Reigning champions are usually seen as favourites and Gjekstad wants to be successful in the new season, although he is cautious with his expectations.
“Of course we hope to be competitive. Our primary goal is to progress to the main round, and then we’ll see. I think there are five or six teams that can win the trophy, and hopefully Vipers will be among them,” he says.
At the same time, the coach says that he does not feel any more pressure than before: “It was a relief to win the Champions League. It was our long-term goal, and we have reached it. Definitely we’d like to repeat it, but there are teams who have a better chance — especially Györ, they have a very good team. And CSKA can also fight for the title.”
For Gjekstad, leading Vipers to the triumph in Europe’s premier club competition was obviously a big achievement, but the coach does not look back to the past – at least not too often.
“The world is moving forward. The trophy is standing in our office so I see it from time to time, but for me that triumph happened long ago. Now it’s time to set new targets,” he says.
“I’ve learned to swear in English”
Over the summer, Vipers’ roster underwent some changes. Norwegian internationals Henny Reistad, Malin Aune and Emilie Hegh Arntzen have moved abroad, while experienced foreign players Nerea Pena, Isabelle Gullden, Marketa Jerabkova, Ana Debelic and Zsuzsanna Tomori have joined the team.
“Our style will change a bit, because we signed a few players whom I call playmakers. But I don’t know yet how our game will look. We haven’t gone that far in this process. We need some more weeks for tuning,” says Gjekstad, who is confident that his team still has a strong squad.
“Of course, I’d be happy to have kept the Norwegian players who left, but it’s also fine to make some changes. Now our squad is more international, and I'm happy that these foreign players agreed to move to Vipers.”
The coach did not have a specific goal to give some more international vibe to Vipers, yet it did happen. Now the working language has changed from Norwegian to English.
“I’ve even learned to swear in English, and it’s fun,” he says with a smile. “If you find Norwegian players, you sign them, but now we signed girls from Spain, Croatia, Sweden…They are not only experienced players but also nice people who have already settled in.”
Renowned Norwegian players like Kathrine Lunde, Nora Mørk and Heidi Loke have stayed at Vipers and are expected to play important roles again.
However, Løke will not travel to Hungary this week, as she is suffering from a calf injury. Right back Silje Waade and two left wings, Karoline Olsen and Vilde Johansen, are also sidelined.
