This year’s Eliteserien season started better for Sarpsborg 08 than many experts thought, but pretty quickly the experts were right that it would be tough.
The club itself confirms this in a press release on Wednesday morning.
Sarpsborg states that both head coach Christian Michelsen and his assistant Joakim Klæboe are now leaving their positions at the club.
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“I am both proud and humbled to have been the head coach of a fantastic club with fantastic supporters and good supporters. I have had a very good time, but would have liked this to have lasted longer, says Michelsen in the club’s statement.
The head coach was still optimistic a couple of weeks ago.
Michelsen took over the coaching responsibility in Sarpsborg before the 2024 season. Prior to this, he had a long and successful period as head coach of Kristiansund BK.
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After 18 league rounds played in the 2025 season, Sarpsborg 08 is in 11th place on the table with 22 points, far from the goal of playing in Europe.
The team has only managed to secure a win in five games so far this season, and has also lost the last four games in a row.
Despite the fact that the relegation place is 13 points away, the club has still chosen to pull the emergency brake and make a coaching decision to reverse the negative development.
