– I don’t say that to bash, but when I see the bench LSK had against Viking… Several of them had signed up for many elite league teams. I realize that I’m putting pressure on myself by saying that, but I think that this group is too good to stay where it is. Dag-Eilev Fagermo has never been afraid to say what he thinks. And now he faces perhaps his toughest task as a football coach so far: Saving a crisis-ridden LSK from relegation. David Nielsen only got four games and one month in the manager’s chair at Åråsen. Local newspaper Romerikes Blad calls the appointment of Fagermo the LSK board’s “last desperate attempt to save the place”. On Wednesday, he led his very first LSK training session, and he has already presented a concrete plan for how the yellow jerseys will survive as an elite league team. If the day off is removed, LSK is at the very bottom of the table with six games remaining, but there are only two points left to secure a place. And Fagermo has already taken action. In recent months, the LSK players have usually had time off or personal training on Fridays, but Fagermo has seen a stop to that. About the first step he took as LSK coach was to give notice that the players should meet on the field on Fridays. – I have to admit that I have never understood why it is a day off on Friday when you play on Sunday. But I’m probably old-fashioned. But I need it today. Tomorrow I have put in two sessions as well, although the second session will only be tactical. And one session on Friday and one on Saturday. It’s because I have to get continuity in the things I do here, says Fagermo to news. WILL TOP: Dag-Eilev Fagermo will prioritize the 14-15 best in training for the rest of the year. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB Gave LSK profile a clear message In Vålerenga, Fagermo rejuvenated the squad and even up with one of the younger squads in the Eliteserien. In LSK, he gets one of the oldest. This means that Fagermo can probably be even more merciless in his feedback to the players, he believes himself. – I’ll be harder, maybe. And tougher with the elderly, they have to put up with that. Then you can ask how much love they need when lying where they are on the table. I understand that too, but there are players here that we must expect to step up, that is. Lillestrøm’s right-back Eric Larsson received a clear message from Fagermo already on the first day. – It is as I said to Eric Larsson today. “You were really good in Malmö. It can’t be that difficult to be really good in Lillestrøm, can it?” The same with Ruben Gabrielsen, Thomas Lehne Olsen. They have to stand up, he underlines. FIRST SESSION: The LSK players had their first meeting with Dag-Eilev Fagermo on Wednesday. Eric Larsson (on the left) received a clear message from his new coach that it is expected that the experienced players will line up. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB He says the most important thing going forward will be clear priorities. He has also informed the players that not all of them will have the same amount of time in the future. – I’m happy with development, not capital, as they know. But now I have to prioritize the 14-15 who will be playing, in order to have some continuity for the rest of the year. I have to prioritize the same principles both offensively and defensively, in order to get the results we need, he says. – Want positive people Fagermo says that he has seen a lot of elite series football while he has been unemployed. And especially a lot of Lillestrøm in the last two days. – I know how Lillestrøm conceded goals, I know why they don’t score goals. Then I have to deal with things that I think can trigger them, says Fagermo, who adds that “attack is the best defense”. Therefore, he has given a clear message to the players that they must have an offensive attitude. – We have to focus on training. The best have to be drilled the most. We must have a high pressure. It cannot be done like against Viking, I think. There are two things he will be concerned with as manager for the rest of the year: – I want people who want something here, who make demands on themselves. It starts with me. I have to make sure that the training sessions and video meetings, everything I do, are worked through to the maximum. We expect the players to come back refreshed and sharp. They must have that mentality, and then I want positive people. Negative people create energy, but they don’t get any better. TOK GREP: Dag-Eilev Fagermo will give the LSK players less time off in the future. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB He says it took a long time as an unemployed person before he missed the coaching profession, but the lack has largely increased in recent weeks. And when LSK sporting director Simon Mesfin called him on Monday evening and offered him the job, the answer was simple. Fagermo is also confident that he is a better coach now than when he was fired in Vålerenga. He has evaluated himself and knows about several things he does not want to do again, without wanting to elaborate on what he wants to change. No change of captain David Nielsen changed LSK’s captain after a short time at the club and gave the tie from Gjermund Åsen to Ruben Gabrielsen. Fagermo is not going to do anything with that part. – I will not change that. Isn’t Ruben the captain, then? It will just be nonsense to go in and change it. Both the captain and the captain’s team must be allowed to be as they have been. There are enough changes, he says. Fagermo is self-confident and answers a flat “yes” to questions about whether he will manage the task of saving the place for the yellow jerseys. Now it’s up to him to live up to it. – If there are four losses in a row now, then I haven’t done a good enough job. That’s one. But then Lillestrøm is actually as bad as the table suggests. The first test already comes on Sunday, when Molde comes to Åråsen to play the quarter-finals of the cup. The next league game is away to Fredrikstad on 20 October. Published 02.10.2024, at 14.02 Updated 02.10.2024, at 14.10
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