Long shots trounce Norwegian thoroughbreds

Serious questions
Stabæk deservedly claimed the championship and none of the top four were among the biggest spenders in this most contrary of seasons. The clubs who had invested heaviest before this season have plenty of food for thought: Rosenborg finished fifth, Viking sixth, Brann ended eighth, two places above Vålerenga while Lillestrøm SK, in 12th, just avoided the drop.

Final indignity
With Stabæk and Fredrikstad FK already confirmed in the top two places, Rosenborg, Viking, Tromsø IL and FK Bodø/Glimt were all in with a chance of third and fourth on the final day of the season, with the sensible money on the former pair. However, Tromsø beat Stabæk 1-0 to finish third while a Trond Olsen hat-trick gave Bodø/Glimt a 3-1 win at Rosenborg to earn fourth.

Lillestrøm glum
While Rosenborg and Viking were at least in the running until late on, the same can not be said of Lillestrøm. Having started the season with title aspirations, they only ensured their Tippeligaen survival in the penultimate round of games. New signings unhinged the club, who fired coach Tom Nordlie in the summer and only recovered when Henning Berg agreed to start his new job two months early.

Helstad resigns
Champions in 2007, Brann failed to live up to expectations, a situation not helped by the departure of star striker Thorstein Helstad to Le Mans UC 72 in August. "The sale might have cost us a much higher league placing," said the Bergen side's coach Mons Ivar Mjelde, announcing his decision to quit at the end of the campaign. "I was promised a replacement but we didn't get it."

Economic realities
Chastened by their experiences, the big guns will doubtless be back, all guns blazing in 2009, and a good illustration of the economic realities of Norwegian football came as Tromsø coach Steinar Nilsen quit, saying: "I'm looking for a club that can match my ambitions better." Most assumed that to mean a club with more money but as the 2008 season proved, money does not guarantee success.