When a team goes over 100 days without a win through a season, you'd be forgiven for wishing them all the best in the league below next year. But Valerenga somehow managed to secure a tenth place finish quite comfortable, despite a horrid run that must have caused many sleepless nights for head coach Ronny Deila. Sure the aspirations are much higher, but Valerenga just couldn't find their rhythm and when luck deserted them as well they really didn't have much going their way for most of this campaign. It's definitely one to forget.
It was all going swimmingly in the first half of the season as they climbed into the top five and looked well settled. The 5-1 away win over Ranheim was good, but even better was the 6-0 demolition of Bodo/Glimt in July before the international break. What followed was nothing short of a nightmare. The Oslo side didn't win another game until early November. Sure there were some decent performances, including a 1-1 draw against Rosenborg, but the failure to win was gnawing the club to the bone. They failed to win any of their last three games as well.
If the season had started in July, Valerenga would've been down by some margin. It's now time for Deila and Valerenga to refocus, and the club will have to decide if he is still the right man for the job. Valerenga need to stay an Eliteserien side and the warning signs on show in 2019 campaign might need action to be taken before they kick off their 2020 one.
