Raging Riise Distracts From Inept Performance

Ukraine 1 (Selenzev) - 0 Norway

When Latvian referee Romas Lajuks quite perplexingly gave Jon Arne Riise a straight red for allegedly saying "that's fucking shit" he actually did Norway-manager Åge Hareide a favor. 

You see, the Edvartsenesque sending off meant today's papers were dominated by the sensitive ref rather than the fact that Norway were yet again an incoherent and shambolic lot, and that for the first time since 1978 the Norwegian national side has gone an entire calendar-year without winning a game. Today's follow-up stories were about how Hareide thinks the referee needs to take an English-course and how we see more serious swearing all the time, even in the Tippeliga.

What we also see in the Tippeliga are Norwegian players who look like they know what they're supposed to be doing (unless you're watching HamKam), something last nights friendly against a distinctively under-strength Ukraine was almost completely devoid of. Credit where it's due, Hareide handed Vålerenga's phenomenal forward "Moa" a much deserved start and he showed glimpses of quality, and Jon Knudsen showed that while we all wait for the more talented Rune Jarstein to sort himself out he is a highly reliable alternative. But there endeth the positives. The midfield didn't make any sort of sense, Morten Gamst Pedersen seems to be in the worst funk of his career (for both club and country), Tore Reginiussen clearly has promise but still doesn't quite cut the mustard internationally, and so on and so forth. 

With pacy forwards like Moa and Trond Olsen on the pitch and the possibility of bringing the criminally under-used Tarik Elyounoussi off the bench, going down to 10 men could have been a useful exercise in counter-attacking for Norway, but whenever the Norwegians managed to get the ball it was swiftly surrendered through aimless hoofs up the pitch. There is a reason Norway are now below Saudi-Arabia in the FIFA-rankings.

"We've just got to draw a line through the year 2008," said Hareide after the game. While that may be the most tempting option for the man responsible, perhaps a thorough analysis of what went wrong would be more useful in the long run..

Aalesund Batter Sogndal, Lyn Batter Fans' Nerves, Brann Batter Their Own Credibility

The trauma of University exams and the inevitable yet utterly destructive post-exam binge has left fjordball-towers in a sorry state, and obviously a few stories have been missed this past week..

Aalesund Batter Sogndal

Rather predictably, Aalesund's two-legged playoff against Sogndal was never much of a contest. In the first leg Sogndal were smacked around in their own backyard and lost 1-4, making the second leg a bit of a formality. A hat-trick from man-mountain Tor Hogne Aarøy in the first half of that second leg sent Aalesund on their way to a 3-1 win, making it an emphatic 7-2 on aggregate. The ridiculously large (204 centimeters, for God's sake) forward told the press afterwards that he wanted to go abroad next year, possibly to Japan, which if national anatomical stereotypes are anything to go by would be just cruel. 

Lyn Batter Fans' Nerves

Even more predictably, Lyn were in deep doodoo when time came to renew the club's pro-license thingy for 2009, seeing as they were some way off meeting the Norwegian FA's demands for fiscal stability. The club that a few months ago almost went bankrupt now faced being relegated to the wild wastelands that is the 3rd tier of Norwegian football, but while details are hazy it appears that they were bailed out in the very last minute. Much to the delight of their fans, obviously. Come to think of it, much to the delight of fjordball as well, as Lyn are a club that keeps giving young talents a chance to play at the highest level of Norwegian football, and there aren't too many of those around.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (and manage Brann)?

One of the most farcical hiring-processes of recent years looks like it might be coming to an end, as Brann have yet again held a meeting with Steinar Nilsen. After having been rejected by Åge Hareide, Nils Johan Semb, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, some Swedish blokes and some other people as well, they turned to Nilsen a few weeks ago (though bizarrely they denied it at the time). Then they flew in Esbjerg-manager Troels Bech (who was fired from Esbjerg shortly after, as it happens) so that he could have a look around, before seemingly changing their minds and having another meeting with Steinar Nilsen. 

All this sniffing around and talking to different people isn't that unusual really, but having every inch of the recruitment-process published in the press however is just ridiculous. Brann's sporting director Roald Bruun-Hanssen, a recent recipient of one of fjordball's much coveted awards, seems hell-bent on undermining their next manager before he has even started the job by making it perfectly clear to everyone that whoever ends up getting the job wans't even their second or third choice, but more like their sixth or seventh choice. Way to go Roald!

