed coaches in the middle of the season, we are behind in the table, in addition to having Europe. We had changed from Horneland to Åge Hareide. At the same time, I defend Åge by saying that it is natural that we do not get time to set our own bets because we had a match every third day. We had to think about the result all the way and couldn’t think about performance in the position we were in. Something tells me that the person concerned only read the headline because I was called into the office the next day and told that I can take a holiday, says Helland. – There was a month and a half left in the season. “No, I can’t or I don’t want to”. Even with the fact that I became persona non grata. I was not allowed to be at Lerkendal between 8 in the morning and 3.30 in the afternoon. Then I was injured, and I said “then I have to train myself”. I was told that I could train before 8 and that I had to be out of the dressing room before anyone saw me. I could come back when the rest of the team and the club had gone home after another day of work. I had a session at the gym in the morning at 6-7 and a session in the afternoon light after 4 pm where I ran alone. Eventually I managed to sneak in to see a physiotherapist. I had to promise very dearly that I didn’t tell the boss that he helped me, says Helland. – After that meeting, I sent a message to Gjermund and asked if he had coffee on the pot. Gjermund, who has a fairly good sense of justice, was shaken. Then it was like “OK, if that’s how I’m going to be treated…” Then the curtains go down and I think I’m going to another Norwegian club, make sure they’re better than Rosenborg and take the inside swing against the one who took it ruled against me. – You were already in the freezer with him, Gjermund?, says Bakenga. – It’s a freezer on another level. All soccer players agree that there are eleven players who start and that the coach must make a choice. When players are not allowed to show up for breakfast and use physio if you are injured and stripped of competitive conditions, you start to walk a path that is about respecting people. When you don’t respect people, my curtain comes down, says Gjermund Åsen. – I would have accepted if the coach had said that he had not seen a need for me in the team. For both parties, it may be okay for both to move on. For my part, I refused to use things. There is a breach of the Working Environment Act and NISO wishes to take legal action, but I would not take a case against my own club. If there had been a court case with me, in addition to everything the club had been through with Kåre and Erik. What little reputation was left had been torpedoed, says Helland. – It was a bit brutal and hurtful as I had almost been in the club since I was 15, Helland told news about how he experienced the ban on staying at Lerkendal. RBK-HELT: Pål Andre Helland played 225 games for Rosenborg and scored 66 goals. Photo: BILDBYRÅN NORWAY – It was a bit painful when it happened and that was the reason why I left Rosenborg. I know that my relationship with some Rosenborg supporters was a bit strained because I went to another Norwegian club, but there was a reason for that, he says. Rosenborg: – Sad to hear Former RBK coach and current national team manager for Iceland, Åge Hareide, who was head coach in Rosenborg at the time Helland claims the club banned him from staying at Lerkendal, has been presented with Helland’s claims. – I have no comment. I cannot comment on what happened many years ago. I have managed many players in my coaching career and everyone is free to say what they want, says Hareide to news. EXPERT AND TRAINER: Åge Hareide. Photo: Roy Kenneth S Jacobsen / news – The players I have coached have behaved in an exemplary manner and occasionally you end up in conflict situations. It is the club that provides the funds that can be used to attend training and I do not wish to comment on what is said, he says. Since the 2020 season, there have been several changes in management in Rosenborg, but the current day-to-day manager in Rosenborg, Tore Berdal, answers on a general basis. – I cannot answer exactly for what has happened historically, Berdal wrote in an e-mail to news. – It is sad to hear that Pål has experienced it as he describes. On a general basis, I can say that we constantly try to create as good a working climate as possible for all our employees, he claims. For the record: Åge Hareide is news’s football expert. LSK STARS: Pål André Helland contributed to Lillestrøm finishing fourth in the 2021 season. Photo: BILDBYRÅN NORWAY – I felt betrayed In the following transfer window, winter 2021, Helland, who has six international caps, was released two years before the contract expired and signed for newly promoted Lillestrøm. – I was brought up as a Rosenborg supporter in a heyday and still am to this day. I had my best years as a soccer player in Rosenborg. I’m very fond of the club. I didn’t dislike the club, but I was pissed off and out for revenge. That’s why I wanted to go to another Norwegian club, says Helland to news. Together with friend and teammate Gjermund Åsen, who was loaned from Rosenborg to Lillestrøm, the duo was involved when LSK finished fourth in the table, one point ahead of Rosenborg in the 2021 season. – I felt quite betrayed. Then came a stubbornness and firmness that is quite strong, says Helland in the podcast. This winter it became clear that Helland will become a top player developer in Ranheim and move back to Trondheim after several years in Lillestrøm. There he ended his active career last year and was then appointed as a coach.
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