Change is inevitable, even in Finland.

As footballing Finland is gearing up for yet another spring of “why is football played when there’s still snow outside” debates, Pallokenttä in Helsinki is an excellent venue to have a taste of the not-so-good life tomorrow, when the Finnish Cup will hit top gear.

Complaining about the rain in Bergen is neither clever nor original, but having spent most of the week literally inside a cloud we here at NFN’s Norwegian HQ are really starting to get annoyed. That’s of course nothing compared to how annoyed the rest of this city will be this Sunday when Brann are thumped by arch rivals Viking..

Saturday

Stabæk – Vålerenga

With his two superb strikes against Viking last weekend Mohammed “Moa” Abdellaoue announced that this season he means business. However, his two goals seems to have made people forget the fact that Vålerenga were outplayed by Viking for long periods of the game and against more potent opposition their season opener would have been a far less happy occasion. And worryingly for VIF, they don’t come much more potent than Stabæk’s forwards, and against Odd the boys from Bærum looked like a team that’ll pick up an awful lot of points this season.

Home win

Sunday

Haugesund – Strømsgodset

We here at NFN are really starting to like Haugesund-manager Jostein Grindhaug. When asked if their 0-0 draw against Brann was a warning-shot to the rest of the league that Haugesund are no mugs, the Tippeliga newcomer said “No” and admitted that his team was pretty much played off the park and had to be bailed out by their goalkeeper. Now, when asked by local media if his team are favorites against Strømsgodset, he replied “There are few or no games this season where we’ll be favorites”. The man speaks sense.

Draw

Hønefoss – Aalesund

There could be trouble afoot at AaFK, as their beloved manager Kjetil Rekdal has (yet again) been linked with the soon-to-be-vacant manager-seat at Hertha Berlin. When asked if his future could lie away from Aalesund the inspirational egomaniac sounded about as dedicated to the orange cause as Steffen Iversen is to abstinence and dieting, giving such reassuring answers as “I’m under contract with Aalesund for two more years, I can’t give a better answer than that” and “In this game you never know what can happen”.

Draw

Kongsvinger – Odd Grenland

Kongsvinger just can’t get anything right at the moment. Last week they caused much confusion by handing a contract to Mame Niang, a forward who is about as much use as Tor Hogne Aarøy in a limbo contest, and now this week their new club song has received a proper panning by the local newspaper: “The new song is neither tough nor brave, nor does it create enthusiasm”, they sniffed (much like the team then – ZING). Considering the team has so far looked profoundly useless, we here at NFN suspect having a naff song is the least of KIL’s worries.

Away win

Lillestrøm – Tromsø

“Everyone at LSK are stronger in the head”, revealed manager Henning Berg this week, suggesting that they aren’t all that bothered by the fact that they lost their season opener to Aalesund and that last season’s troubles have left the club better equipped to handle adversity.

Home win

Sandefjord – Molde Fk

Defeat against Rosenborg last week has put pressure of Molde straight away, and they now really need to beat Sandefjord. And it’s exactly the kind of game that they tended to struggle with last season – away to an unspectacular but jammy side. Hopefully they’ve sorted their issues out, because we really cannot stand the thought of Rosenborg opening up a gap on their competition already.

Away win

Viking – Brann

Åge Hareide’s brave new world at Viking came unstuck at the first hurdle, but to be fair they did look quite good in patches. Whatever damage was done by the opening day defeat could easily be repaired by tonking arch rivals Brann, and considering how average the visitors looked against Haugesund that outcome should be a real possibility. The bad news for Viking is that first teamers Tomasz Sokolowski, Patrik Ingelsten and Martin Fillo are all uncertain for the big West Coast derby. The good news however is that Brann are quite bad at football.

Home win

Monday

Rosenborg – Start

So here it is, the repeat of the game where Rosenborg last year imploded spectacularly and ruined their undefeated season for no reason whatsoever. Start-manager Knut Tørum has focused on tempo in the week leading up to the encounter, telling the press that “against Sandefjord we spent a bit too much time on the ball”. Not much chance of that happening at Lerkendal, one would imagine.

Home win

We’ve had a nice new days in Turku, owing to the World’s Most Famous Ruptured Achilles Tendon that belongs to David Beckham. And because I have had the debatable honour of observing events from close range, I have managed to learn something new about quite a few parties involved.

First we have the Finns. I always thought Finns were European enough to think of Beckham first and foremost as a footballer and not the sixth Spice Girl.  How wrong could I go. As Beckham’s approximated time of arrival on Monday drew nearer, a good bunch of people gathered near the entrance of the private hospital where Becks was to be treated. In the hope of what I do not know.

Beckham was probably not in his best mood after being stripped of his last (I dare say) chance to represent his country in football’s greatest competition, but the people didn’t care. Sure enough, Beckham’s car disappeared in the hospital’s underground parking lot without Beckham even trying to socialise. I find myself asking what the people were expecting, for Becks was never going to kiss his fans on the cheek or sign autographs. I also find myself asking why I thought Finns would have the decency to respect Beckham’s mourning period. Well, they probably came to see Victoria Beckham’s husband, not a world class footballer.

Then we have mr. Sakari Orava, the renonwned doctor who was called to operate Becks. It is illustrative of his skills that the precious footballer flew to Finland of all places to have his tendon treated.

Unfortunately, the poor surgeon was not in the news because of his expertise, but because he met Becks on a daily basis. As a consequence, he was the one who got to answer questions such as “how’s David doing” and “what does he think of Finland”, as if it was his job. Luckily, Beckahm’s assistant Simon Oliveira took over towards the end of the star’s stay.

And then we have Yle, our wonderful public broadcaster. Just recently they set up a live video feed to film a sagging bridge in central Turku. The bridge was bending just millimeters an hour, so watching the live video must have been as exciting as witnessing Tampere United play long balls for Henri Myntti to bang them in. And this time around they set up a similar feed to follow Beckham’s stay in Turku.

The stream was just as interesting to watch as the bending bridge, because the Beckhams spent all of their time inside the hospital and Yle, obviously, had no access. Apparently this hugely informative tabloid-roleplay can be regarded as “public service” and funded from taxpayers’ pockets. No wonder people don’t pay their TV bill (which, despite its name, is used to fund Yle’s radio and web broadcasting as well).