(Part two of the awards-thingy IS coming, we promise. And also, you can look forward to a "team of the year" as nominated by someone who actually knows what he's talking about!)

The 2008 Fjordball-Awards Part 1

The Norwegian football community quite bizarrely decided to have their pompous, smug and self-gratifying award-ceremony before the cup-final had been played, but not us, no siree, here at fjordball-towers we wait until the season is actually over before we publish a pompous, smug and self-gratifying award-ceremony-post-thingy.

But before we move on to the heavies, like the team of the year and of course the much coveted "Golden Fjord"-award, let's have some more light-hearted awards..

The 2008 Raymond Kvisvik Award for Fiscal Prudency

Named after the financial phenomenon that is Raymond Kvisvik (whose house has been repossessed and is still up for sale, if you're interested), this award wishes to honor those that in these credit-crunched times continue show a particular devotion to the noble art of wasting money. And this year there can be no other winner than, you guessed it, Brann's sporting director Roald Bruun-Hansen, who thought it was a good idea to spend 9,5 million NOK on a 29 year old striker who is utterly unsuited to Brann's style of play and has never scored more than 8 goals in a league season in Scandinavia. Impressive stuff Roald, impressive stuff.

The 2008 Prince Philip Award for Political Correctness

Step forward Frode Olsen, the TV2 pundit and former sporting director of Bryne argued in the aftermath of the Bjørn Helge Riise-debacle that calling someone a son of a whore is crossing a line, but homophobic chanting on the other hand is quite alright. Hopefully fans will keep this in mind whenever he turns up at a ground to summarize or commentate next season..

Olsen: The nemesis of male hairdressers everywhere

The 2008 Rune Lange Award for Utter Uselessness

No shortage of candidates in this category, but when it comes to the pinnacle of uselessness you have to look at HamKam, and in particular some of their more dodgy imports this season. Srdjan Urosevic is a strong challenger for the crown, with his four appearances, two yellow cards an an average rating of 2,67 (out of 10, ffs). 

But the award has to go to Sebino Plaku, whose total contribution to the HamKam cause was one appearance and three offsides (giving him an average rating of 2,00). Plaku is in fact so useless, his youtube-compilation actually includes a clip of him wasting a perfectly good chance by shooting straight at the keeper (at the 2.30-mark in the clip). And then it repeats it, in slow motion. Note to HamKam: Stop buying random players you find on ebay. 

Lange: Slightly less useless than HamKam's random imports

The 2008 Graham Poll Award for Attention-Seeking

Daniel Nannskog obviously a strong contender as always, and referee Svein-Erik Edvardsen's tendency to randomly send people off makes him hard to ignore, but with a late swoop it's Strømsgodset's David Nielsen who walks away with this one. The Danish power-forward effectively torched his career by writing all sorts of vaguely shocking things in his autobiography. Viking's Allan Gaarde summed it up: "This is just about a git who wants to make a lot of money by writing some crazy things".

The 2008 Bengt Eriksen Award for Rubbish Punditry

You'd think the great man himself would win his own award, but in spite of sounding consistently clueless all season he was beaten by an almost Redknapp-esque late comeback. We are of course talking about TV2's usually so reliable anchor-man Davy Wathne, who on the subject of crowd-abuse wrote the following on his blog:

"When a footballer is abused to the extent that he becomes distracted and unable to do his job, the referee in my opinion should take action, stop the game and make it clear to the crowd that this cannot continue. Should the problem persist, it's up to the stewards in charge to clear the stands and make sure conditions for the players are acceptable."

Now, had he been talking about racism or homophobic chants that would have been one thing, but no, he means any chant that a player might find upsetting. Essentially, in the mind of Davy Wathne, the only thing the crowd should be allow to sing is variations on "Go team!".

Wathne: Out of touch with the world outside his studio

The 2008 Kristian Sørlie Award for Poor Judgement

Sørlie himself obviously a stand-out candidate, but we've decided to put a lid on that unfortunate business involving him, an underage girl and, well, the police, so we'll let him get away with it for now. Outgoing sporting director of Lillestrøm Jan Åge Fjørtoft makes a strong challenge with his decision to attend a celebrity party in St. Tropez while his club was in a complete meltdown and was knocked out of the cup by a team from the lower leagues.

