Rosenborg started the season in a mostly forlorn mood after a poor last campaign and with little reason for optimism. Indeed, things soon started to take a turn for the worse for the embattled Eirik Horneland as a run of one point in the opening three games saw him fired, with the players clearly not believing in him.
Caretaker Trond Henriksen oversaw a pretty strong run of form in the next couple of months as the players started to show some carefree attacking football and let their talent show, going on a run of just two losses in 13 games. They moved to the upper end of the table and looked in good position to challenge for the second place as Åge Heraide took over from September onwards.
The experienced coach brought in some experienced players with real pedigree in Markus Henriksen and Holmar Eyjolofsson along with Per Ciljan Skjelbred and indeed the team started to show some real consistency and intent under his leadership, getting on a run of five wins and two draws in seven games.
There was good urgency and purpose in the team and things looked pretty good towards the final stretch of the season. But then a real disaster struck from the 3:0 loss to Viking onwards, with the team going on a four-game losing streak out of a sudden.
Now the European spot was in real danger but an inspired win over a good Molde side in the penultimate game of the season ultimately saved them and secured the fourth spot in the table. This is not something that a club of Rosenborg's stature should be celebrating but they at least salvaged some success after all the off-field issues this season and will have to work hard to get back to the level they had a couple of years ago.
