Welcome back to another instalment from Norway, as I continue rebuilding Rosenborg BK. You can catch up on the previous posts here.
I had a huge off-season ahead of me, as I made new tactical plans for season two and began my shopping spree to strengthen the team.
Transfers – Ins and Outs
Over January to March, I made moves to secure the signatures of four players, two of which would be joining me in January 2025 following his loan deal already in place.
Bodø/Glimt would lose Sondre Sørli to us, as we agreed a deal of £1M immediately and a further £1M over January 2025 & 2026. Jeppe Kjær would be the second player to arrive from Bodø/Glimt – but he would not come to Trondheim until January 2025. We would part with £1.5M to sign the young Dane, and it would give us plenty of options on the left wing. Unfortunately, an injury means that his pizza chart was not displaying accurate data, but hopefully you can see why I am excited about his potential.
The next arrival into the club was experienced goalkeeper Egil Selvik from league rivals Haugesund. £1.3M was expected up front, with £750K to be paid over January 2025 & 2026 for the sweeper-keeper. I had to make a move for a goalkeeper during the off-season, particularly with the change to a sweeper-keeper role, and Egil certainly offers us a bit more security than Tangvik and Sandberg, the latter would go on loan to Haugesund also.
Tobias Guddal was the final player to get a £900K transfer to Rosenborg during this period, but he would actually arrive at the club in January 2025 due to a loan-back clause in the deal. His above pizza chart is his defensive performance on loan at Bryne, and he could prove to be a useful squad player.
I naturally couldn’t afford to just spend money on players, and as a result, players had to move. Most of our transfers out were players in the U19 getting their chance in senior football, but the notable ones were Ole Sæter and Adam Andersson. Both players were present 22 times each during my first season in charge, and with Sæter’s underperformances worrying me, and Andersson’s unhappiness over an undeserved new contract, moving them on was the best for all parties. Emil Frederiksen was the final player to leave for money, as I couldn’t guarantee the winger game-time going forward.
By the time August had rolled around, we were in a very similar position as last season. In season 1, we had won 12 games, drew 5 and lost 3, so it was promising to know that despite the loss of two main players, we were in a similar position. I still felt at the time that our goal output was lacking:
We were getting results on the park, but this was during a time of low xG outputs. When we performed, we performed, as demonstrated by games 3, 5 and 16; on the other hand, if the team performed poorly, it showed in games 2, 18 and 19. In a way, I was happy to see this, as I touched upon this notion:
The club was one during Eggen’s time. If there was a bad performance, the team was bad; if it was an exceptional performance, the team was exceptional. Eggen felt that if he continued to drive home the idea of playing to the team’s strengths every week, any weaknesses would not be relevant to the outcome of the game.
#1 Chasing Success Through Youth Prospects & New Club Cultures
In order to bolster our attacking options, I elected to smash two records in one go: Rosenborg’s record signing and the Eliteserien record signing:
Former Rosenborg and Bodø/Glimt striker, Erik Botheim was back in Norway, and I was excited for what he could produce during the business end of the season. He was not alone, I made quick moves for three more players:
Shahid would arrive on a free transfer from Skeid and look like a bright future spark. Kamanzi, a former Trondheim player, rejoins the club for £1.3M up-front, an additional million over the next two years and a 15% sell-on fee due to Toulouse. I then elected to make a move for 4 midfielders with a view to replacing Nypan, who unfortunately will be joining Manchester United in the near future. We are thankful to have him back on loan, but his presence will be sorely lost so we need to plan accordingly.
Ola Lerheim Olsen rejoins Songdal on loan after we agreed on a deal worth £1.8M – £1.3, which is due immediately, with the remainder to be paid over two years. Now, whilst Olsen is not the immediate replacement for Nypan, I do like the idea of deploying him behind the midfield two and creating opportunities from deep; something I will be looking to do soon.
Lotsberg will join the club in January for £325K and could be a viable option as we look to plug the hole Nypan will leave, but it is the free transfer of Grundt and Tangen (£1M) that I am excited about. Both players possess the quality to unlock defences and create chances for our front three, and it will be a tough fight between them for that starting jersey.
With the transfer dealings complete, and a potential title battle on our hands, it was time to get down to business as we look to end on a high.
It wasn’t pretty, but the title did go down to the final day where we emerged victorious. A shock title coup, but more importantly, access to the Champions League. Albeit, it is access to the Second Qualifying Round, we will have a fight on our hands to make it to the promised land, but it is a start and a challenge I am relishing next season.
But if we strip back a successful league campaign and look at the numbers, what do we find?
1st for goals scored – 56
6th for goals conceded – 31
2nd in xG table
2nd for clean sheets
2nd for chances created – 103
Tied 1st for conversion rate – 15%
A massive improvement in the final third this season compared to last (15% compared to 9%) and we are a lot better off for it. We end the season with just two players underperforming on their xG – Erik Botheim grabbed 10 goals with an xG of 11.77 and Edvard Tagseth grabbed just 3 goals with an xG of 3.73. This is by far an improvement on the standards set last season, and ensured a more consistent end to the season.