And finally, we have the rest of the media, who covered Beckham’s stay on their sports pages. Come on, the stories had nothing to do with sport. He was lying in the hospital bed watching the Champions League and eating pizza. That’s celebrity gossip, not sport, my friends.

But for all of those who were present, I sincerely hope standing outdoors in sub-zero temperatures and only managing to see either Beckham through a car window for a brief moment was worth it. Time well spent?

Will half the matches finish goalless again? Will anyone be allowed to witness Djurgården’s match against Helsingborg? Is Tobias Grahn bigger than God? The Allsvenskan preview asks all these questions and answers none, as we look forward to the second round of matches.

Saturday

Brommapojkarna v AIK

Brommapojkarna will be without their slightly dim yellow card collector of a goalkeeper, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, who booted the ball away after being shown a yellow card for handling outside the area against Helsingborg last week. Not content with that handicap, the game will also be played at AIK’s home ground Råsunda, as Brommapojkarna’s home ground Grimsta IP is not in a suitable condition. AIK’s second home(ish) match of the season comes after an eventful season opening 0-0 against Mjällby, and is televised on TV4 and presumably the usual stream-providing online services as well.

‘Away’ win

Sunday

Djurgården v Helsingborg

“The disciplinary committee’s decision means that only those persons who under competition rules must be in place during the event will be allowed into the stadium during the match. Out of respect for and solidairty with our loyal supporters, who as a result of this collective punishment will not see the game….. neither will employees, directors from either club representatives from the Swedish FA (apart from match delegates and observers) nor anyone else who does not under competition rules have access to the stadium during the match,” reads a statement on Djurgården’s website.

The main consequence here is that DIF want to ban print media from the game. Given that this penalty was imposed because their fans invaded the pitch and attacked Assyriska players straight after Djurgården had won the playoff between the two clubs last season, the invocation of collective punishment rings a little hollow. At the time of writing it was unclear whether or not journalists would be allowed in to DIF’s first home game of the season (the FA told Aftonbladet that they’d like journalists to be present), but TV cameras will record events for the purveyors of online highlights packages, unless DIF force them to point their cameras away from the pitch or something.

Home win

Mjällby v GAIS

NFN is pretty much neutral in this battle of the underdogs. Strandvallen is one of the dinky little Allsvenskan grounds that look so pretty in mid-summer, but right now it is likely to be a mud-slush hellhole where veteran Mjällby striker Marcus Ekenburg will batter the GAIS defence into submission (possibly, according to our not unbiased Skåne spies).

The crowd will be swelled by Mjällby’s churchgoers, after the local choirmaster decided that Tobias Grahn is bigger than God, as Aftonbladet’s not-at-all-sensationalist headline put it. The parish has now checked Mjällby’s fixture list to avoid any clashes between worshiping God and Grahn during the season.

Home win

Trelleborgs FF v Kalmar FF

Kalmar were mullered by a rampant IFK last week, and the loss of their three Elm brothers looks to have hit them hard. Trelleborgs on the other hand have a set of bruising forwards and will look to overwhelm the bereft, Elmless Kalmar side.

Draw

Monday

Åtvidabergs FF v Gefle IF

Åtvidaberg is commonly known as a town built on calculators. You’d think this would make it a little unstable, given the unreliable nature of plastic electronic devices when used as construction material, but who is NFN to quibble with received wisdom and lazy stereotypes. Their football team were pretty lacklustre in losing 2-0 to Örebro last week, but their first home game  in Allsvenskan for 28 years should give them motivation enough to get something from a Gefle side that held Elfsborg to a scoreless last week.

Draw

IF Elfsborg v Halmstads BK

Another game between two sides still striving for their first Allsvenskan goals of the year, this game is not one to set the pulse racing. Halmstad did not impress last week against Trelleborgs at Örjans Vall, and Elfsborg will be raring to go after a frustrating trip to Gävle last Monday.

Home win

IFK Gothenburg v BK Häcken

The derby should be an easy win for IFK, but having already been annointed champions by most pundits, it might be difficult for Tobias Hysén’s team mates to get up for this one. No, I can’t really convince myself either.

Home win

Tuesday

Malmö FF v Örebro

Örebro will be strengthened by the arrival of Brazilian striker Paulinho Guará, who returns to Allsvenskan after two years in South Korea playing for Busan I’Park. The forward had a lean time of it in Busan, but between 2002 and 2008 he scored 53 goals in Allsvenskan and could be a potent strike partner for Kim Olsen. This game is televised on Canal+, so it will be worth checking for streams.

Home win

Brede Hangeland had more reason to celebrate on Thursday night than most. The giant Norwegian made his 100^th appearance for Fulham, who made an amazing comeback to beat Juventus 4-1 (5-4 aggregate), and knock the Italian giants out of the Europa League.

The pride of the former Valerenga man was visible for all to see after the emphatic victory sent the Cottagers through to the Europa League Quarter Finals “I didn’t know that was my 100^th appearance, it was a great way to celebrate it, the perfect way” beamed Hangeland after the match.  

“To reach the Quarter-Final of a European competition is a dream come true for me – we’ve come really far and no one can take this away from us no matter what happens. It’s great to be a Fulham player.

“It’s probably the best feeling I’ve had as a Fulham player together with the final day of the 2007/08 season at Fratton Park – it was unbelievable and one for the record books.

Hangeland couldnt hide his delight  after the magnificent achievement,“It seems like a long time ago but it’s just over two years since I joined and to think how far we’ve come to be able to beat a top European side 4-1 at the Cottage – it’s something we’re all really proud to be part of.”

 Fulham suffered an early setback as a David Trezeguet goal seemingly put an end to their European aspirations. However they came back strong with Bobby Zamora and Zoltan Gera finding the back of the net to send Roy Hodgson`s side into the interval 2-1 up and a man to the good after Fabio Cannavaro was dismissed for hauling down Gera  .

 The Norwegian international was quick to praise the hunger of his team mates  “I felt that even when it was 11 against 11 we dominated them,” said Hangeland. “When we went 2-1 up I knew it was possible. The way we managed to do it in the end - it couldn’t have gone any better.