But if you're looking for continually poor judgement throughout the season look no further than HamKam's manager Arne Erlandsen. From signing random players possibly found on ebay to picking the incredibly dodgy goalkeeper Ivar Rønningen ahead of the promising Johan Masalin for half of the season, Erlandsen's return to the Tippeliga has been blighted by poor decisions. Hilariously, he also had a dig earlier on the season at former managers who had left the game to do punditry at TV2, only for one of them to take over HamKam-closest relegation-rivals and steering them to safety, effectively relegating Erlandsen's boys. Better luck next time, Arne.

More Awards to come..

Redemption For Mad Martin And His Merry Men

Bloody Hell.

A member of the fjordball writing-staff, as seen after the game

Vålerenga 4 - 1 Stabæk

Yep, in a plot-twist so unexpected it would have made Nostradamus go "Wtf?! That is some weird shit dawg" had he still been around, Vålerenga absolutely battered Stabæk in today's showpiece cup final. 

The much maligned Mad Martin got his tactics spot on (for once), and Stabæk had no response to Vålerenga's aggressive and physical approach. In addition many of Vålerenga's underperforming stars looked uncannily like the players they are supposed to be, Kristofer Hæstad in particular played like a man possessed. 

Stabæk's trusted plan A of having Veigar Pall Gunnarsson drop down in front of the opposing back four to receive the ball and play it through to Daniel Nannskog was countered by the turbo-charged Hæstad continually closing the Icelandic international down. Their plan B of giving the ball to Alanzinho and seeing what happens failed to yield positive results as well, as the pint-sized Brazilian was expertly roughed up throughout the game by committed Vålerenga-players. Mad Martin's decision to have his team keep a relatively high line and go for the offside-trap was risky, but his back four pulled it out with a focused and disciplined display. On the offensive, Vålerenga deployed a deadly duo of Daniel Fredheim Holm and Mohammed Abdellaoue who scored two each and put in otherwise stellar performances. 

The triumph obviously puts quite a lot of gloss on an otherwise miserable season for Vålerenga, and the nature of the performance will give their fans a lot of hope for next season. You have to ask though, why does it take a cup-final for some of their stars to put in performances matching their reputations?

As for Stabæk, there was something almost Arsenal-esque about the way they failed to respond to Vålerenga's physical game and the way they had absolutely no alternative ideas when their tippy-tappy passing-game didn't come off. Other Tippeliga-teams will have been watching, and Stabæk will need to find a way of dealing with this sort of opposition if they are going to have a chance at defending their title.

Stabæk - Vålerenga - Cup Final Preview

Their seasons have contrasted in the extreme, but here they both are in the final of the Norwegian Cup, arguably the biggest club-fixture of the Norwegian football calendar.

There are some funny contradictions afoot: Vålerenga are a team with it's traditions firmly rooted in the working-class and the eastern parts of Oslo, while Stabæk hails from the oh so painfully posh Bærum. Yet, Vålerenga spend more than most other teams in the country, while Stabæk's budget is perplexingly modest. It may well be possible to buy success in the modern game, but for every million Vålerenga spend they quite frankly seem to get worse. Stabæk on the other hand have invested wisely and assembled the most fearsome starting eleven we've seen on these shores in recent years. And while working-class Vålerenga prepare for the upcoming final in regal surroundings at Hafslund Hovedgård, swanky Stabæk are applying their final touches at the run-down and soon to be torn down Nadderud Stadium.

Vålerenga's miserable season is a bit of a mystery. Granted, they've spent badly, but there's still way too much talent there for them to finish the season 10th, a whopping 24 points off champions Stabæk. Here at fjordball-towers we can't help it think that their season took a turn for the worse when they were spanked by Molde back in July. Mad Martin told the press after the game that the result was an aberration, that they should just forget it at quickly as possible. The team promptly went on a 8 game winless-streak that wrecked their season beyond repair.

But amidst of all those inept performances they somehow managed to scrape by in the cup, and here they are, with a golden opportunity to put some gloss on an otherwise miserable season.

Stabæk.. well.. what is there left to say? They have been absolutely superb pretty much all season, and should they beat Vålerenga it would be the icing on a quite remarkable cake. It's easy to forget just how far Stabæk have come in such a short time, especially as they've been such an impervious force this season from the first kick of the ball, but the fact is they've actually only ever won two trophies: The 1998 Norwegian Cup and the 2008 Tippeliga. Sunday they could cap a wholly deserved domestic double, and as was written on these hallowed pages back in april, it may well be the start of an era.

