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    #51
    J-League, Let's Go!

    After the promotion, I was all of a tizz. Nice to see my dear old Consadole restoring the natural order of things.

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      #52
      J-League, Let's Go!

      Garamczy Antal wrote:
      Cool - your "omiya" tune in the first few seconds is what we use to fete Danny Dichio every game.
      Pop Goes The World, by - of course - Canada's finest, Men Without Hats.

      I don't even need to check the video to know what miss you're referring to. That guy, Takuya Aoki, has longstanding form in this regard, although he eventually broke his J-League scoring duck by getting two in a single game last season against... yep, Nagoya.

      Andy, Consadole have by all accounts been playing okay but just not getting the results. Hey, they're above Kashima. That can't be bad.

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        #53
        J-League, Let's Go!

        Great stadium. Great fans. Team never looked like scoring. Marques as useless as tits on a bull.

        More later (with photos).

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          #54
          J-League, Let's Go!

          You witnessed the kind of performance that by rights should get a coach sacked, AG, but I'm glad you had a good time.

          Comment


            #55
            J-League, Let's Go!

            How can you not have a good time there? It's Orange! Happy!! Football!!!

            Starting at the train station. So what is it with the squirrels, exactly?



            And of course, the all-Orange route to the stadium.




            Great flags. Great singing, too. Although it's completely disconcerting (and totally Japanese) when the entire stadium goes completely silent when the guy with the megaphone decided to pause for a minute.









            An excellent pitch, btw. Cute mascots, too, though I'm convinced the girl squirrel is an enormous tease.



            Food was interesting. The corn soup was welcome on a chilly day.



            Only disappointment was the scarves. They are too short, and feel like tea towels.

            Comment


              #56
              J-League, Let's Go!

              OK, let's take a look at how things are shaping up in the J-League. The J1 season is now 13 games in, and is on a fortnight's break while the national team plays three World Cup qualifiers. Vegalta Sendai continue to lead the way to general post-tsunami delight, although some commentators are grumbling that they get an easy ride from referees and that their style of football under coach Makoto Teguramori is not the most attractive.

              Behind Vegalta are a bunch of medium-sized clubs making the most of the fact that the most successful Japanese sides of recent years - Kashima Antlers, Nagoya Grampus, Gamba Osaka - are either in transition or experiencing woefully poor seasons (or, in the case of Gamba, both). Sanfrecce Hiroshima are second thanks to the goals of prolific striker Hisato Sato and former J-League kings Jubilo Iwata are now looking like a real team again after a yonk and a half in the doldrums.

              Sagan Tosu should also be singled out for praise, seeing as how everyone - not including me, obviously - was saying they'd be going straight back down to J2. In fact the Kyushu minnows have made themselves particularly tough to beat at their impressive Best Amenity Stadium. They then rounded off this opening stage of the season by coming from two goals down to win away at at the train wreck that is Gamba Osaka 2012.

              Like other struggling teams Vissel Kobe, Omiya Ardija and Albirex Niigata, Gamba have already sacked their coach this year, but they're still stuck in the bottom three and showing no signs of improvement. Several of their ultras groups staged a protest after the stunning defeat to Tosu and the inability of club management to dissipate the fans' anger or acknowledge the seriousness of the team's position look like very bad news for Gamba. Surely - surely - they won't go down.

              1. Sendai 27 (+15)
              2. Hiroshima 25 (+11)
              3. Jubilo 24 (+13)
              ----------------
              4. S-Pulse 23 (+4)
              - - - - - - - - - -
              5. Urawa 22 (+4)
              6. FC Tokyo 22 (+2)
              7. Kawasaki 22 (-)
              8. Tosu 20 (+4)
              9. Marinos 18 (+2)
              10. Kashima 17 (+3)
              11. Cerezo 17 (+1)
              12. Kashiwa 17 (-)
              13. Nagoya 17 (-2)
              14. Kobe 15 (-5)
              15. Omiya 15 (-11)
              ----------------
              16. Gamba 9 (-10)
              17. Niigata 9 (-12)
              18. Sapporo 4 (-19)

              There have been 17 games so far in the J2 season and as per J1 the table is being led by a smaller club from the Tohoku region. Montedio Yamagata were relegated at the end of last year and weren't expected to be in contention for another year or two, but they've overcome some early season jitters and are now in excellent form. Immediately behind them are Kyoto Sanga, now evidently building a decent young team after a lengthy period of mismanagement.

