Well, I guess posting a shutout wasn't enough for Ramos........he went out and got a new player from Kashima, Tatsuya Ishikawa. Ishikawa was a former U-19 national team member. He has 45 career appearances for Kashima notching 3 goals. This season, he only appeared in 3 games but notched 2 assists. He was also born on Christmas, so maybe he can pull a miracle out of his poopshoot and lead Verdy back to J1. He is on loan until the end of January 2007.
Nick also has some thoughts on the Shonan game....he was less impressed with Saito then myself but it's probably because I've been pimping Saito from the start and I want to see the guy succeed.
"Possible Venture into infamy....500 minutes approaches": Well the magic of the perm has shone through again!! Even the constant drizzle couldn`t keep the bouffant down!! The boys managed to get back on track and turned in a creditable performance to boot. They worked hard that is for sure,put in a lot of running hassled and harried and deserved the win. Good strike from Ono and after the question marks over Hiramotos last penalty award,Saturdays was a cast iron,100 per cent certain penalty.Hiramotos speed into the box was impressive before becoming the filling in a Bellmare sandwich!! It was interesting to contrast the penalty style of Basillio and Hiramoto. Basillio is a very cool customer when he reads which way the keeper is going THEN rolls it past him. However,if he ever misses he is going to look a complete idiot!! Not happened yet though. Hiramoto`s penalty was expertly struck and if the keeper had gone the right way I still don`t think he would have saved it.Smashed low and hard into the side netting just inside the post.Excellent and the sign of a player with confidence in his ability. I too didnt think much of the forwards on Saturday. Saito didn`t do much for me,the keeper made a decent stop when Saito was one on one with him,but from Saitos point of view if he`s not gonna score from those positions,he`s not gonna stay in the team.Its his job to score from there and he seems to be guilty of getting in good positions but not finding the net a bit too often for my liking.Then again he was a sight more effective than Maatsura who i thought really struggled to have any kind of influence on the proceedings,the one early strike which just cleared the bar was not much to show for an afternoons work. Its shocks me to say but the defensive side of our game today was the main plus,going forward which has usually been our strong point just didnt happen on Saturday,passes astray,lots of lost possesion and a seeming lack of communication.Bellmare were limited to a few chances which were either missed or dealt with by Takagi,whose comedy moment came when he slipped trying to catch a routine cross,luckily there wasnt a Bellmare striker near. A win was just the tonic required to get out of the losing streak and hopefully it can be the start of something good. Nishigaoka it has to be said is seeming to have a good effect on the team.Its probably because a game played in a tiny stadium with a poor crowd is always gonna have a better atmosphere than one played in a cavernous arena with the same size crowd. Just under 3,000 in Ajinomoto or National Stadium would be difficult to bear but in Nishigaoka it seems ok. I know it was pouring down on Saturday which probably put a lot of people off but 3,000 people!!?? Bellmare isn`t even very far away so I`d have thought they would bring a few more people.I wonder if (assuming we are still in J2) the Verdy management accept we arent ever gonna fill the big stadiums and just go for Nishigaoka and Komozawa.On the plus side the atmospheres would be better but on the minus side it would be akin to officially accepting that we are crap and have poor support in terms of numbers. Also on the minus side there is no roof on either of them!! I`d go for the small stadium option,maybe make it a bit more of a difficult place to come and play. I like Ajinomoto as a venue but unless we are playing Urawa or the Marinos the atmoshphere can be lacking as we are miles from the pitch and rows and rows of empty seats never looks good.Since Ive been going the crowd has probably averaged about between 10-12,000 with the bumper crowds against Urawa/Niigata/Marinos slightly distorting things.These days we are pushing 5 or 6,000 tops and numbers are dwindling rapidly.Maybe the World Cup will put a few extras through the door but I can`t see that much of an improvement before we get out of this division. Small stadiums are the option for me in this situation.Far better for the spectaters and based upon results so far,better for the team.There is still a big gap between us and third but lets hope we can do a bit of catching up. What the hell happened to Hollyhock!!! First they go on an impressive run nullifying us on the way and then they score probably two goals of the season!! I saw the highlights at half time and man one of their boys has THUNDER in his boots. Some strike,miles out rockets one into the top corner just past the goalies despairing dive! Superb! Hollyhock and (especially Montedio) have been doing well recently and could be on the turn. Montedio have had some unlucky results but seem to be coming good recently. Onwards and Upwards!! The Boys march on!!
Agreed on Yamagata and Mito..........also the attendance dip has gotta be freaking out Cyberagent who put a ton of lucre into the squad. I think Yokohama will fall hard once the unbeaten streak ends........they can't keep up the pace of 3 goals in 16 games and they don't have an offense.
Thanks Nick, and we'll see how the new guy is used!
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