“Roy told us at half time to keep playing and don’t rush it because if we rushed forward like headless chickens they could nick one back and it would have been more or less over. It was important for us to keep playing the same way and we managed to do that“.

 Gera scored his second of the night from the penalty spot to level matters before American Clint Dempsey executed a sublime chip in the 82^nd minute to secure a famous win. Jonathon Zebina was also sent off in the dying moments to further add to  Juve`s woes.

 “It’s hard playing like that for 90 minutes but I thought we did really well. Because of the way we played we got really tight to them up front and in midfield so they didn’t manage to get behind us which made it a lot easier defensively.

“We worked extremely hard and got our reward in the end and it’s unbelievable to be part of. I think everyone was really tired at the end but when you see the other 10 guys working their socks off you just want to do the same.

“The crowd really got behind us. I thought the atmosphere was first class and for everyone associated with Fulham it was a great night.”

Fulham`s path to Europa League glory is now mapped out after this morning`s draw in Nyon, Switzerland. The Cottagers will tackle German side Wolfsburg in the quarter finals, hosting the first leg  at Craven Cottage on April 1^st. The return leg will be one week later and should Fulham advance, then the winners of  the Hamburg and Standard Liege tie stand between them and a place in the Europa League Final.

THERE aren’t many Finns involved in top-level European football, so it’s unsurprising to discover that Pasi Lankinen, FC Barcelona’s Marketing and Business Development Manager, has a slightly more complicated identity.

“In my heart I am a Finn, but culturally I feel Catalan,” explains Lankinen. “My parents are from Lahti, and I was born there, but we already lived in Lisbon at that time. I have never lived in Lahti. I spent my childhood in Lisbon, Madrid and then Barcelona where I lived from the age of 6 until I was 12 years old. Then we moved to Finland (Anjalankoski and then Espoo), and I graduated at Pohjois-Tapiolan lukio.”

After that, Lankinen returned to Barcelona to study business at ESADE, completed his Finnish military service and spent five years as a management consultant in the Telecoms sector, before joining FC Barcelona in 2003.

“I spent my formative years in Barcelona, and so I already was a Barcelona fan,” continues Lankinen in English that has a slight Iberian accent. Although he never considered Barcelona’s cross-town rivals Espanyol, or any other Spanish team for that matter, Lankinen does have some sympathy for Kuusysi and, since their senior team folded, FC Lahti.

Lankinen’s arrival at Barcelona coincided with big changes in wake of Joan Laporta’s election as president. Discontent with the previous regime of Josep Lluís Núñez had grown, and the club was seen as distant from the fans and members. The opposition to Núñez chrystallised around the Elefant Blau group, led by Laporta, and although a vote of no-confidence failed in 1998 Laporta eventually won the presidency in 2003.

This democratic process and structure is distinct from the models of football ownership common in the United Kingdom, where supporter involvement is limited. The massive debts and exploitation of supporters implemented by American owners such as the Glazer family, who own Manchester United, and Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who bought Liverpool FC in 2007, is not part of the Barcelona model. So given his business education and experience, is Lankinen frustrated by the restraints placed on him by fan ownership? Does it make his job easier or more difficult?

“For many football clubs, there are two goals: to make a nice spectacle and to win trophies, and to provide cash for shareholders to extract,” Lankinen states. “We do not have that pressure, and our only goal is to make a nice spectacle and win trophies for our fans and community. This makes it easier for us to make decisions that may have long-term benefit, but don’t provide immediate commercial gains. In that sense, it makes my job easier.”

To correct the communication difficulties, a new Customer Service centre or Supporter’s Office was established. It now receives 800,000 calls per year (previously fans had just called the office and workers had answered queries as best they could). Membership was opened to non-season-ticket holders, and the web-based system for season ticket holders to return tickets for games they could not attend was improved to allow more people to attend matches.

As a result, membership has more than doubled to 170,000, revenues have increased from €120m to €385m, an average of 20,000 more tickets are sold for every game as a result of the season ticket returns, and the club has won two Champions Leagues and a host of domestic honours, all while the club has retained its ideals. The club’s first ever shirt sponsor is UNICEF, a co-operation that cost the organisation millions of euros in lost fees that a commercial sponsor would have paid.

“Everything came together in this (UNICEF) equation,” Lankinen maintains. “The General Assembly (FC Barcelona’s annual general meeting) permitted a sponsor, but it would have been difficult to go straight to a commercial brand. This was a chance to retain our brand as a ’social club’, and bring value to UNICEF, who we already helped to use football as a tool around the world.

“It allows us to position ourselves and fits very well. There is a desire among companies to associate themselves with us when they are developing their Corporate Social Responsibility strategies, as we are active and committed, so there is a commercial upside as well – not as much as a sponsor would pay for the place on the shirt, but an upside all the same.”

“We are very active in all aspects of the community, and when we do something we do not just write a cheque. The Barcelona foundation will lead the project and evenplayers or the president get involved.”

The Barcelona Foundation is the hub of many of the social projects Barcelona is involved in. One aspect of their work is in the integration of migrants, something Lankinen has a feeling for with his cross-cultural background, and something that is fundamental to sport in general and football in particular.

“We do have specific integration projects, but I think that if you support the same team that is already a very integrating thing, no?” muses Lankinen. “I think that Catalonia has a very welcoming culture, like Spanish or Mediterranean culture in general. You will probably end up with the same number of really close friends here as in Finland, but it’s much easier to make a looser connection with a wide circle of people here.”

Since the opening of membership to non-season ticket holders, one aspect of Barcelona’s development has been the internationalisation of the membership. Currently around 7-8% of the membership is based outside of Spain, many of whom find the ownership model an attractive aspect of the €155 package.

“A club like Barcelona still has space to grow its fan base,” Lankinen boldly asserts. “there is a lot of untapped potential in the United States, and in India, China and the Far East.”

Given his sympathy for FC Lahti and Finnish background, its easy to see a conflict here. If football-interested people spend their time and money following Barcelona and other super-clubs, will this adversely affect the smaller football clubs, countries and leagues? Or is there a symbiotic relationship, whereby greater interest in football can benefit all members of the ‘football family’?

