Football Season Guide

Odd endured a truly miserable last season in which they slid down the table progressively after a decent start and never got over the loss of main striker Mushaga Bakenga in the summer, mustering just two wins in the final 15 games. The tally generated early on was just about enough to see them stay up but there was little reason to celebrate. Jan Frode Nornes was dismissed in the winter after that poor campaign and the new man in charge is Pål Arne Johansen, who had done good work with the Norway youth teams but has no real first-team managerial experience as he tries to reverse the negative course that Odd have been taking over the last couple of years. There is no real sign of progress being made in the off-season, however, as the Odd squad actually looks even weaker than they did in the autumn. Losing a consistent and important player in Markus Kaasa is a real blow while Sander Svendsen is back at his parent club, having looked quite effective on the left wing over the last 18 months at Odd. Neither of them have been replaced and the only additions so far are Ivan Mesik and Josef Baccay, promising but rather raw defenders. It remains to be seen how can Odd conjure up the goals and the quality in midfield to be more than just a relegation battler this season and the hope pretty much lies with some youngsters from the academy making the step up. Otherwise, Johansen will have to hope that players like Flamur Kastrati and Milan Jevtovic find a sliver of their previous form and become more impactful players as otherwise this season is very much going to be a struggle.