Sandefjord will be happy to have kept themselves up, but their late season slump meant that the season as a whole was slightly patchy. Which is a shame as Lars Bohinen deserves an awful lot of credit for how he has kept them up this time, and they were a million miles better than their last attempt at competing in the top tier. Survival was the aim this season, and they've managed that without any alarms. But finishing 13th, and just four points ahead of relegated Aalesund, when a comfortable mid-table place was in the offing only a month ago tells the story of how they have struggled in the latter stages of the campaign. The loss of form didn't look like going away any time soon, and they will be relieved that the season finished when it did.
The season started with two straight defeats against Lillestrom and Rosenborg, but the game against Rosenborg in particular showed plenty of promise. They only lost the game once they were reduced to ten men just before half time, and there was a steeliness to the Sandefjord side that wasn't apparent last time they were in the top division. Players like Pau Morer Vicente looked more at ease with their surroundings, and the young players' experience of past failures with the club helped them focus and added a determination to their artillery which served them well. The introduction of Carlos Grossmuller in the summer was a shrewd one, with the Uruguayan easily one of the team's more creative players. Facundo Rodriguez also looked promising before his injury problems, while Flamur Kastrati will always give his very best leading the line. One of the high points of the season was probably beating Geir Bakke's Sarpsborg 08 side 1-0 in the summer, but it must also be addressed that Sandefjord shipped five goals on three occasions, which is something that needs to be eradicated for next season.
There's plenty to work on ahead of next season, and it will be interesting to see what happens to the likes of Grossmuller. It's unlikely he will be a Sandefjord player next season so Bohinen must try to pull another rabbit out of another hat from somewhere. There's a platform to build on but anything built must be built well, as there's no doubt that Sandefjord need to improve in 2018 if they are to keep themselves in the Eliteserien for a lengthy period of time.
