Wish list

Here is a New Year's wish list for the Green Machine

1. Ruy Ramos proves me wrong: I have many, many doubts about the qualifications and competence of this man as a coach but I'd love to be the the first to say I was wrong. I think he's going to be the J-League equivalent of Magic Johnson (Who had a fantastic debut and flamed out)

2. NTV continues showing Verdy home games: There was nothing more enjoyable in the middle of the night than watching Verdy repeats at 3:00 (With the exception of watching Jo-o.....the show about competing hostesses). I hope they continue because it would give me a chance to see some J2 games this year.

3. Young messrs Morimoto and Kobayashi continue developing into great players: Verdy is fortunate to have an abundance of young talent offensively..........I think Daigo Kobayashi will be the star in J2 next year.

4. A championship for the Omiya Ardija (oops, wrong site!)

5. A respectable showing in the Asians Champions League: The league is giving TV69 the shaft bigtime! I hope they go farther than Gamba. I'd love to see them take it all, although the talent and the schedule are going to prove to be a daunting task.

6. Continuing success for the youth team: One of the few bright spots for the green has been their youth program. Recently they made it to the knockout rounds in the J Youth Sahara cup, getting knocked out by Yokohama FM youth. To quote singing diva and part time crackhead, Whitney Houston; I believe the children are our future........obviously Verdy does as well.

7. Defense, Defense, Defense: Verdy let up a league leading (by far) 73 goals. They really need a couple of good young keepers and some solid backfield players. Yoneyama is out the door and some of the older players will probably follow. Don't expect to see Toda, Yamada, or Uehara next year.

8. Young foreign talent: With the exodus of Gil and Washington Verdy has some spots open for a good foreign player to add to the young abundance of talent.

9. Another miracle run in the Emperors Cup: I would actually love to see them win another Emperors Cup just to make the league squirm again about the ACL. (If Omiya doesn't win it of course.......DAMN! wrong site!)

10. A happy and peaceful New Year for everybody except the Urawa Reds

Schedule for March through May

Found this on the BIG SOCCER Japan message board........if it's true, somebody hates Ruy Ramos in the J league offices worse than me!

March 4- Season opener
8-Asian Champions League opener
11-J2
18-J2
21-J2
22- ACL
25-J2
April 1-J2 Happy April Fools day!
5-J2
8-J2
12-ACL
15-J2
18-J2
22-J2
26-ACL
29-J2
May 3- J2 and ACL
6- J2
14-J2
17- J2 and ACL
20-J2

I know the league wanted Verdy to gracefully step aside and allow them to fill the spot with a more......shall we say.........competent squad, but this is just ridiculous if they force Verdy to follow this schedule. Bottom line is Verdy won, they should get to field their best team possible in the Asian Champions League. Verdy shouldn't have to split squad or send their youth squad to represent Japan in a tournament that could lead the club to international prominence. The JFA has nobody to blame but themselves for this farce. I'm not the only one that buys into this position, either.

Comings and Goings

Rival sister franchises Kawasaki Frontale and Verdy did a rental swap, taking back their loaned strikers.

Kazunori Iio, a 23 year old striker who appeared in 5 games for Frontale is coming back to Verdy.

Tadamichi Machida, a 24 year old forward who appeared in 11 games and netted 2 goals is going back to Frontale

Advantage: Who knows?

Soccer Magazine reports Verdy year in review

1 of 2 magazines I read (well look at the pictures, actually) Soccer Magazine Report had a synopsis of Verdy's year. About as pretty as Elizabeth something or other in Showgirls.........I don't really remember her name but she was on Saved by the Bell, anyways that's not important.

Here is the final report:

6 wins 12 ties 16 losses
40 goals for
A league leading 73 goals against

-33 goal differential (Trailing only their red-headed stepsister franchise Vissel Kobe)

Leading scorers: Washington 22 goals (Urawa)
Kazuki Hiramoto 6 goals (Verdy?)
Daigo Kobayashi 3 goals and 11 assists (Verdy?)

Team MVP and game scores (1-10)
Takahito Soma 5.98 ranking
Daigo Kobayashi 5.97 ranking
Washington 5.96 ranking

So far Washington, Gil, and Yoneyama are gone for good but maybe the team will hold onto young talent like Kobayashi and Soma for next year.

