When Kjetil Rekdal has to react after losing football matches, he apparently either takes out a puzzle or puts on an episode of the situation comedy “Courage in the chest”. Fortunately for Rekdal, the series was so popular in the 1990s that close to 150 episodes were produced. It is Rosenborg’s head of sport (sic), Roar Vikvang, who talks about this to the Adressa podcast “Rasmus & Saga” this week. Vikvang also gives, with a former professional soldier’s completely distinctive calm, an interesting insight into the decision-making processes in what could once be called a top club from Trondheim. Because there are many who wonder who actually decides what in Rosenborg in 2023. Who sanctions the player purchases of him and sporting director Mikael Dorsin. Who evaluates the coach. Who may depose him. Top club without trust Much of the conversation around the club at the moment revolves around a plan no one quite sees the contours of. And a coach who stands and defends it all deep down he knew one day he was going to stand and defend. According to the only objective criterion that really counts in football, Kjetil Rekdal has not succeeded as a coach in Rosenborg. At least not this year. And there are too many. Partly because Rosenborg has a self-image that suggests they should be a top team every year. Everything else will make you immediately look for quick solutions to the problem. Now they could soon be below the relegation zone if the teams behind them win their hanging games. Partly because Rekdal was simply such a controversial choice as coach in the first place that few have developed the very strongest feelings for him and his project. This Wednesday, Rekdal and his assistant Geir Frigård have been invited into the boardroom at Lerkendal to update the club’s highest body on the state of the A-team squad. It may be the last thing they do as Rosenborg coaches. The legacy of Horneland There is no insignificant irony in the fact that the loss that further accelerated the planned trip into the boardroom for Rekdal was against Brann, led by the former Rosenborg coach Eirik Horneland. He was brought expensively to Lerkendal. And was fired even more expensively just a year and a half later. Without having been given the time and room for action he needed in the period in between. Instead, he got that in Norway’s most restless city. Despite relegation and critical souls at every light rail stop. Now he has built a performance culture as he wants. It has produced impressive results. No one can pretend that they don’t take note of this in Trondheim, where they have had four head coaches only since they last won the series in 2018. Therefore, chairwoman Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen is unlikely to prioritize getting rid of the coaching staff already now. Eirik Horneland has been very successful since the RBK sacking. Photo: Mats Torbergsen / NTB The chairman’s baptism of fire Partly because it doesn’t solve anything. Rosenborg’s problems are larger and obviously structural. As Snorre Valen, editor of Trønderdebatt, so precisely described it in Nidaros in April: “The need for greatness trumps the principles on which greatness was originally built: Targeted patience, building from below, and a persistent fixation on constant improvement”. In addition, this is also a baptism of fire for Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen as chairman and for Tore Bjørseth Berdal, who took over from the mighty Tove Moe Dyrhaug as general manager last autumn. None of them have been in this situation before – and their position going forward will be defined by how the current pressure from the environment is handled. The lack of alternatives This is partly because there are no obvious alternatives to taking over, which was also the challenge when Rekdal was hired. Well, one might think that coach developer Svein Maalen, who has previously coached Ranheim, could be a name. Maalen is local and knows his Eggen to his fingertips. But Maalen has obviously been considered before and found too easy. Now the situation is even more challenging for a potential new coach. By the time Rekdal has finished in Rosenborg, Maalen can anyway coach elsewhere, for example in Aalesund. A bigger name would be Häcken coach Per-Mathias Høgmo, who also coached Rosenborg in 2005–06 before retiring in the middle of a season that ended with league gold. Høgmo, which is very successful in Sweden, has expressed a not inconsiderable temptation to be able to take over RBK again. But it is unlikely to happen with immediate effect. Then the options are few. Which is a situation that other former big teams are also experiencing right now. Dag-Eilev Fagermo stands for an RBK-friendly 4-3-3 style. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB No progress at Intility either Well, Oslo’s alleged pride, Vålerenga, had a marginally better start to the series than Rosenborg. But the feeling of a sporting standstill under coach Dag-Eilev Fagermo after three years at the club has been palpable for quite some time. Fagermo has shown an amazing ability to appear as a so-called “comeback kid”, i.e. someone who hits back when you think he is done. In addition, he seems more or less protected by Vålerenga’s money bin and owner, financier Tor Olav Trøim. Nevertheless, the dissatisfaction with the development of a squad, which in many ways seems more homogeneous than the aforementioned Rosenborg’s, is great among the supporters. But where Rosenborg’s supporter group Kjernen has openly demanded the head coach’s resignation, the Clan is waiting for the time being. But the murmur sounds much louder than the cheers during the day anyway. Especially after Vålerenga failed to equalize against a Stabæk reduced to 9 men at Nadderud last Monday. At Intility you will soon see development as well. Better with a switch? And that leads us into the paradox surrounding the two clubs. It is possible that the best solution to Rosenborg and Vålerenga’s challenges would simply have been for them to switch coaches between them. It had given Vålerenga a coach who could tighten up the organization defensively. As he has done in Vålerenga before – to the extent that he is the last to coach the club to league gold. At the same time, Rosenborg had got a coach who is dedicated to their much-loved 4-3-3 football. The fact that Fagermo would hardly have been immediately popular among the supporters at Lerkendal is a situation one has quickly come to expect before. Now the desire is primarily a new course. And you definitely got that. Moreover, both had emerged as particularly timely and sustainable top clubs. In a kind of football’s own circular economy. In any case, the probability is imminent that Fagermo will still lead Vålerenga against Bodø/Glimt on Sunday. At the same time, Rosenborg plays at home against HamKam. The irony that it is the club that Rekdal left to take over in Rosenborg that is the opponent in the battle of destiny is also obvious. Should things go so wrong with Rekdal that he ends up being fired from Rosenborg, there is always solace to be found in his aforementioned favorite series Mot i brøset. Because as Wikipedia writes about the main character Karl Reverud, played by Nils Vogt: “After losing his job, he starts his own consulting firm called K-Konsult, and ends up being very successful.” Nils Vogt was very successful as the angry Karl Reverud. Photo: Sara Johannessen Meek / NTB
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