Stromsgodset might have just missed out on a medal on the last day of the Eliteserien season, but Tor Ole Skullerud and his team should definitely feel proud about their amazing autumnal turnaround that saw the Drammen side turn from also rans to the nearly men. Because the way their 2017 season started there were very few who gave them much hope of troubling the top five despite having been tipped for a decent finish before a ball had been kicked. They fell agonisingly short of the top three in the end after a dramatic last day defeat against relegated Aalesund, but there is definitely a solid platform to build on for next year if they play their cards right and hang onto their talent.
The season started well enough with a convincing 3-1 victory over Haugesund, and Marcus Pedersen introduced himself as a danger man straight away. But just two wins in their first ten games was enough to put pressure on Skullerud's managerial credentials and, despite a long sought after victory over OBOS-ligaen bound Viking breaking that dreadful winless run, another four games without a victory followed including a trip to Lerkendal where Rosenborg wiped the floor with them in a 3-1 win. But at the midway point things began to look up, and it's hard to see beyond Stromsgodset as the form team this autumn. They lost just twice in their last 15 league games, winning 11 of them including an incredible eight game winning run, and they were desperately unfortunate not to get a medal at the end of it with some shoddy defending amid the drama at Color Line Stadion proving costly.
While the defence has struggled for the Drammen side this season, it was a remarkable turnaround at the halfway point, and young captain Jakob Glesnes should take a lot of credit for marshalling the back four successfully with Kim Andre Madsen absent for most of the campaign through injury. Tokmac Nguen and Bassel Jradi were superb going forward, but Stromsgodset's star man remains Eirik Ulland Andersen who was both a creator and finisher when it really mattered at key stages throughout the season. Stromsgodset will do very well to keep him and other star players out of the transfer limelight.
There should be plenty of optimism going forward, but Stromgodset and Skullerud must see this as a season to build on for next year. It was definitely a tale of two seasons, as they went from the ridiculous to the sublime in double quick time, but it's the last 15 fixtures of the 2017 campaign that remains the blueprint for what's to come at the club. Only if they hit those heights consistently over 30 games will they ever be able to challenge Rosenborg at the very top of the table again.
