Vic Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 From Norway today: Røa's five international players will not play any further international matches, in a dramatic protest against the national team's management. Marie Knutsen, Siri Nordby, Guro Knutsen, Marit Fiane Christensen and Lene Mykjåland have all decided to refuse any further play with the national team. "On the national team the pleasure in playing football has been little recently and we know that we are sacrificing more than we get back", they said in a press release. They are taking a tough line about how they see the situation in the national team. "We need leaders who can bring out the best in each of us and naturally the best in the team. Unfortunately that does not hold with our perceptions after having been part of the national team. We have difficulty in being ourselves in national team meetings and even though it is all talked up, the experience is different for us", said the quintet. "This is one of the reasons for the five Røa players who took part in the Olympics to decide that we will not accept invitations to play international matches until further notice". "We have discussed with the management what our thoughts are and how we experience the situation. We understand that the perceptions are different on the management side", concluded the statement. http://www.tv2sporten.no/fotball/toppserien/article2319503.ece "Ragnhild Gulbrandsen [2007 World Cup Bronze Show winner] has been on NRK radio saying she is not surprised at this development and that things have not been right since the World Cup last year. Bjarne Berntsen is saying nothing just now but will host a press conference at 5 pm today." ----------------------------------------------------------- 28 Marit Fiane Christensen 26 Marie Knutsen 23 Guro Knutsen 30 Siri Nordby 21 Lene Mykjåland 31 Ragnhild Gulbrandsen Unsurprisingly, 4 of the 6 are over 25 years of age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolita Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Merci Vic es ce dramatique pour le championnat national féminin en Norvège ? L'Équipe de ROA est première dans le classement de la Norwegian Topserrien League. Et au début de novembre il y aura les finales de la Coupe féminine de Norvège. l'équipe de STROMMEN ( dans laquelle jouent 2 canadiennes Diana Matheson et Rhian Wilkinson) y sera aussi: Tabellen (http://www.team-strommen.no/) Kamper Poeng 1 Røa 19 52 2 Team Strømmen 20 43 3 Kolbotn 20 40 4 Asker 20 39 5 Arna - Bjørnar 20 35 6 Klepp 20 30 7 Fløya 20 24 8 Trondheims-Ørn 20 23 9 Amazon Grimstad 19 21 10 Kattem 20 17 11 FK Larvik 20 12 12 Fart 20 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Lolita, I don't think this will have an impact on the club team. It's the Norwegian NT who is going to lose 5 players with this story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanDouglas Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Similar, except these five have handled things infinitely better than their Canadian counterparts. Unless you meant Jim Brennan :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 Bjarne Berntsen will meet the five players who have decided not to play international matches. A press statement from the NFF says: "Bjarne Berntsen and assistant trainer Pål Arne Johansen regret that five Røa players do not wish to play in the national team, and will invite them to a meeting to look at the possibilities for a solution so that they can continue". "They are five good players, so it's regrettable that they should decide not to play in the team", said Berntsen. The team management has laid down a comprehensive evaluation to get feedback from the players, and they are surprised that this comes up now, the statement says. The NFF General Secretary, Karen Espelund, says that she has confidence that the team mangement will handle this situation well. http://www.tv2sporten.no/fotball/landslag/article2320257.ece ------------------ It is about a year since Lise Klaveness [27yrs] finished on the national team. "I understand these five girls well because I have been through the same thing myself. On the national team the leadership wants all the players to be the same, and come to training and meetings all neatly packaged. I experienced this with difficulty", said Klaveness to TV 2 Sport. "But after I left I started to think that I was a difficult person. Now other players have experienced it, and is shows that it is the management that is the problem. I support all five of them in their decision", said the former national team player and professional at Umeå. Ragnhild Gulbrandsen retired as a player after the World Cup last year. She is in no doubt that Bjarne Berntsen must finish as the national team trainer. "I am not surprised over this. It has been on the cards for a long time. After Lise left the feedback came that several players supported her side", she said to TV 2 Sport. The former national team player thinks the NFF must now take this seriously. "If the NFF are to take the women seriously, they cannot let this continue", she said, and continued that Bjarne Berntsen must now leave his job as the women's team trainer. http://www.tv2sporten.no/fotball/toppserien/article2319503.ece ------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 And away we go: ----------------------------------------------------------- Marit Fiane Christensen will meet the national team chief. "But I am not going to change my mind", she said today. "We have set a goal to get them back into the national team as quickly as possible", said Bjarne Berntsen today. The team chief will travel to Oslo tomorrow and hopes to arrange a meeting with the five Røa players there. "We are positive about a meeting, but I will not change my opinion", said Marit Fiane Christensen. She says she has had messages of support from other national team players since today's dramatic protest. "It is surprising that Bjarne Berntsen's place as trainer was not stopped after the team's downturn in China earlier in the year", said Siri Nordby to TV 2 Sport. "We had to concede to Brazil, who went to the final. We have beaten the world's best this year, and showed that we can beat all teams, so it is up to others to decide if the job I do is good enough", said Berntsen. "Are you considering your position, or feel that there is a lack of confidence?" - "No. Obviously there is som lack of confidence among them, so we have to see what we can do about it. Apart from that I have had many good and positive messages from national players today", said Berntsen. http://www.tv2sporten.no/fotball/landslag/article2320257.ece ----------------------------------------------------------- "This comes as a shock! I knew some players were thinking of giving up after this season, but not that they would go out in this way", said Asker's Melissa Wiik. "It is tough that they have come out and said what they think. I hope Bjarne will speak with them". "Will you give up the national team?" - "no, I want to continue. Bjarne has improved as a trainer, even though some things still need to be put right". Kolbotn's Solveig Gulbrandsen is not giving up either. "I am surprised and sad that they are all finishing. We have not that many good footballers in Norway". "Do you think more will retire?" - "you must ask every single one of them, but I hope there will be a dialogue between the Røa girls and Bjarne, so that they can come back into the team". "Will you continue?" - "yes, I am continuing". http://www.nrksport.no/fotball/1.6273628 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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