              JEF United would be doing better if they weren't so bewilderingly inconsistent - you pretty much have to be trying to lose at home to FC Gifu - but the division as a whole is wide open. Even tiny clubs like Mito Hollyhock and Fagiano Okayama are in with a shout of a play-off place, although the two brand new J-League teams are having a predictably difficult time in their first season among the pros. Matsumoto Yamaga are doing, well, okayish by putting the emphasis very firmly indeed on defence, but Ossie Ardiles' Machida Zelvia are joint bottom and struggling.

              1. Yamagata 36 (+11)
              2. Kyoto 35 (+11)
              ----------------
              3. JEF 33 (+19)
              4. Verdy 31 (+14)
              5. Kofu 30 (+9)
              6. Shonan 30 (+8)
              - - - - - - - - -
              7. Oita 28 (+6)
              8. Mito 28 (+4)
              9. Okayama 27 (+2)
              10. Tochigi 25 (+2)
              11. Ehime 24 (+8)
              12. Yokohama FC 24 (+3)
              13. Kitakyushu 23 (-3)
              14. Fukuoka 21 (+1)
              15. Matsumoto 20 (-6)
              16. Tokushima 19 (-6)
              17. Kusatsu 16 (-10)
              18. Kumamoto 15 (-12)
              19. Toyama 14 (-8)
              20. Tottori 14 (-24)
              21. Machida 12 (-13)
              22. Gifu 12 (-16)

              Comment


                #57
                J-League, Let's Go!

                Hey Furtho! I just joined this forum because I found your reports through google. I'm a Machida fan looking for any info. (match reports, injury info.). Have you given up posting news? I'd be very interested to hear more, but if you don't have time maybe you'd be kind enough to post some links to news sources? Japanese links are OK for me. Thanks!

                Comment


                  #58
                  J-League, Let's Go!

                  Thanks a lot Furtho. I'll certainly do that.

                  Ossie Ardiles used to be active on twitter but he stopped straight after arriving in Japan.

                  Comment


                    #59
                    J-League, Let's Go!

                    And the first thing I read on @J2_Kanto_Bites is that Nagano have been approved for J-league membership which means Zelvia are in serious trouble of going down!

                    Comment


                      #60
                      J-League, Let's Go!

                      Zelvista wrote: Hey Furtho! I just joined this forum because I found your reports through google. I'm a Machida fan looking for any info. (match reports, injury info.). Have you given up posting news? I'd be very interested to hear more, but if you don't have time maybe you'd be kind enough to post some links to news sources? Japanese links are OK for me. Thanks!
                      Welcome to OTF, click on the W under Furtho's name for some excellent stuff.

                      Comment


                        #61
                        J-League, Let's Go!

                        Hi J-lovers! do you know anything about this guy:
                        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takafumi_Akahoshi

                        I'm meant to meet him next week and trying to do some preparation. If its too boring for the public, please PM me...Cheers!

                        Comment


                          #62
                          J-League, Let's Go!

                          I know the name, but not much more than that. I'll see if anyone can throw any light on him.

                          Comment


                            #63
                            J-League, Let's Go!

                            cheers mate

                            Comment


                              #64
                              J-League, Let's Go!

                              PM for you, Magik.

                              Comment


                                #65
                                J-League, Let's Go!

                                Ossie Ardiles' FC Machida Zelvia have finished bottom of J2 and become the first team ever to be relegated out of the J-League. They'll play in the third-tier JFL next season, with JFL champions V Varen Nagasaki heading in the opposite direction.