Mad Martin Andresen has seemed uncharacteristically dejected prior to the final, admitting to the press that Stabæk are favorites and then some. "Stabæk are big favorites. They've been the best team in Norway this year. They beat us 6-2 just two weeks ago. And they've played the best football this year," he told VG. Perhaps realizing just how demoralizing this must sound to his players, he tried to put a positive spin on it all by adding that this means Vålerenga have nothing to lose. Way to stay positive.

The only worry for Stabæk at this point is the slight injury-scare to Veigar Pall Gunnarsson, who at least from a tactical perspective is probably their most important player. Rather amusingly to us neutrals, Veigar was clattered in training by Stabæk-captain Mike Kjølø, who as it happens has just been told the club probably won't renew his contract. A coincidence obviously, but it produced distinct chuckles here at fjordball-towers none the less. Word is he should be ok, so it's probably not something Stabæk-fans should lose sleep over, but if Gunnarsson were to struggle that would even the odds a bit. 

As for predictions.. well.. fjordball does like to go against the stream a bit, but this time it's very hard to see anything else than an emphatic victory for Stabæk.

Final Adecco-Update and Half-Assed Season Review

We realize that in light of recent world events it might be difficult to get exited about the Adeccoliga right now, but if you could just tear yourself away from the most recent leaks from David Nielsen's autobiography (which includes the startling revelation that while at Wimbledon our hero saw Vinnie Jones punch someone) for one minute then we'll tell you how it went down..

Odd Grenland couldn't really be arsed in their game against Sarpsborg Sparta, and lost 5-1. There's no reason to read anything at all into that result, seeing as they could have lost 76-0 and still won the league by a healthy margin.

Start for their part had given away a bunch of tickets to random people in other to fill their ground for the last day of the season, and freebee-loving Southerners were treated to a cagey 1-0 win over Notodden. Over at Sandefjord the final game was a bit of a dud as well, as a 0-0 draw with Hønefoss won't exactly have had the punters screaming for more.

The playoff-place went to... drum roll.. spring roll.. SOGNDAL. Yes, they comfortably overcame they ground-breakingly awful Hødd with 3-0 scoreline, and will face Aalesund in a two-legged playoff. 

Down in the relegation-battle Alta got out of jail, as their 3-0 away-defeat at the hands of Løv-Ham could have seen them relegated, IF Sandnes Ulf had gotten a win against NIL-Trysil. But they didn't, they lost 2-0, so Sandnes Ulf follow Hødd out into the frightening footballing wilderness that is the Norwegian 2. division. 

That leaves two games which didn't really matter, Bryne versus Kongsvinger and Haugesund versus Moss, and they ended 2-1 and 2-2 respectively.

Final standings here.

Our Predictions - Rubbish or not?

Soo.. let's play the game that every pundit hates: Compare pre-season predictions with what actually happened. But, since very few people can be bothered to make predictions on the Adeccoliga, we'll just have to do with our own.

The embarrassing bit first: We had Bryne and Kongsvinger down as potential promotion-chasers. Obviously things went all sorts of pear-shaped for both, and in the end they were both almost relegated. We also had Moss down as a team with an outside chance of making a push, which clearly didn't happen. Finally, we had NIL-Trysil down as a potential relegation-candidate, and as it turns out they were comfortably mid-table and never looked in danger.

Thankfully, the list of stuff we got right is much longer. Odd and Start went up, as predicted. Sandefjord went up as well, and while they ended up with more points than Start we feel the prediction that they might have a harder time getting there still stands as they needed to change their manager early in the season to get it right.

We did say about Sogndal that "if they can go on a good run they might be dark horses for promotion", which is exactly what happened; they went on a good run late in the season and ended up in the playoff-spot. 

Predicting that the likes of Notodden, Haugesund, Løv-Ham and Hønefoss would be mid-table fodder isn't much to gloat about really (though it should be said that Hønefoss did much better than expected), and even Bengt Eriksen could have forseen that Alta, Sandnes Ulf and Hødd would struggle.

All in all, with the exception of the meltdown-duo (Bryne & Kongsvinger), the season pretty much panned out as expected. A stark contrast to the Tippeliga, if nothing else. 

Fun With Numbers

This season's top scorer was, predictably, Odd Grenland's Peter Kovacs. The giant Hungarian notched up 23 goals in 27 games. 

