Football Season Guide

Haugesund had a close shave with relegation at the end of last season but managed to just about keep themselves afloat, mostly thanks to the poor form of teams like Vålerenga and Stabæk down the stretch. It is a fresh beginning this season for the Seagulls as they have a new permanent manager in Icelander Oskar Thorvaldsson. He has not managed outside of his home country, where he has done really well with Breidabik over the previous five years. The expectations are that he brings more authority and consistency to this descent Haugesund side that has some interesting players but has lacked maturity and drive on too many occasions last season. The squad was not too deep at the end of last season and they have also waved goodbye to some established players in Peter Therkildsen, Alexander Søderlund and Kevin Krygard. In terms of new arrivals, Korean Jong-min Sea, coming from Germany, is the more eye-catching one, but none of them is expected to have immediate impact and lift the overall quality of the squad too much. Haugesund will rely on their solid defensive core, with keeper Egil Salvik and defender Andreas Bertelsen, to keep opposing teams at bay, and on their more interesting attacking players like Bilal Njie and Bruno Leite to get some goals on the break and nick some wins in tight games. That said, this team just lacks the quality to control and dominate game on too many occasions and it will be a right slog for most of the campaign unless they have a breakthrough or two in terms of the young players who arrived.