Football Season Guide

Strømsgodset were one of the teams that failed to really convince last season as they had some interesting stretches where their attacking play really clicked but very much hobbled over the line late on and finished the campaign with one win in the final 12 games. One reason for that poor run may have been the lack of motivation in the squad after manager Bjorn Petter Ingebrigtsen announced that he is leaving with still two months of the season left. His replacement is Jørgen Isnes, who has done good work with KFUM Oslo for a number of seasons, and will now be leading an Eliteserien side for a first time. He is up against it as he has one of the more limited squads in the division and one that is painfully lacking in both attacking options and quality in midfield. The loss of talisman and midfield engine Johan Hove, who eventually took the plunge in January to join Eredivisie strugglers Groningen after years of transfer speculation, is one that will hit the Godset squad hard and he is very much hard to replace with his drive and goalscoring ability. He has not really been replaced either and the manager will have to find solutions with limited resources to keep this team treading water above the bottom three. The likes of Kristoffer Tokstad and Nicklas Gunnarsson are significant departures too and the hope is that Marcus Menhert and Jostein Ekeland, both coming from the second division, are able to step up quickly and become important players for the squad. They are expected to occupy the wing positions while Jonathan Braut Brunes is expected to have a big season up front as the undisputed number nine, having not really convinced after his summer move last year. It looks set to be a challenging maiden campaign for Isnes and a squad that still needs a few additions to be competitive and they may well be embroiled in a relegation struggle this year.