“That’s a difficult question,” answers Lankinen. “I think what usually happens is that people support a local team and then another, foreign team, like Barcelona. In this case it can be symbiotic. It is true that there is a finite amount of money and time for people to spend on football, but it is not necessarily the case that local clubs lose out.”

“The income for a club like Barcelona can be divided into three roughly equal parts: matchday revenues, media rights, and sponsorship and merchandising. Only matchday and merchandising revenue comes directly from fans, the rest is companies paying as people interact with the club via different media.”

This model is very different from that prevalent in Finnish football, where 80-90% of income comes from sponsors as the crowds and gate revenues are so small. Is there any chance this culturally Catalan Finn might return to use his ideas and experience with some Finnish club?

“I would not rule it out, but there are no plans,” deadpans Lankinen.

In a year when Finnish football looks set to welcome back many players from spells abroad, it may be that the most significant potential returnee is set to stay abroad for a few years yet.

The opening round of Allsvenskan featured a massive four 0-0 draws, which could be taken as a defensive masterclass but NFN prefers to see as a festival of attacking incompetence. Aftonbladet tried to inject some kind of drama into proceedings by leading with ‘GAIS penalty was a wrong decision’, an unpatriotic assault on under-fire FIFA ref Martin Hansson.

He has had some bad press recently after some bizarre decisions that annoyed Arsene Wenger,  Arsenal fans, and the Republic of Ireland, and he was not about to deny his mistake afterwards.

“That was no penalty,” Hansson admitted. “I’ve seen the replays, and it was an incorrect decision on my part.”

Aftonbladet then helpfully listed all the biggest mistakes made by Sweden’s only representative at this year’s World Cup, including:

*The infamous Thierry Henry handball in Ireland’s World Cup playoff against France

*The goal scored by Porto against Arsenal last month, when he gave an indirect freekick for a backpass and allowed Porto to take it quickly and score

*A Stockholm derby stramash when a penalty awarded to AIK annoyed Hammarby fans, who predictably went mental, with play suspended in the 83rd minute – when they came back on play recommenced in the 86th

*A dodgy penalty awarded to Liverpool against Atletico Madrid in 2008

There is more on his wikipedia page, if you’re interested. The interesting thing here would seem to be that, in contrast to the somewhat linear view presented in foreign media, that Scandinavian referees are simply not good enough for top level officiating, the consensus among Swedish players, fans and media seems to be that Hansson is even pretty awful by Allsvenskan standards, criticised as he was by both GAIS and Malmö yesterday.

The main bright spot in Monday’s matches was Kim Olsen, the Danish striker who was so utterly useless during his brief spell in the English Third Division that his name is a byword for uselessness among Sheffield Wednesday supporters, but has become some sort of deity since he arrived in Örebro. He scored the second in Örebro’s 2-0 win over Åtvdabergs. In the other match, Gefle drew 0-0 with Elfsborg. You can see highlights in the usual place (just click on ’sport’, then ‘allsv.’).

“Ac Milan have an old squad”. “Arsenal play pretty football”. “Steffen Iversen is a bit fat”. The footballing world is full of these tired, old, yet inescapably accurate clichés. “Rosenborg won in spite of not playing all that well” is well on it’s way towards becoming one of them.

Yes, Rosenborg have picked up exactly where they left off last season, and on a pitch that as the game wore on became better suited to a snowball-fight than a game a of football, Rosenborg picked up three crucial opening-day points against fellow title-hopefuls Molde. “What separates us and Rosenborg is that they don’t make the mistakes me make”, Molde-manager Kjell Jonevret said, before bemoaning the fact that his side lacked “that cyncism” (NFN in accurate analysis-shocker). Before the snowfall made the pitch inhospitable for the creative talents of Molde’s midfield they several times managed to unlock Rosenborg’s defense, but their forwards were sloppy and and at the back Molde conceded two scrappy goals which rendered Björn Runström’s debut-opener largely pointless. The 2-1 win puts RBK firmly in the driving-seat, but with 29 games yet to play a number of things could still go wrong for the reigning champions. Or at least that’s what us neutrals will keep telling ourselves as long as we can, because another season of unspectacular RBK-dominance would be terribly dull.

Odd Grenland last season built an unlikely push for medals on a stellar home-form, but Stabæk have re-united one of the most fearsome front-pairings the Tippeliga has ever seen and while Daniel Nannskog is old and Veigar Pall Gunnarsson is rusty they are both still very, very good. “I’m proud of the way we played today. It was a fantastic game. We played a team that’s lethal in the penalty-box, and that’s why we lost” noted Odd-manager Dag-Eilev Fagermo, who for all his charmless hubris is usually right about these things. A superbly entertaining tie was eventually won 3-2 by Stabæk, who as Fagermo points out showed a lethal touch that Odd and big Peter Kovacs in particular lacked on this occasion.

On Monday Viking’s brave new world got off to a fairly terrible start as Mohammed “Moa” Abdellaoue wasted no time at all and put Vålerenga ahead after just one and a half minute. The forward followed up on his fine first strike by scoring an even better second goal (video-link). Even though the football Viking played at times was better than anything they did last season, their attacks lacked a natural focal-point. Presumably that will arrive in the shape of Erik Nevland in the summer but until then they need a plan B, and neither Swedish winger-come-forward Partik Ingelsten nor the freakishly tanned youngster Tommy Høiland looked the part here.

Hapless forward Mame Niang celebrated his unlikely transfer to Kongsvinger by unleashing a spectacular chance-missing bonanza that was truly awful even by his own dismal standards. Thrice he really should have put the ball in Strømsgodset’s net, thrice in instead thwacked the ball towards an outbound orbit. Godset’s teenage forward Marcus Pedersen was predictably less charitable when some poor communication at the back presented him with a chance, and the impressive Fredrik Nordkvelle added a second to make it a comfortable 2-0 win for the home side.

Haugesund’s goalkeeper Per-Morten Kristiansen put on a goalkeeping clinic to shut out a one-dimensional and one-paced Brann-side, which even in a game where they were allowed plenty of space and possession seems to have no other plan than giving it to Huseklepp and see what happens. Must try harder.

Up North the snow-shovelling public of Tromsø were rewarded as their team produced a fairly routine 2-0 win over newcomers Hønefoss.

