Glimt, Glimt academy | If that’s how it’s supposed to be, just shut down the entire Glimt Academy

Yes, FK Bodø/Glimt became the subject of many witty comments after it became known on Wednesday that the Glimt academy coach (and Junkeren player) Daniel Berntsen was brought into Kjetil Knutsen’s stable on the last day of the transfer window.

The 31-year-old Berntsen (congratulations on April 4!) chose to end his top football career in Tromsø after the 2021 season, and has since been part of the Junkeren stable – thus finding himself at a completely different level to what he will now attempt to match.

There is naturally no reason to believe that Berntsen is brought to Glimt to fight for a place on the team in the series, he can probably be used in the first cup rounds against local opponents. But he must also obviously have qualities which mean that he actually works in a squad and in a club where the training is widely known in order to maintain a – in a Norwegian context – very high level.

This happens at the same time that Glimt has two players on loan to other elite league clubs, one of them, Petter Nosa Dahl, with a cannonball scoring for KFUM Oslo on Tuesday evening. The other, Jeppe Kjær, sat on the bench for Fredrikstad against Glimt on Monday. A third Glimt boy on loan is Mads Pedersen, who scored Mjøndalen’s goal in their series opener against Raufoss on the same day.

One should also not ignore the fact that this somewhat surprising signing can also be explained by the fact that Daniel Bassi will probably have to spend several weeks in training after the stretch injury he sustained against Molde in the dress rehearsal.

In any case, it seems very strange from the outside that Glimt has to bring in someone who has in reality retired from top football.

And then you may ask questions:

Are there really no talents good enough at the club who could do this job – given this chance?

Based on what is happening now, can one have grounds for claiming that Glimt has in many ways given up on its own academy? The club spends close to NOK 20 million a year on an academy, with youth teams that travel around and lose matches, and which is therefore not attractive to the really good talents?

Well, what is in any case resoundingly clear to everyone who follows is that it no longer seems possible to take the step from the Glimt academy to the A stable. For that, the sporting distance has become far too great. The quality required to become part of Kjetil Knutsen’s squad is so high that it is no longer realistic to believe that you can do what Jens Petter Hauge, Fredrik Andre Bjørkan, Patrick Berg and Håkon Evjen did – namely go from Glimt- academy and get playing time, and eventually a place in the first team, in Glimt.

The path for a young and promising player in Glimt now is not to develop in the club’s academy, but rather to be loaned out to other clubs at OBOS or elite series level, and develop there. Alternatively, just focus on shaping your career without going the route of Glimt, until you eventually reach the level required to be part of one of Norway’s best teams with one of Norway’s strongest players.

Seen in this perspective, it was interesting to read about Herman Sedeniussen Møller from Reine in Lofoten. The 16-year-old is considered one of the biggest talents in the Lofoten and Helgeland football circuit, and Glimt wanted him to move across the fjord and become part of the academy. But Herman chose to stay at home and play for FK Leknes. Probably a wise choice.

The previous ones who fought for a starting place in Glimt from their own academy are now 24-25 years old. It cannot be said more clearly that the Glimt academy is not there to bring up Glimt players.