At the other end of the park, we still have some work to do. My biggest concern from season 1 was being caught out with through balls that split the defence, or long balls that beat the defence.
We have cut those out this season with massively reduced numbers, but we are giving up more chances from our left side of the pitch. The only change that I feel we could make here is to make Augustinsson sit back more often or potentially switch our half-back position back to an anchor to offer additional support.
Ideas to be toyed with during season 3.
But who were the stars of this season’s success? Well, youth. It is a bit surprising when a youth player takes senior football in his stride, not too many instances of it happen consistently. Kobbie Mainoo is probably the current prime example in modern-day football, and we have our own versions of him.
The purpose of this post was to look deep into the stats and see who were the driving factors in the team behind our success. The above chart shows that I am very set with my team selections on a weekly basis, only Erik Botheim is below the 2,000-minute mark due to his transfer mid-season. 7 players within our squad played more than 2,000 minutes (22.2 games) that were above the age of 26 – 2 of them are 30 or older meaning that a lot of our squad should be in their prime.
But the ones I want to dive into is the lower end of the 21-25 bracket and under 20.
During 2024, Rosenborg scored a total of 94 goals – 56 in the league, 16 in the Norwegian Cup and 22 goals in European competition. Of those 94 goals, 38.2% were scored by players 21 and younger. Club captain Markus Henriksen did grab double figures for goals this season – 80% of these goals were from the penalty spot. Erik Botheim was responsible for 9 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions, equating 9.5% of the share. Of this 9.5%, it is about about a 4.75% between league and Europe – which needs to be improved upon next season.
It comes as no surprise that we only have two players in the top 20 scorers within the league, but the surprising element is the age of both these scorers. At 18 and 19, Nypan and Broholm represent Rosenborg and have managed to outperform many seasoned veterans. Andy Delort bagged the golden boot by the skin of his teeth ahead of Broholm, but what could have been on another day?
You only have to look at the above chart to see how consistently well Broholm had performed over the year compared to experienced players, and it was a promising sight for the future.
With the metrics pointing in the direction that youthful players are holding their own, it has given me food for thought going into 2025. We need more of these players coming through and playing for the team every week, and the below list is some of the players I intend to give serious first-team minutes.
Hakon Røsten – Right-footed central defender. Røsten featured 17 times this season for the club; 8 times in the league, 5 times in Europe and 4 times in the cup. He averaged a rating of 6.91 across the three competitions. At the age of 19, I believe he is ready to stake a claim of his own in the team and will be featuring a lot more next season.
Håkon Singsdal Volden – Another right-footed central defender and one that was tipped for the future in my early posts. At the age of 17, he is not quite ready for senior football consistently, but I believe he is showing enough promise to at least be considered for cup games – unless we do get a loan deal for him that we can’t refuse. He spent the season on loan at Bryne in the Second Division, next year we will entertain offers from the First Division.
Usman Shahid – The new signing will be playing some senior football next season, but it may require a tactical tweak to do so. Being a right-footed winger, we may be forced to flip the wingers’ roles around to get the best out of him. Shahid will undergo a training programme to develop his left foot, whilst working on his shooting to try and turn him into a threat off the right flank.
I am a bit disappointed that I believe only three players are worthy of senior minutes next season, but it is a step in the right direction. I hope that if I can add 2 youth players to the senior squad each year, with the view of a third or fourth, then we will be in a good position in the next 2-3 years.
After considering the youth prospects, and a self-review of the squad (which can be found here also) I have drafted up a shopping list for the winter transfer window. I anticipate that my budget will change in due course, but we have roughly £5.94M to spend, and that won’t cover the following wishlist:
Young goalkeeper x 2 – Tangvik was happy to be our cup goalkeeper at the start of the season, but has recently played his hand and complained about this. As a result, we could be looking at recruiting two in this area should Tangvik wish to leave the club.
Young right-back – With EDR performing well every week, and Kamanzi in as a potential replacement/backup, we need a young prospect ready in the wings. I will be instructing my staff to look for a player between 15-19 so that we can develop them in time.
Left-footed central defender x 2- We only have two left-footed players capable of playing in this position, and it worries me. I am all about balance in the backline, so an experienced central defender is a priority. I also will look to recruit a young prospect.
Left-back – Again, we are short in numbers in this department. Whether this target is a young player or an experienced player is yet to be determined.
Ball-winning midfielder – Another priority and this needs to be an experienced player. Moving into Champions League football comes at a price, and we need to push the boat out there.
A busy off-season ahead, but I have full confidence that between my staff and I, we can come up with the targets to build on our successful league campaign.
The FM Boot Room 
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