In the other end of the pitch, congratulations to Notodden's Finnish defender Jukka Hakala who scored no less than three own goals. He was also sent off twice, which made him a joint leader in that particular chart as well. Better luck next time, Jukka.

Looking at the final standings, we notice among other things that Alta, who were a point away from relegation, actually scored more goals than Sandefjord, who of course got promoted. If nothing else, the Northerners had the testicular fortitude to keep attacking. We also note that Hødd only managed to win twice in thirty games, which is just jaw-droppingly bad. Another fun-fact: The second highest-scoring team in the league were Moss, but they still finished 9th. Go defense. 

Team of the Year

According to wildly unreliable player-ratings, this is the 2008 Adeccoliga Team of the Year:

Keeper: Espen Bugge Petersen (Sandefjord) - 24 conceded in 30 games is an astounding record, even with Sandefjord's impressive defense in front of him.

Right Back: Frode Lafton (Hønefoss) - Has had a solid season, and was along with his brother Lars Lafton one of the big reasons why Hønefoss where punching above their weight all year.

Centre Back: Clarence Goodson (Start) - Too good for this league. Everyone saw what happened to Start's form when he was ill.

Centre Back: Birger Madsen (Sandefjord) - Almost joined Viking before the season began, and there's a reason the ambitious Stavanger-outfit wanted him. Like Goodson, has no business being in this league.

Left Back: Alexander Gabrielsen (Sandefjord) - Came through the ranks at Viking but got fed up with waiting for a chance in the first team. Fjordball suspects they regret letting him go. 

Right Midfield: Umaru Bangura (Hønefoss) - Hey! It's that bloke who may or may not be Al Bangura's brother! And by the looks of it, he's quite good! Fancy that.

Central Midfield: Morten Fevang (Odd) - 15 goals from midfield. Very much the Frank Lampard of the division, only he doesn't come across as a complete twit.

Central Midfield: Asle Andersen (Sandnes Ulf) - Calmness and routine personified, the Sandnes Ulf-player/assistent manager consistently showed that a quick mind can compete with quick legs any day of the week.

Left Midfield: Henrik Furebotn (Sogndal) - Young winger who had a bit of a breakthrough this season, was a big part of Sogndal's late surge.

Striker: Peter Kovacs (Odd Grenland) - Big, slow and ugly as sin, but you can't really argue with 23 goals in 29 games.

Striker: Madiou Konate (Hønefoss) - 10 goals in 19 games for Hønefoss, but was sold and missed out of the last 10 games. Would quite possibly have fired Hønefoss into the Tippeliga if they had kept hold of him.

So there it is. Fjordball would also like to give an honorable mention to Bryne's Allan Borgvardt who has been pretty much their only good performer this season, the forward is the classiest of players and his intelligent play is a joy to watch. Also, Haugesund's DjeDje Victorien is a comedy-genius: He shoots from the most unlikely angles and distances, and you never know if the ball will end up in the top corner or in row Z. Sogndal's 65 year-old striker Håvard Flo continues to defy his birth-certificate, and is still pretty much unstoppable in the air. And lastly, Saprsborg Sparta's Øyvind Hoås, just because he's the Norwegian Peter Crouch. 

Round 26: End of the line

So there it is, the 2009 Tippeliga concludes with a final round that wasn't really as exciting as it could have been. From early on it was pretty clear how the relegation-drama was going to end, as Aalesund took command of their battle with Lillestrøm and HamKam fell behind against Molde. Tromsø did the business at home against a Stabæk-side that no doubt had more than half an eye on the upcoming cup final, and in so doing secured third place and some nice and shiny bronze medals. The rest of the games were largely inconsequential, but it's worth nothing Bodø/Glimt's fine display against Rosenborg which saw them leapfrog RBK in the table.

Aalesund 3 - 0 Lillestrøm

Fredrikstad 0 - 2 Lyn

HamKam 0 - 1 Molde

Rosenborg 1 - 3 Bodø/Glimt

Strømsgodset 3 - 2 Viking

Tromsø 1 - 0 Stabæk

Vålerenga 0 - 1 Brann

Good Day

Aalesund

When the cookie was crumbling, the heat was on and the chips were on fire, Aalesund came up with one of their most accomplished performances of the season. Anyone watching saw that this team has no business in the Adeccoliga, there is just too much quality there.

