– He sniffs quickly when things are about to slip out. He is always on and almost sleeps with one eye open while he ponders whether the culture is the way it should be. He’s like a watchdog. The Bodø/Glimt profile Ulrik Saltnes does not need long reflection time when he is challenged to describe what lies behind the enormous success Kjetil Knutsen has achieved after he was hired as the club’s head coach before the 2018 season. Since then, the arrow has pointed one way. Knutsen has transformed Bodø/Glimt into a ruthless winning machine in Norwegian football, a club that has charmed Football Europe and played such beautiful football that even the biggest snickers have been forced to smile. How on earth is it possible for a, with all due respect, small club from Bodø to win three league golds in four years? Frode Thomassen, the club’s general manager, said himself at the annual meeting in 2018 that “Glimt will never win league gold”. – Neither miracle man nor genius This year, they can once again secure the first double triumph in the club’s history if Molde is defeated in the news-broadcast cup final on Saturday afternoon. – You didn’t like it when TV 2’s Jan Henrik Børslid called you a “miracle man”. So I thought I’d ask – are you a genius? – No, I am neither a miracle man nor a genius. I think I’m quite good at working hard, but I’m also very dependent on skilled people around me who give me confidence, and in whom I can give confidence. I am none of those things, but I hope I am a good team worker, team man and able to work together with others. That’s probably the best term I can give myself, says Knutsen. NOT ALONE: Kjetil Knutsen emphasizes that he has many good people around him. Photo: Erlend Havsgård Martinsen / news He has set aside time for a longer chat with news before Saturday’s cup final at Ullevaal. Before we meet the successful coach, there is one word that repeats itself in our conversations with players and others close to the club. Culture. Ban on two words And to ensure an optimal development culture, Knutsen has taken some measures. It didn’t take long before he introduced a ban in the Glimt wardrobe against two specific words: “Yes, but”. – That’s right, I’m not fond of it. It’s an excuse. I hate excuses, he says. IN THE CENTER: Kjetil Knutsen has achieved more than most had dared to dream of when he was hired. Photo: Mats Torbergsen / NTB Right from the start, he has been clear that he does not want to hear talk of excuses when things don’t go the way he and the players want. – If we have lost a football match, then there is a reason why we have lost that football match. Starting with “yes, but”, it’s an incredibly bad start to having development and improvement. For me, it is a start that you are about to come up with an apology. Excuses don’t work well in my world, he states. – Must “take” the criticism Bodø/Glimt’s national team player Fredrik Bjørkan says that the ban on “yes, but” is about you having to dare to “take the criticism”, no matter how disagreeable you may be then and there. – Then you can have a nice conversation afterwards if you really disagree. But it’s about being comfortable enough to accept the criticism and listen to what others have to say. You have to have such a high ceiling height, says Bjørkan to news. He believes it is easy to blame others if you make a mistake. But then you are on a dangerous path, believes the left-back. LIKES THE CULTURE: Fredrik Bjørkan thinks it makes Glimt better that Knutsen is concerned with details in everyday life. Photo: Mats Torbergsen / NTB It’s a terribly boring word, culture. Most people have heard it 1000 times, but few have a conscious relationship with it. But it’s not boring, what Knutsen has done in the corridors at Aspmyra since he gained the confidence to step into the boss’s chair in 2018. In Knutsen’s mind, culture is absolutely essential for success and the very “foundation wall of the entire building”. The Glimt boss compares it to a Norwegian primary school. If a student is to thrive, absorb learning and become better, the student must be in a good learning environment. – Rots quite quickly That is why it has happened, Knutsen confirms, that in recent seasons he has chosen to sell players who are good enough in terms of sport, but who do not fit into the culture he wants. – You don’t always know everything about the type you’ve brought in. When I, as a leader, notice that we have someone in our group who does not fit in, and does not want to learn from this culture we have and adapt to this culture… Then they are in the wrong place, he asserts. – Why are you so merciless about this? – It’s a bit like you have a great basket of nice apples, and then you put two rotten apples into the great basket. Then the other apples rot quite quickly. So there is a very simple picture of it, he replies. Ulrik Saltnes takes a little time to think when he is asked if he recognizes that good players are sold because they don’t fit into the culture. – Yes, now I am not responsible for game logistics, but you can probably think of examples of that, he replies with a smile. VAKTBIKKJE: This is how Ulrik Saltnes describes his coach Kjetil Knutsen. Photo: Erlend Havsgård Martinsen / news Saltnes says that it can sometimes be easy to think, when you see an A team training in Glimt, that “he should get more playing time”. Then the answer can be a little more complicated than that, the midfielder points out. – In Glimt, the team always comes first, and that is why we can replace players in the way we do, because it is not so much about individuals. And perhaps that is why they have sold players who have had varying luck, because they have benefited from the team, perhaps better than they themselves have realised, says Saltnes. Without mentioning any specific examples. – Are people human? In addition to a ruthless attitude when it comes to “yes, but” and excuses, Knutsen has an equally ruthless relationship with focus on results. Saltnes says it is something “they try to avoid to the greatest extent”. Teammate Fredrik Bjørkan admits that it is easier said than done. – We are human beings, it is human to think those thoughts, but it is about turning your mindset around, he says. THANKS TO THE FANS: Kjetil Knutsen is a popular man with the Glimt supporters. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Kjetil Knutsen is terrified that things will slip out. It only takes a week to tear down the culture you have spent a long time building up, he points out. He calls himself a “good initiator” who is good at setting the conditions and is clear about how he thinks it should be for the team to realize its potential, both as a team and as individual players. Knutsen emphasizes that he is given an impossible task if he is alone to work on this in everyday life. – Not so damned strict Therefore, in his first years as a Glimt trainer, he was extremely keen to “coach” and train the individuals to become as self-sufficient in this as possible. Ulrik Saltnes at least believes that he notices a difference in Knutsen compared to a few years ago when things had not settled to the same extent as today. – He doesn’t really get that damned strict. And he’s very loyal to his own, isn’t he? It is often outside that he can inflict anger, rarely against us within the group. At the same time, I would like to claim that we have a group that has been with us for a long time and built up a small culture here, and that it is starting to become a little more self-driven. In line with that, he has yelled less and less over the years, says Saltnes. If you ask Kjetil Knutsen what is the main reason behind his success, he answers 99 out of 100 times “the people around him”. The 55-year-old believes that football has evolved past the time when teams had small “teams” and a head coach who managed everything, now you are dependent on a number of supporting players each with their own expertise, he believes. – It is the individual people in that team and their competence, their hunger and their ability to work together to get the best out of each individual person, that makes a story a success or the opposite, he says. Things may indicate that Kjetil Knutsen has chosen the right people to surround himself with. Kick-off on Saturday is 16.00. Watch the cup final between Molde and Bodø/Glimt on Saturday on NRK1 or listen to the match on news Sport on the radio.
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Drop the ban on two words – experiencing “unrealistic” success – Sport Langlesing