Down South Start also picked up a comfortable three points against a Sandefjord-side that never really looked capable of troubling the hosts.

And lastly Aalesund notched up a surprisingly comfortable 3-0 win over Lillestrøm. “We mustn’t think we’re champions of the world” warned the perennially unimpressed Kjetil Rekdal.

It has been a pretty good weekend for all Scandinavians on the continent, although  those who managed to take their heads out of their own or in a weird case other peoples behinds suffered different emotions, just ask Johan Elmander and Brian Jensen.

Swede Elmander finally broke his scoring duct by putting Bolton Wanderers one nil up against local rivals Wigan Athletic. The strike by the former Toulouse star was his first since December as his Bolton side eventually ran out four nil winners. After the match, Bolton manager Owen Coyle was keen to heap praise on the Swede “Johan has been outstanding for me from day one. I am so pleased for Johan as he has worked so hard, you ask any of his team mates how valuable he is to the team”.

Rasmus Elm was inspirational as AZ Alkmaar trounced RKC Waalwijk 6-2.

Fresh from  heading the rear off Kevin Doyle in a rather unique way, Jensen picked himself up as Burnley battled valiantly in a relegation six pointer with Wolves. Unfortunately for the Dane they lost 2-1.

In the clash of the titans in Holland, Ajax romped to a 4-1 win over PSV Eindhoven. The win leaves their Dennis Rommedahl, Christian Eriksen and co six points adrift of top side FC Twente. The Danish duo will be hoping PSV can take points off the Enschede side next week.

Arsenal continue to keep the pressure on both Manchester United and Chelsea at the top of the Premiership. The Gunners seemed destined for a one all draw with Hull City until Nicklas Bendtner struck a 93^rd minute winner. Following a horrific showing last weekend, the Dane has stepped up his game with this goal against Hull been his fourth of the week, following his first ever hat trick as Arsenal thrashed Porto on Tuesday. With an easier run in than their rivals, few will bet against Arsenal winning a fourth Premiership  title. After the match the Dane professed the belief his side boast  “We showed great character as we did against Stoke and we are going to keep on doing this. I always believe that until the last minute we can do it because i have seen it so many times”.

Peter Lovenkrands scored his 13^th goal of the season with relative ease as Newcastle United stormed to an opening lead in the Tyne-Tees derby. The game eventually finished two all with the Dane`s side grabbing a late equaliser after falling behind.

Roda Jc fans were no doubt delighted to see that Mads Junker was able to line out against NEC Nijmegen, after their star striker suffered a minor injury last week. The Dane picked up where he left off and fired home his 13^th goal of the season.

Gylfi Sigurdsson`s rise from anonymity this year has surely earmarked him for bigger things. The Iceland star bagged both goals, including one from the spot as Reading continued their revival under Brian Mc Dermott by beating Bristol City. He now has 12 goals for the season and has played a major role under McDermott who was full of admiration for him “Gylfi is a natural goalscorer, he is a special boy and has real quality. We have had him here a long time and he always seems to get into the right areas”.

Kari Arnason put the ball in the right net this week but unfortunately for him, his Plymouth Argyle side were held 1-1 by Coventry City.

Leon Andreasen was another Scandinavian who found the net. The Norwegian opened the scoring as his Hannover 96 side earned a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in a match that saw two red cards for the latter.

John Arne Riise`s Roma missed the chance to move within four points of Serie A leaders Inter Milan as they were held to a three all draw with a Livorno side inspired by Cristiano Lucarelli who bagged a hat trick.

Sami Hyypia`s Bayer Leverkusen side are back in the race for the Bundesliga title after a comprehensive 4-2 win over Hamburg.

Photo by Tero Wester

Last year’s championship-winning manager has taken a good deal of stick in his time. His Finland side underachieved, and at HJK he has been criticised for caution and a lack of imagination. This picture captures him seemingly in the midst of the TPS players at the League Cup game played on Friday 5 March. The game finished 2-1 to HJK, so did it signal a new dawn in perceptions of ‘the walrus’, as Muurinen is affectionately known?

“It was a typical training game, like all other League cup games,” says photographer Tero.

We are always looking for new writers, particularly those focusing on Swedish and Danish football. If you fancy the job, get in touch.

Swedish ‘bad boy’ Tobias Grahn caused a moderate amount of tutting on his return to Allsvenskan today, during which he helped Mjallby to a scoreless draw at AIK. The former Randers, Hertha Berlin, Aarhus and Malmö FF midfielder clapped his own fans and blew kisses at the AIK ‘klack’, causing Lars-Åke Lagrell to admonish him from the TV studio.

“I think he should stop with that,” chided the Swedish FA President. “There’s no need to bait the crowd….we have enough problems with that.”

Of course, if Allsvenskan was your local pub and fans were the clientele, those following the Stockholm clubs would be the swivel eyed lunatics offering out every second customer and throwing around pretty much random accusations of pint-spilling. They do not, as a group, give the impression of a well-balanced set of individuals, and as such they are as likely to throw coins and lighters at you for having the temerity to take a corner while playing for the opposition, as they are if you blow kisses in their general direction.

Bearing this in mind, spare a thought for Sebastian Eguren. The Uruguayan midfielder signed for AIK on loan from his current club, Villareal, in search of playing time to ensure a spot in Oscar Tabarez’s squad for South Africa. He claims he could have gone to Russia or Malmö for more money than AIK offered, but chose the Stockholm club so that his wife could give birth in her home town in May, and he could play in Allsvenskan (Hammarby are currently in Superettan). Hammarby fans took offence at this, Eguren having played for their club from 2006-2008, and confronted him at an AIK training session this week.

“I don’t want to be some kind of new AIK idol,” Eguren – who is now under police protection following the confrontation with the Hammarby fans -  told Svenska Dagbladet. “I’ll give everything to help the team but I will leave in five months.”

Brommapojkarna came unstuck in Helsingborg despite stout resistance following a hilarious sending off for their goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt. Although his feet were planted inside the area, a linesman spotted that the ball and Nordfeldt’s hands were outside, and awarded a freekick. Nordfeldt promptly booted the ball out of play in frustration, and the referee immediately showed him two yellow cards. Silly boy.

