Bodø / Glimt’s coach on next season: –

Last year’s league champion is currently on the sunny coast of Spain, more specifically in Marbella. At the end of February, they decided to go to a training camp in Spain, a decision that caused a furor among several Norwegian clubs. Among those who reacted was LSK sports manager Simon Mesfin.

– In my opinion, we can launch the spirit of fair play in dass and clarify. It is “me, myself and me” who applies, he told VG about Glimt’s decision to travel to Spain amid a time when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) advised against all unnecessary travel abroad.

– He’s very strict here. It’s a little mental test. It is a challenge to be together in the camp for so long, but we have very good conditions and we can train well. We think it was the right thing to do, Kjetil Knutsen tells Dagbladet.

Developing

Last season was a resounding success for Bodø / Glimt. The north team outdid the rest of the competitors and took a top league gold. With 26 wins out of 30 possible and one bad loss, Glimt finished 19 points ahead of Molde in second place.

Glimt’s coach took over as head coach in January 2018 after being an assistant coach in 2017. The 52-year-old from Bergen was named coach of the year in 2020, but he doesn’t want to talk about the competitors. Knutsen is passionate about developing his own team rather than talking about everyone else.

– We have had a very strong focus on performance and development, and we have focused very little on everyone else. We have had a clear concept that we have always wanted to develop. We have been good at dedicating time to what we can do and we have had no excuses. It’s up to us, says Knutsen.

The beginning of the series changes again: – Fairer

– Are there things in your game where you feel you can be even more raw?

– Not really, but for me this is a process. The biggest challenge we have is that our players are very attractive to other clubs, and keeping them hungry enough and making them understand what it takes to reach their potential. It’s a great challenge, he says.

– Were you surprised by what you showed last season?

– Yeah. You can’t plan on doing the season of the times. But we haven’t worked after that either. I got early questions from journalists about: “When will Bodø / Glimt break up?”, “They use the same students”, “They have to break up soon”. I was very confident that we were well trained and that we would hold the distance, he says.

– We have written history

That Glimt should win the Eliteserien, it probably wasn’t many who imagined it, but it’s easy to forget that the team also led the Eliteserien after 19 games in the 2019 season. Knutsen emphasizes that they will have an offensive focus next season.

Folkets Bodø / Glimt

– There will be new challenges. We have the same team minus Philip Zinckernagel, so our starting point is almost exactly the same. Rosenborg, Molde and Vålerenga are probably over-motivated to beat us.

– Everybody starts over from scratch. The list from which we will defend nothing from last year is not there. We have written history. We have won the gold, continues.

Bodø / Glimt’s carrot this season is that they will try to qualify for the Champions League. Since Rosenborg played group stage matches in the 2007/08 season, a Norwegian team had not seen the biggest stage in European club football.

– The year we are entering since Glimt was founded in 1916 is the most important year in the club’s history. It is important to put your finger in the ground to know where you are and at what level you are going to compete. The opportunities for the club are absolutely huge this season, believes Knutsen.

Must fit

After Glimt sold Jens Petter Hauge to AC Milan in the middle of last season, the club has brought in more players. They all have in common that they are very young. Erik Botheim, 21, was picked up in Rosenborg, while another 21, Sigurd Kvile, has made the journey from Åsane.

Knutsen is aware that Glimt cannot compete at the same level as Rosenborg when it comes to transitions. Therefore, they are completely dependent on bringing in young players and developing them.

– We must find our way of working. Basically, we want young, hungry, X-factor players who can endure a lot of training. They must fit into our culture, says Knutsen.