                                Ventforet Kofu and Shonan Bellmare have moved up from J2 back to J1. The third promotion spot will be claimed by the winner of the forthcoming play-off between Kyoto Sanga, Oita Trinita, Yokohama FC and JEF United.

                                In J1 there are still three games to go and it's almost certain that there will be a first-time title winner to follow on from 2011 champions Kashiwa Reysol. Sanfrecce Hiroshima are currently two points ahead of Vegalta Sendai, with the rest of the field some way off the pace.

                                At the bottom of J1 Consadole Sapporo have been confirmed as relegated for what seems like months, but the identity of the other two teams to go down is anything but clear. The years's shock underachievers Gamba Osaka (who actually have a positive goal difference) and Albirex Niigata currently occupy the other two relegation positions but just above them Kashima Antlers, Omiya Ardija and Vissel Kobe are the most likely sides to get dragged into the drop zone.

                                Kobe, who appointed well-regarded former Gamba coach Akira Nishino in mid-season, have dispensed with his services as the result of a disastrous run of nine without a win. This has seen them drop to within two points and a single place of Gamba. The J1 season finishes on 1st December.

                                Comment


                                  #66
                                  J-League, Let's Go!

                                  Finally caught up on the US highlights show, and have to admit I may have seen my favorite banner for the J-league yet:

                                  "Sex, Alcohol, & Football"

                                  Comment


                                    #67
                                    J-League, Let's Go!

                                    Mat j wrote: Finally caught up on the US highlights show, and have to admit I may have seen my favorite banner for the J-league yet:

                                    "Sex, Alcohol, & Football"
                                    That's fantastic. Have they made a scarf yet?

                                    Comment


                                      #68
                                      J-League, Let's Go!

                                      Fans of Yokohama FC, Japan's equivalent of AFC Wimbledon, displayed this at a recent cup tie against their nemesis, Yokohama F Marinos.

                                      Comment


                                        #69
                                        J-League, Let's Go!

                                        Ha ha! Were the teams wearing the FIFA "RESPECT" armbands?

                                        Comment


                                          #70
                                          J-League, Let's Go!

                                          Omiya are in tight this year again, I see. And next week have the return fixture to the one I saw (and where they got completely done over).

                                          Comment


                                            #71
                                            J-League, Let's Go!

                                            Consadole Sapporo have been confirmed as relegated for what seems like months
                                            We know our place.

                                            Comment


                                              #72
                                              J-League, Let's Go!

                                              AG - lots of changes at Omiya since you were there. Your favourite Rafael Marques was sold along with a couple of the defenders, and the coach was sacked. The new guy in charge is a Slovenian who has brought in a couple of his fellow countrymen - Milivoje Novakovic from Koln and Zlatan Ljubijankic from Gent - to get some goals and they've been reasonably successful. Both have actually scored hat-tricks in Omiya's current eight-game unbeaten run, Novakovic at (sorry Andy) Consadole and Ljubijankic in an incredible 4-1 win at Kashiwa Reysol that will live long in the memory of all Squirrels fans.

                                              But to my knowledge all those same Squirrels fans without exception are shying away from making any kind of prediction as to how the season will end, because all the clubs still involved in the relegation fight are actually on pretty good form with the exception of the aforementioned Kobe. God knows how it will end.

                                              Andy C - 31 games played. 14 points. Goal difference of -57. Not a vintage year. I'm sorry.

                                              Comment


                                                #73
                                                J-League, Let's Go!

                                                So did Ossie get the boot Furtho?

                                                Comment


                                                  #74
                                                  J-League, Let's Go!

                                                  AE - No. By all accounts Ardiles has indicated that he would like to stay on for next season. As is the local tradition he did a little speech to the Machida supporters after the last match and there was some reportedly some booing, but this clip of subsequent post-match ceremonies suggests that the fans are supportive of the players' efforts, at least.

                                                  Comment


                                                    #75
                                                    J-League, Let's Go!

                                                    A parade of shame in the pissing rain by the looks of things Furtho, so Ossie isn't getting blamed for this then.

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