Football Season Guide

Tromsø were undoubtedly the story of last season as they exceeded everyone's expectations by being up there with the top teams and chasing the title until the final couple of rounds, and not scrapping for survival at the bottom end as they usually do. It was a spectacular effort form Gaute Helstrup, his coaching stuff and a very determined and motivated squad, who defended brilliantly as a unit and were lights out with their conversion in attack from the few chances they had. However, Helstrup is not around anymore as he stunned the club by accepting the offer to become Kjetil Knutsen's assistant and join local rivals Bodø/Glimt. Thus, it now falls on the shoulders of 33-year-old Jørgen Vik to continue the work of Helstrup and ensure that there is no massive drop-off, having been his assistant for the past few years. The system and personnel are unlikely to change too much compared to last season as the team will rely on compactness across the board and generally being very awkward to play against. One of the defensive pillars of the team in Jostein Gundersen moved to rivals Bodø as well while Niklas Vesterkund has headed to the Eredivisie. Still, the nucleus of the squad has been kept and if Vegard Erlien, Jacob Romsaas and Lasse Nordas keep performing up front, this team will get quite a lot of points as their defence will be again pretty tough to beat. That said, there is bound to be a coming-back-to-earth moment after all the heroics from last season and Vik's main task will be to steady the ship and secure a spot in the top half of the standings.