Despite finishing eighth there's no doubt that Valerenga were one of this season's biggest disappointments. The fighting talk of Ronny Deila before a ball had been kicked suggested they would be trying to keep tabs on Rosenborg, but the season became a story of descaling ambitions from one match to another as the fixtures wore on. The 5-2 capitulation against Sogndal on the last day of the season, allowing their hosts to stay up at the expense of Aalesund, was an embarrassment, a typical nothing to play for end of season finale which showed Deila who is up for the fight and who is not next year. There will be changes to the personnel as Herman Stengel and Christian Grindheim will leave holes in the middle of the park, and a lot of the Oslo club's success will rest on the recruitment for next year. Because the 2017 campaign just wasn't good enough.
Valerenga started off with a win over Viking at home, but they could very easily have lost against their Stavanger visitors who didn't at that point look like the doomed outfit they turned out to be. But shipping four goals in each of their first two away games, against Haugesund and Molde, showed their shortcomings defensively and, while a credible 1-1 draw at home to Rosenborg at the end of May showed promise, they were never in any danger of troubling the top five. A decent run in October saw Valerenga score 15 goals in three games in the space of ten days, but that was as good as it got for Deila's men as they scratched desperately around for consistency without finding it at all.
It's hard to understand why Herman Stengel is allowed to leave the club, as he was a very consistent performer when called upon. He spent too much of his time out of the squad though and has decided to move to Stromsgodset. Ghayas Zahid left in the summer having impressed a lot of suitors in an average side for a lengthy period of time. But the decision to let Christian Grindheim leave is another big question mark at the club because, without his guidance and leadership in the middle of the park, they would be searching high and low for anything close to an eighth place finish. Chidera Ejuke is definitely one for the future with his performances.
If this was a season of transition Valerenga could look back on it with some success. What they must do is make sure it doesn't end up being the norm. The Oslo club need to be far more consistent in their performances. The squad looks rather thin and, with Stengel and Grindheim on their way, they must surely have midfielders earmarked for their recruitment. It will be interesting to see what Deila does ahead of the next season. The ambitious coach will surely not want to be stuck around mid-table for any longer than is needed.
