Saturday, November 24, 2007

BREAKING NEWS: Kashiwa to change name to Antlers

Kashiwa and Kashima will switch their names and colors starting in the 2008 season......Allright, I screwed up, sue me!

In other news, FC Chiba has new uniforms for 2008

http://www.jsgoal.jp/photo/00028300/00028347.html

OOPS, I mean FC Tokyo.

Anyhow let's get to some solid news and rumors galore

J2 Has a new member.......

Venforet Kofu dropped a 2-1 decision to KashiWa today when Tatsuya Suzuki notched a late counter goal against the hard chargers from Yamanashi. Just two years ago, the little team that could managed to knock off one of the more colorful franchises in J League history with an onslaught of goals behind now Gamba superstriker Bare. Unfortunately, Kofu was unable to find one guy that could consistently finish. Usually, I would write a piece detailing where to carve a dead squad up, but I'm hoping most of these guys can stay together and make a charge for J1 next year. If effort was a determining factor in championships, hands down this squad would be crowned king. Good luck next year and here's hoping for a quick turnaround.

On the other hand, the highly talented and completely gutless Sanfrecce Hiroshima finds itself on the edge of the J2 abyss with a 3-0 loss to Kawasaki Frontale. Ilyan Stoyanov capped off a dismal season with a red card, thereby rendering him null and void for the upcoming battle against Gamba Osaka and possibly the relegation/promotion battle if they are not able to overcome an 11 goal deficit.

Omiya won 2-1 versus FC Tokyo in the best game I've ever witnessed at Ajinomoto. Go! Go! Omiya Ardija! will have more details later so I won't go into details. The win most likely guarantees the Squirrels another go in J1. Call me relieved more than anything.

GAMBA OSAKA has some striker issues.

Magno Alves has left the club and will be joining Al Itthad. Rumor is that striker Denis Marques will be taking his place next season......for a hefty price one would assume. Omiya still retains a contract until the end of June 2008 so it's gonna cost em.

KashiWa midfielder Alceu has left the squad and gone back to Brazil. The midfielder was excellent this year for the Chiba side .

Happy trails to Shimizu Striker Yoshikiyo Kuboyama and Gamba DF Noritada Saneyoshi.

Kuboyama was a member of the defunct Yokohama Flugels before joing Shimizu.
Saneyoshi was one of the team captains for Gamba and has been a member from 1995, giving him the longest tenure at the club.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well I for one didn`t think Omiya could pull it off but I will now consume a large slice of humble pie whilst doffing my cap and sending my hearty congrats to yourself Steve and all the other Omiya boys!! Hopefully we can do the business tomorrow and set ourselves up for a visit to Omiyakoen next year. I do think though, if Omiya don`t get some new DECENT firepower in they will be in the same predicament next season. Same for Verdy, we will presumably be without Hulk next season and with what we have got (minus Hulk) we will struggle big time. Hiramoto will be coming back I assume, his CV doesnt look too great now, relegated with his last two clubs...If ever there was a one man team 2007 Tokyo Verdy 1969 with Hulk was it!! Probably the most dangerous player we have EVER had, there was always a chance with him in the side. OK, so the opposition wasn`t exactly world class but how many times this season has he absolutely ripped teams to pieces?? I for one will remember 2007 as a special year!! Ive seen Bismark,Edmundo, Mboma and (Big George) Washington in Green and nobody has got anywhere near the heights of Hulk. All the former strikers were past it and whilst they could produce magical moments, were not up for it week in week out.Hulk is at the beginning of his career and if he continues to play like he has this year, will be lethal by the time he reaches his late 20s barring injury.He will be VERY tough to replace!! Onwards and Upwards the Boys march back to J1 tomorrow!! Ihave my tickets burning a dirty great hole in my trousers!! Hopefully we can have a decent turn out tomorrow!! Come on the fairweather boys!!!!!!!!

SMB said...

Dude, you and me both......it took a miracle run by a center back to nail the win combined with a huge collapse by Sanfrecce.

I was thinkin about going to Aji again but two days of 4 hour round trippers are just too much for me.

Hulk is special......I didn't realize it until I saw him in that first practice. He needs to keep his temper in check though because he's gonna get burned if he keeps whining. I'll do a writeup on the season after we figure out what happens. Good luck tomorrow.