It will be interesting to see who Verdy brass bring in to shore up the squad for next year's ACL campaign..........an up and coming Brazilian? A mystery euro import? The return of the King? Maybe Ruy in a triumphant return to green glory? (Maybe not)

Stay tuned!

RAMOS: I'll bring Verdy back to J1

Ruy Ramos has guaranteed he will lead the charge for Verdy to bull its way past the Yokohama FC's and Mito Hollyhocks of the second division and rally the lads into promotion.

Article Daily Yomiuri: www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/20051226TDY24004.htm

Well, OK, great.......what else is he supposed to say? Verdy is going to probably finish 5th or 6th and hopefully we can be competitive? Hell no, of course he's gonna guarantee a promotion. I'd like to see him put something of value up though, like his job. THAT WOULD BE A GUARANTEE! Better yet, I think he should guarantee that if he doesn't lead the Green to promotion, He will cut off his sport perm and shave his Eriq LaSalle Coming to America Soulglo looking birds nest. He'll go completely bald. That would be a guarantee!

Washington

Burly Brazilian Forward Washington has taken his cleats and moved north to Saitama. Perrenial Bridesmaids the Urawa Reds signed the big man. Washington had 22 goals this season and was one of the few bright spots for the Mean Green.

Washington was part of the first great purge of 2005-2006 along with fellow countryman Gil and career Verdian Atsushi Yoneyama.

I hate the Urawa Reds and I was hoping that Washington would sign with Saitama's other team. Oh well, maybe the Reds will win the Emperors Cup and duplicate the outstanding success that our boys immersed themselves in this year. I would pay to see an Urawa/Thespa Kusatsu match because I'm pretty positive Thespa won't be in J1 anytime soon.

I really like Washington as a player and I loved how he manhandled Real Madrid in the upset of the year.

Ruy Ramos

Former Verdy soccer legend, Brazilian born Japanese national team member Ruy Ramos was named as new head coach of Toxic Verdy 69 this month. I understand that he brings a certain amount of buzz and name recognition, as well as a lifetime of soccer knowledge (as well as a truly bad perm, circa 1970's Barbra Streisand) but I'm rather dubious on his future as a manager. His credentials include some time in the lower eschelon of Japanese football (JFL or regional leagues), a rousing 4th place finish in the inaugural beach soccer world cup and a stint as an assistant coach for fellow relegation victims Kashiwa Reysol.

I wouldn't be so down on this selection if it weren't for the fact that TV 69 is a representative for the Asian Champions League. I shudder to think of the results when Ruy and the lads go up against some of the powerhouses of Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and China. Hell, I shudder to think of the results against Lover Cambodia FC or the transvestite soccer team from Vietnam.

Good luck to you Ruy...............you're gonna need it.

Back in business

This is day one of a blog dedicated to one of the most erratic and irritating teams on the face of the earth. Tokyo Verdy 1969 traces it's roots to something or other......hell if I know. Yomiuri had some sort of affiliation with them and then they were based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.

While in Kawasaki they were the first powerhouse in the inagural J-League. They won 3 J-league cups (92,93,94), Two league championships (93,94) , 5 Emperors Cup titles (84,86,87,96 and the last one).

This year they started off by defeating crosstown rival (and crashing bore) FC Tokyo in the final of the 84th Emperors cup, guaranteeing them a spot in the Asian Champions League and raising expectations to unforseen heights.

Now they will be taking road trips to exotic places like Ehime and Mito..........instead of playing perennial powerhouse Yokohama F Marinos, they will play powder blue Yokohama FC.

If you are looking for detailed footnotes and historical references, there are better places. If you are looking for in-depth coverage of one of Japan's most storied soccer franchises, there are better places. If you are looking for breaking news and hot rumors about the men in snot green, there are much, much better places. However, if you are looking for the literary equivalent of a heckler at the Special Olympics (Which I am completely against........those kids try hard! Unlike the flotsam wearing the buzzard on their badges) This is the place for you.

Welcome. Drive by really slowly and ogle the carnage that is.....................
TOKYO VERDY 1969