Djurgården, who were captained by Jani Lyyski in his first game for the club, went down 2-1 to  Häcken in Borås. Häcken’s home ground Rambergsvallen is currently having it’s athletics track ripped out to convert it to a proper football ground, so the match was switched to Elfsborg’s ground despite the presence of at least two other top quality football grounds in Gothenburg. Häcken blamed ice hockey at Ullevi and difficulties with hiring Gamla Ullevi, while Valhalla was ruled out because Djurgården’s fans are regarded as ‘high risk’ by the police.

Halmstad played host to Trelleborgs and drew 0-0, while IFK Gothenburg won 3-0 against Kalmar with the help of two goals from Tobias ‘Glenn’s boy’ Hysén, who immediately and heartwarmingly declared that he would never leave a club on a free transfer, and that IFK are ’special’ to him.  Aww. You can see all the goals and highlights so far at Aftonbladet’s web TV, and there are three games tomorrow for which streams might be available: Gefle-Elfsborg, Örebro-Åtvidaberg and GAIS-Malmö FF.

Alexei Eremenko Jr has signed for FF Jaro on loan from his fantastically named Ukrainian club, Metalist Kharkiv. The 26 year old, who can play as an attacking midfielder or forward but has most often been seen sitting on the bench in recent years, will spend the whole season at the Jakobstad club according to Österbottens Tidning.

“This is really fantastic for our whole club,”enthused Jaro CEO Niklas Storbacka. “It will raise interest in Jaro and the whole football league.”

“We’ve signed an experienced player, who has played at the top level for many years,” said Jaro coach and father of star signing, Alexei Eremenko Sr. “I expect him to lead the way and be an example to our younger players.”

The last part may have raised some eyebrows. He has driven while drunk, turned up unfit to national team training camps, refused to answer the phone when Stuart Baxter has tried to contact him (the redoubtable Brit eventually turned to sending a text message to explain his omoission – “it was a very long sms,” said the Finland manager) and generally not acted the way one might expect a top class footballer to act.

He will join the growing ranks of returnees in Veikkausliiga when the season kicks off in just over a months’ time. Among others, the Finnish Veikkausliiga players with experience abroad include Jonatan Johansson (TPS), Jari Litmanen (FC Lahti), Toni Kuivasto (Haka), Janne Saarinen (HJK), Janne Hietanen (AC Oulu) and Juha Pasoja (JJK). Add in Henri Myntti (TamU), Aki Riihilahti (HJK) and Mika Nurmela (AC Oulu), and there will be a sizeable contingent of players with extensive foreign experience under their belts.

The main reasons for this are the cutbacks and budgetary pressures exerted at clubs in bigger leagues. Johansson has been searching for a club for some time, and eventually gave up and went back to his home town club – he is settled in Scotland but Pargas is probably the second best option, as Finns do love their summer cottages so. Eremenko had trials at various clubs and was rejected by Bristol City last summer, and probably sees a spell at Jaro as a way to get his career back on track and at least get picked for every game.

The economic climate, while economically damaging for individual players, does present an opportunity for Finnish clubs. Many of the returness would have gone back a long time ago if they were Swedish, indeed some of them are even returning FROM Sweden. If they can raise the playing standards, crowd levels and general interest in domestic football here, the game will benefit enormously. If they act the big star, don’t take it seriously and leave in August when the transfer window opens, the benefits may be very much shorter-term.

Enough vague generalizations, just how will it all end? Every year people attempt to predict the final standings of the Tippeliga, and every year it turns out that donning a blindfold and picking teams randomly out of a hat would probably have yielded more accurate results. Still, the inevitable embarrassment has never deterred us before, so here we go..

The 2010 Tippeliga. Possibly.

1. Rosenborg – Vulnerable, but still favorites.

2. Molde – Plenty of attacking intent, but lack that championship-winning cynicism.

3. Stabæk – Same, only with added defensive frailties and a want-away manager.

4. Viking – Have bought themselves the most expensive fourth place in Tippeliga history. Well done.

5. Odd Grenland – Solid, a dark horse if bigger teams make a mess of it.

6. Lillestrøm – Good blend of experience and talent.

7. Vålerenga – Same, only with added unreasonable expectations.

8. Brann – Huesklepp excellent, the rest of the club not so much.

9. Start – Great heights and abject lows, but in the end they should be comfortable.

10. Strømsgodset – Plenty of exciting talent and a clever manager to hold it all together.

11. Aalesund – Haven’t built on their cup-win, look generally unimpressive

12. Tromsø – Key players are gone, look short on goals.

13. Hønefoss – Their shopping-spree will pay off, just about.

14. Sandefjord – Second season syndrome, need another Patrick Walker-miracle to stay up.

15. Haugesund – Will make a good fist of it, but not quite get there.

16. Kongsvinger – Oh dear.

There. All nonsense probably, as the Tippeliga is a largely random and wildly unpredictable beast, but we’ll see. 6th-8th are interchangeable really, as are 9th-12th and 13th-15th, but you get the idea. And of course we all love an underdog here at NFN, so if Kongsvinger make us all look very very stupid by actually doing something, anything, no-one will be happier to be proved wrong than us.

Unleash the madness, let the season begin.

Full preview part 1

Full preview part 2

Full preview part 3

Have no fear, the preveiw is here. And though it feels strange and altogether too early in the year for such things, the 2010 Tippeliga kicks off this weekend in a round that bizarrely includes one of the juiciest fixtures of the entire calendar..

Saturday

Brann – Haugesund

Mixed fortunes for Brann’s forwards this week: Long-legged girlyman Erik Huseklepp has signed a three year-contract worth 3 million kr a year, whilst Danish dunderhead David Nielsen has lost a lot of money investing in windmills. “Now I can focus on the football”, said the easily distracted Huseklepp. “When you invest money you have to expect to lose it all,” said financial mastermind Nielsen. There is chaos and catastrophe in the air at Brann stadion, and dropping points to newly promoted West Coast rivals Haugesund on the opening day could be enough to send the club in to crisis mode. Which of course would be a lot of fun for everyone else.

Draw

Sunday

Aalesund – Lillestrøm

The preview returns, and so does that game we all love to play: “What is Kjetil Rekdal unhappy about this week?”

