Håvard Nordtveit enjoyed his first training with his new team mates this afternoon, but as the dust begins to settle on the Norwegians transfer to Lilleström, Young Guns brings you the latest news on the deal.
Lilleström’s Sporting Director Torgeir Bjarmann has had his say on his sides latest recruit, speaking with Norwegian daily Dagbladet, the former centre back seemed delighted to have completed the deal.
“We’re extremely happy to have Håvard at LSK. We’re also very happy and proud because he wanted to come to us to develop as a footballer”
Young Guns boasts a large contingent of readers from across Europe, so we decided to catch up with one of them – Jonathan Gabrielson – to get a low down on what Howie can expect.
How do you think Havard will get on with Lilleström?
“I think he’ll get quite a lot of game time at Lilleström. He is a very big name in Norway. They love their young prospect in Norway. I mean the ones who have got a pro deal with a big European club. Especially when they’re playing in England, like Nordtveit.”
Do you think Havard will do well back in his home land?
“He’s going to get a real physical test in the Norwegian league. It’s very similar to the Championship in England. He’ll get games that’s for sure, but maybe not at centre back all the time. It could be a little bit too tough for him.”
“I mean playing at centre back week and week out, he’ll handle the league easy, but maybe he should get games at right back to start with.”
What do you think of Henning Berg as a coach?
“I don’t have any personal opinion on him but he’s a big name and very respected in Norway. He has a reputation of letting youngsters play, so that’s a good thing for Nordtveit”
Would you expect Lilleström to be up there pushing to win the League?
“No, I don’t think so, I would expect Rosenborg to win this year as they’ve a really strong team. And of course Stabaek who won last year is the biggest rival to the title. But I suppose Lilleström will be somewhere between 7-4 place so they can reach Europe.”
Is Havard the brightest prospect in the League?
“No, I don’t even think he’s the biggest prospect at Lilleström. They have a player called Björn Bergmann Sigurdson from Iceland.
He’s one year younger than Nordtveit and he went to them now after scoring 2 goals in 4 games in the beginning of the Icelandic league. And now he has already scored for them in the Uefa Cup qualifiers.”
The prospect is expected to make his debut this weekend.
Aritcle By – J.Sanderson
Sorry, I’m late on this – has he left permanently, or on loan?
Wow, never heard of Björn Sigurdson :P And I’m pretty updated about the league. I believe Nordtveit is a bigger talent, though I’m pretty sure this Sigurdson fella is a big talent himself.
The move is very good in my opinion. It’s a physical league, with all sorts of attackers to challenge Nordtveit immensely, where I’m thinking the big strong fellas will be the most challenging for him.
The reason why this move > a move to the championship, is called Henning Berg. Believe me, the former ManU and Blackburn defender is the Norwegian Arsene Wenger, he loves managing kids, and gives the ones that have potential the minutes they deserve.
Not even the biggest prospect at Lilleström.
A loan deal I hope
Agree with peteE’s comments above. Lillestrom, although I hate them, is an ideal destination for Nordtveit.
Berg fields young teams, and he will be learning from two of the most experienced centrebacks in the Norwegian League, Frode Kippe and Vidar Riseth, both of who have games for the national team.
Riseth also has Champions League with Rosenborg, and can teach Nordtveit some dirty tricks.
I’m from Iceland and Björn Bergmann (what he is known as in Iceland) is quite a prospect. Man Utd and Liverpool have been seeking him for 2 years or so but he decided to stay in Iceland and take the slow way. He has three half brothers who all have played professionally (Joey Gudjonsson of Burnley, he started against us over the weekend, tried to pull Vela down in the goal). I think it was their influence who got him to stay in Iceland until he was 17 and then move abroad. His team in Iceland were so bad though and got relegated.
Anyway, great news for Nordveit. Let’s hope he gets a lot of playing time, he really is in need for it.
Ps. JS, as many of your readers are from various countries around the globe, maybe you could get them to introduce the biggest prospects of their country in an article. That might be very fun, especially for the smaller nations were talented youngsters are very much talked about (Scandinavia, Switzerland etc.)
http://www.tv2.no/mini/lsk/
O thank fuck for that almost out on pens
CMON THE ARSENAL
J. you said Rosicky will be play in the reserves this month is he still on coutse to play? And do you know which game he will play in? Thanks.
haha why do you hate Lillestrom :S, anything to do with Berg?
Håvard will maybe start on the right fullback when Lillestrom starts their league campaign with the away opener against Stabæk this Saturday. It’s neck and neck between him and 17-year old comet Stian Ringstad.
The wonderkid from Iceland is named Björn Bergmann Sigurdarson. With an a in his last name. He has been troubled with a back injury in pre-season, but is no fit for fight.
All the matches in the Norwegian League is avaiable online, on http://www.vg.no or http://www.tv2sumo.no, if someone would like tho check out the Lillestrøm-matches.
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Nordtveit will play as right back in tomorrows Norwegian premier league away opener against the standing champions, Stabæk. H. Berg is ‘very happy” with what he has seen of him so far. @ aftenposten.no
I will definitely watch the match :) Can give a short summary if I can find the time.
Nordtveit played the whole match and looked very solid. His passing is excellent, especially long range passes, they look like bullets going forward. I only watched the 2nd half, but his challenges were well-timed, tackles always hit the ball, and he was unbeaten in the air.
He was also very brave, never avoided challenges, and he got nosebleed and an injured arm(not serious) as a result. His technique and composure on the ball was also very decent, this was made evident by a couple of nice dribbles he did. Maybe his biggest strength though, is his intelligence. Always reads the game well, makes sensible decisions, and positions himself very decently.
only thing, which also the commentators agreed on, was his pace. Don’t get me wrong, his pace is OK, but perhaps not for a fullback. I think the only thing he really needs, as most agree on too, is to buckle up a bit. Remember he is only 18 years old, and how confident he looked today, makes me feel that he has a valid chance of making it at Arsenal. In my opinion, he will get games already next season.