That said, there's a reason why they were in the position they were in, so obviously there's a bit of rubbish there as well. Kjetil Rekdal has quite a job on his hands in the close-season, tidying up the squad and adding players who can give Aalesund the kind of stability they've been lacking.

Assuming they can get past Sogndal in the playoff, that is.

Bodø/Glimt

No one, not even the most rabid, yellow-blooded Bodø/Glimt fan, on LSD, would have predicted Glimt to finish above Rosenborg this season. And what sweeter way to do it than to humiliate them in their own playground? Impressive stuff from the Northerners. 

Trond Olsen

Lerkendal is obviously not the fortress it used to be, but the list of players to score a hat-trick there for the opposing team is still a fairly short one. The pacy winger is perfect for Bodø/Glimt devious, counter-attacking ways, and while bigger clubs will probably be interested he'll stay up North if he knows what's good for him.

David Nilsen

Attention-seeking git, but as his two goals and an assist against Viking showed, he's not a bad player.

Lyn

Their run of four straight defeats following the derby-win over Vålerenga raised some doubts about what would happen to Lyn now that Henning Berg has buggered off, but two wins on the spin to end the season will have done much to ensure fans and prospective sponsors that Lyn won't implode after all.

Mons Ivar Mjelde

His last game in charge kinda summed up his tenure: A quite good result but no one really cares, and few will give him any credit for it. It must be a bitter pill to swallow, having to take the blame for the failure of others after lasting longer in the job than any other Brann-manager in the modern era and steering them to their first league title in ages (not to mention a cup win and some other medals). 

Tor Hogne Aarøy

Anyone who can beat Frode Kippe in the air without jumping is worth a mention.

Bad Day

HamKam

Irretrievably rubbish. For all their efforts, there were quite simply 13 better teams in the league, and that usually leaves you in 14th place. While Aalesund were knocking the ball around comfortably against Lillestrøm, HamKam were launching long-balls to no one in particular and doing a fine impersonation of an adeccoliga-team against Molde. The difference was there for all to see.

Rosenborg

Whether it was arrogance or just naivety, but Rosenborg did all the things you just can't do against Bodø/Glimt, and they were duly punished. This season's Bodø/Glimt have one tactic: Use pacy wingers to get in behind the opposing defense, a tactic that while quite easily countered is devastating if ignored. And Rosenborg ignored it, kept a high line and sent both fullbacks forward, leaving ample space for Trond Olsen and his ilk to exploit. RBK-fans will feel slightly aggrieved as the home side had the better chances, but ignoring Bodø/Glimt's one and only offensive tactic is unforgivable. The 90ies are over, Rosenborg need to take every opponent seriously if they're going to reclaim the title. 

Mad Martin

"Can you afford a repeat of this seasons disappointing tenth place in the league?" reporters asked. But to everyone's bemusement, they weren't asking a Vålerenga board-member or their chairman, with the intention of finding out whether or not Martin Andresen's job was safe, THEY WERE ASKING MARTIN ANDRESEN!?

What do they even mean with "can you afford"? A more pertinent question would be "Martin, you've got one of the largest budgets in the league, you've certainly spent more than almost everyone else, how the hell are you tenth, 24 points of the title-winners?! Will you consider your own position after this fiasco? And will you stop picking yourself, as the team clearly plays better when you're not in it?". Ok, so that was three questions, but they're all valid, and fjordball would like to know. 

Aalesund-fans

We here at fjordball-towers have no problem with a bit of Bjørn Helge Riise-bashing, the smarmy little git deserved it, but surely you lot can do better then calling his mother a whore? After all, there are those who would say that such a statement isn't even an insult, but rather stating the obvious (but we're not amongst them, no siree..).

Vålerenga, Brann, Lillestrøm

So much money, so few points. Must do better.

Rune Jarstein

Really, everyone here at fjordball-towers likes this kid and hope he'll grow up to be the keeper Norway hasn't had since Erik the Viking, but he needs to stop screwing up. At this rate he's in severe danger of becoming the next Espen Johnsen. Now there's a thought.

This way for the final standings of the 2008 Tippeliga.

The 2008 Tippeliga may be over, but have no fear, fjordball isn't going on vacation yet. There will pre cup-final previews, and loads of post-season stuff. And awards, oh yes there will be awards. No reason to stop tuning in yet folks.