“It was grausame sache, to borrow a German expression”, he told a local newspaper.

What is he upset about?

A – The latest episode of oversexed Norwegian reality-TV abomination Paradise Hotel

B – His team’s defending against Rosenborg in the Superfinale

C – Raving loon Leading Norwegian pundit Davy Wathne’s brief and perplexing appearance on Twitter this week

D – Tor Honge Aarøy

Draw

Odd Grenland – Stabæk

Rosenborg and Stabæk-manager Jan Jönsson have been batting eyes at each other in an entirely inappropriate manner ever since it was revealed that RBK-manager Erik Hamrén is off to manage Sweden this summer, and Stabæk’s head-honcho Einar Schulz is sounding more and more like a girl who knows her boyfriend is too good for her: “I’ve been with Janne for almost six years now, and I understand totally if he says enough is enough – but I will do everything I can to make him stay”, he said, before going off to have a bit of a cry and watch Grey’s Anatomy. Possibly.

Away win

Start – Sandefjord

Start, the team whose squad can’t support any kind of injuries, have been hit by – you guessed it – injuries! 87 year old defender Bård Borgersen (maybe not) has picked up a bit of a thigh-strain and fellow defender Jesper Mathisen has a bad ankle, leaving manager Knut Tørum to chose between partnering Clarence Goodson with either Knut Henry Haraldsen who isn’t very good, or Avni Pepa who is bloody awful. Still, Sandefjord at home isn’t the worst way to start the season and you’d expect Tørum’s men to get off to a decent start anyway.

Home win

Strømsgodset – Kongsvinger

Why Kongsvinger, WHY?! Having finally convinced some local sponsors to cough up the cash for one more professional contract, Kongsvinger went out and signed Senegalese waste of space Mame Niang from Viking, who were delighted to get the lanky git off their wage-bill. Niang (2 goals in 22 Tippeliga games for Viking) will team up with Kim Holmen (1 goal in 24 appearances for Lyn last season), Adem Güven (relegated three times in the last three seasons) and Olav Tuelo Johannesen (3 goals in 24 appearances in the Adeccoliga last season), forming the most desperately goal-shy forward-line in Tippeliga history.

Home win

Tromsø – Hønefoss

If starting the Tippeliga in early march wasn’t a stupid idea in itself, the powers that be have gone one better and handed Tromsø a home-game in the first round. Tromsø are unfazed though, and have invited “the entire town” to come round and clear the snow from Alfheim stadium this Saturday. What better way to spend your weekend, ey?

Home win

Molde – Rosenborg

See, in most countries the footballing authorities are clever enough to make sure the first round of fixtures are all thoroughly uninteresting encounters, knowing that everyone will tune in for the first round no matter who plays who. Not so in Norway, where the dimwits organizing things have, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the opening weekend is a good time to schedule arguably the juiciest tie of the calendar. Huzzah. Anyway, Rosenborg travel away to the team that by all accounts should be their closest rivals for the title this season. It’s the perfect opportunity for either team to state their intentions – Molde can show Rosenborg and everyone else that they mean business this time around, while Rosenborg can show that they really are back at the pinnacle of Scandinavian football and that last season’s dominance wasn’t a one-off. Or, more likely, it’ll be a thoroughly underwhelming draw.

Draw

Monday

Vålerenga – Viking

Brave new Viking will start off their new dawn attempting to raid Vålerenga, who themselves attempted a similar revolution some two years back and are only now starting to look half-decent. Just to illustrate what kind of expectations Hareide is dealing with, leader of the official Viking supporters club Geir-Inge Fiskebekk told TV2 when asked where he thought they’d finish this season that “I may be a Viking-fan, but the realist in me says top three/four”. Viking, least we forget, finished tenth last season.

Home win

..but enough of this nonsense, time for the business end of the table. Will Rosenborg walk away with it again or could we actually have a proper title-race this time around?

Rosenborg

Last season: Tippeliga champions

Good: Best squad in the league and resources to strengthen in the summer if things go awry in the first part of the season. There’s no indication that they’ve lost that remarkable ability to grind out results almost regardless of how they actually perform on the pitch, as evidenced by the Superfinal where they were really quite average but still picked up a comfortable 3-1 win.

Bad: Manager Erik Hamrén, the man widely credited with bringing Rosenborg out of their post-Eggen turmoil and restoring their dominant position in Norwegian football, will leave half-way through the season to manage Sweden full time. His departure will inevitably cause a bit of uncertainty and confusion. Also, with important players like Steffen Iversen and Vadim Demidov only having a year left on their contracts and other key men like Anthony Annan angling for a move abroad, the potential for unrest in the squad is considerable. Champions League could prove a distraction.

Key man: Ghanaian midfield anchor Anthony Annan is one of the main reasons Rosenborg have been so bloody hard to beat in recent times, with his stellar positioning awareness and reading of the game he time and time again breaks up opposing attacks and makes his team damned near impossible to break down. His efficient if unspectacular style is almost symbolic of this new Rosenborg.

NFN predicts: Clear favorites for the title, but inevitable change of manager and high potential for unrest in the squad means they are unlikely to be the unstoppable juggernaut we saw last season.

Molde

Last season: 2nd in the Tippeliga

Good: Their magnificent midfield is still intact, and on-loan striker Djiby Fall from Lokomotiv Moscow looks capable of filling the hole left by Mame Biram Diouf. Have made clever signings, especially young right back Magne Simonsen from Lyn has a bright future and should flourish under Kjell Jonevret’s tutelage. Played the best football in the league last season and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t do so this season as well.

Bad: A lack of resources mean that players who do well might be sold, and there isn’t much room to maneuver in the transfer-market if reinforcements are needed. Played superb football last season but had a tendency to drop silly points, and there isn’t much evidence that they’ve rectified this tendency. If new-boy Djiby Fall doesn’t settle they lack options up front.

Key man: Senegalese midfield maestro Makhtar Thioune was the best player in the league last season, and the fact that he’s 25 and not a couple of years younger means bigger foreign clubs might continue to overlook him.

NFN predicts: Should again be the entertainers of the league, and could give Rosenborg a serious run for their money if the reigning champions start slipping up.

Stabæk

Last season: 3rd in the Tippeliga

Good: Veigar Pall Gunnarson is back after a failed stint in French football, and re-united with his old strike-partner Daniel Nannskog the Icelandic forward should be back to his mercurial best. After some initial trouble last season Stabæk eventually managed to make their new indoor stadium the fortress they always intended it to be, and the quick artificial surface is ideally suited to their positive attacking football. Finished third last season in spite of all kinds of trouble both on and off the pitch, now that things look more settled there no reason why they should do any worse.

Bad: 4 million a year-forward Daniel Nannskog is now 35, and for a player whose game is heavily built around his physical explosiveness you have to wonder how long he can keep living up to his salary. Have had to completely re-jig their defense and there is some uncertainty surrounding that newly composed back four. Manager Jan Jönsson has been heavily linked with a move away, with Rosenborg seeing him as an ideal replacement for the outgoing Erik Hamrén.

Key man: Daniel Nannskog got the goals, Alanzinho got the headlines, but it was Veigar Pall Gunnarson who was the brains behind Stabæk’s insuppressible championship-winning forward-line of 2008. If he can re-produce that kind of form this time around Stabæk will be right up there.

NFN predicts: Like Molde, Stabæk will be battling Rosenborg’s machine-like dominance with flair and fleet-footed forwards. And quite tasty they look too. However, uncertainty surrounding their defense and manager means they are unlikely to go all the way.

Viking

Last season: 10th in the Tippeliga

Good: A disappointing 2009 lead to the departure of Teutonic tactician Uwe Rösler, and in their bid to revamp the club the Viking bigwigs certainly haven’t been stingy. Åge Hareide, former Norway-manager with league-titles from both Norway, Sweden and Denmark to his name, has been brought in to lead perennial underachievers Viking to glory. Hareide doesn’t come cheap, and a considerable amount of money has also been spent on Swedish forward Partik Ingelsteen from Heerenveen, Norwegian international goalkeeper Rune Jarstein from Rosenborg and the prodigal son Erik Nevland, who will return to his hometown Stavanger from Fulham in the summer.

Bad: With such spending comes a significant amount of pressure, and both the demanding Viking-fans and the media will quickly turn on the team if things don’t work out. The squad is strong but lacks champions, players who can take responsibility and lift the team when things go against them. The strategy of bringing back Scandinavian players from big foreign leagues has left other clubs with crippling wage-bills and disinterested, overrated players – why should it be different this time around?

Key man: Tomasz Sokolowski – the blond midfielder has yet to live up to the tremendous potential he showed at Lyn in his younger days, and his first season at Viking was largely ruined by a number of niggling injuries. Will be crucial as the midfield anchor in Hareide’s 4-3-3 formation.

NFN predicts: Yet another expensive new dawn at Viking, but unless a number of players can make major strides then all they’ve done is buy the most expensive 4th place in Tippeliga history.

THIS year’s World Cup will be the first held in Africa, and former footballer Bjorn Heidenstrom is doing his best to make his trip to South Africa memorable. The Norwegian is cycling and hitch hiking to the tournament from Oslo in an effort to raise awareness of refugee issues, using the generosity of what he enthusiastically refers to as “the football family” to help smooth his path. When NFN caught up with Heidenstrom he was in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, and plotting his next move with the experience of a man who has already passed through three continents on his epic journey.

“From here I’m heading to Ethiopia, to the capital Addis Adaba,” Heidenstrom explains. “The UNHCR will help me out there, and show me some of their work, and then the route will be south to Kenya and then to Tanzania. I’m not an Africa expert, so once I get to Tanzania I’ll ask the locals how best to proceed from there.”

Heidenstrom has created and utilised an immense amount of goodwill towards his project, which is supported by Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini, Francesco Totti, FC Barcelona, FIFA, UEFA and pretty much everyone who has heard about it, from the world’s northernmost football club Svalbard Turn to Al-Merreikh, a team from Khartoum.

From individuals Heidenstrom asks for publicity and ‘pairs of eyes’ on his blog, website, Twitter feed and other social media platforms. From football clubs he wants as many shirts as possible, preferably signed. These can be sent by supporters, groups of friends, a five a side team even – Heidenstrom only asks that they contain the initials “FC”, meaning football club. The shirts will then be turned into a giant symbol to be displayed at the tournament.

“We had ten Finnish clubs help us when I passed through Helsinki, either through donating a shirt or offering me a place to stay,” says Heidenstrom. “The football family has been so welcoming and understanding, because they know that just a little thing can help so much, and they’re happy to give what they can. Here in Africa they know that every African boy dreams of becoming a footballer – not a pilot, or a president, but a footballer. This game is incredibly powerful.”

Heidenstrom first became aware of the power of football when he retired from professional football and moved into the media and marketing side of the game. There was a lot of sponsor-relations work, a fair bit of schmoozing, but what he really enjoyed was finding ways to harness football for social goals through collaboration with third sector organisations. These partnerships found an outlet in the Soccer Against Crime and Valerenga against racism projects, but then Heidenstrom’s wanderlust got the better of him.

“We Norwegians have a tradition of large and small expeditions,” continues Heidenstrom. “I did one smallish expedition in collaboration with the Norwegian Red Cross, and then I decided that something bigger was needed, and would be fun. This is the result.”

“This” has become an impressive project. Heidesntrom does not raise funds, only counts people made aware of the project, and mentioned an astounding figure of 40 million in our conversation. The goals have received a mixed reaction from those outside the football family.

“It’s been okay, but many people here in Sudan for example ask why I have to focus on the problems, on the civil war, and not project a more positive image,” Heidenstrom comments seriously. “To them I reply that yes, I do, because in my country and probably in Finland too people make such a fuss about a few hundred refugees a year arriving. In Sudan they have 500 every day, and they have nothing!”

“There are children who were born in camps and who have spent decades there, so our small contribution to help these people is not a problem,” continues Heidenstrom, now hitting his stride. “If these critical people could come and see how things are for refugees here, they would understand. They simply don’t have any other choice than to try and leave, it is not that living in cold Northern countries is any kind of paradise – these people have no choice!”

If you would like to contribute to the project, visit www.theshirt2010.net