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    J-League, Let's Go!

    In very brief terms it seems to boil down to the fact that the players rate Tsutomu Ogura, who joined the club's coaching staff late last summer, more than they do Verdenik. In bald statistical terms they're right, as Ogura's arrival certainly coincided with, if not brought about, an immediate and profound improvement. All this has been coming to the boil over the last few weeks and it's Verdenik who's ended up getting the push. I wouldn't like to hazard a guess what would have happened if the nationalities of the two had been reversed, but my understanding from a couple of separate sources is that the two Slovenian players support the club's decision. One of them is reported to have had a stand-up row with Verdenik after the 3-0 home loss to Cerezo Osaka last weekend. The following day, Verdenik was fired. An interim guy oversaw yesterday's disappointing defeat at Sagan Tosu and although everyone expects Ogura to get the job on a permanent basis, the appointment hasn't yet been made.

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      J-League, Let's Go!

      0-3 to Cerezo Osaka *again*? That's the game I saw last year. Oh well.

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        J-League, Let's Go!

        Hooray! Omiya managed to break their 8 game losing streak by beating the League leaders Yokohama. Of course the J-League has a reputation for teams at the top of the table losing the matches they seem nailed on to win, so perhaps not a great surprise.

        Even better for the squirrels is that their win has helped their neighbours and good friends Urawa in their bid for the title and it now looks like a three horse race to the finish with Hiroshima making up the triumverate.

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          J-League, Let's Go!

          Just been to the National Stadium to watch FC Tokyo's last minute 3-2 win over Urawa Red Diamonds (wearing green). Pretty good game, a little slow in places, but the finish made up for that. Also don't think I've ever previously seen a 5-goal game where all 5 goals were headers!

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            J-League, Let's Go!

            I know Furtho won't thank me for this, but I think it is worth drawing attention to Omiya's season so far:

            First 15 games
            W11 D3 L1

            Second 15 games
            W1 D0 L14

            Luckily they amassed so many points in the first half of the season that they won't be relegated, but I bet they can't wait for the season to finish.

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              J-League, Let's Go!

              Matsui looks set to be signing for Jubilo Iwata, who have just been relegated to J2 for the first time.

              Tanaka plays for Albirex Niigata, and they're definitely not unfamiliar with the concepts of snow and cold up there. Albirex fans seem alarmed at the thought Tanaka could leave, what with him being a regular starter in a side that shocked the league to finish seventh.

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                J-League, Let's Go!

                So Matsui is not the player he used to be signing for D2 side? I mean you could see that here, after a perfect start when he scored two goals in his first game he was mostly injured or on the bench. However near the end he started playing well again, scoring 2 in a 2-0 against Legia Warsaw. From penalties but he was best player on the pitch by miles. Nice of him he tried to play well until last minute even if he knew he was leaving for some time now.

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                  J-League, Let's Go!

                  pm for Furtho

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                    J-League, Let's Go!

                    A controversial start to the new J-League season surrounding an incident at last Saturday's game between giants Urawa Reds and Sagan Tosu at Reds' home Saitama Stadium. During the match photographs started circulating on Twitter of a banner hung in the bowels of the stand over the entrance to a home fans' area of seating, which read (in English) JAPANESE ONLY.

                    While it's hardly unusual for Twitter to act as a forum for shock and outrage, Japanese and foreign fans alike were united in their condemnation of what was interpreted as a clearly racist statement. At the following day's J2 games supporters of FC Gifu and Consadole Sapporo responded by displaying anti-racist banners, stressing that all were welcome at their clubs' games. Fans of Yokohama F Marinos followed suit at their Asian Champions League tie in midweek.



                    While Twitter drove initially the story, the mainstream media at the start of the week were tentative in their coverage, using wording to the effect that the banner "could be interpreted as" racist. To that extent, it's surprising that both the J-League and the Urawa Reds club have responded quickly to the incident.

                    The league have already declared that Reds will have to play their next home league match, against Shimizu S-Pulse later this month, behind closed doors. For their part Urawa announced that the supporters' group to which the fan who brought the banner belonged have been ordered to disband. All of them have been banned from attending Reds games for life. Moreover a group of senior club employees have had their salaries reduced for the next three months.

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                      J-League, Let's Go!

                      Furtho - I see there were over 40,000 at Ajinomoto at the weekend to see FC Tokyo play Cerezo Osaka. This is almost 20,000 more than normal. Was this all because of the presence of Diego Forlan in the Cerezo team? I know he's popular but this seems pretty extraordinary.

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                        OK, I’ll resurrect this thread with a few odds and ends from Twitter as the mood takes me.

                        Super-catchy chant by fans of J2 club Zweigen Kanazawa yesterday.

                        https://twitter.com/ardija01talk/status/975286648341651456

                        Long-range blaster by Shimizu S-Pulse’s Shota Kaneko against Vegalta Sendai today.

                        https://twitter.com/reysolbaka0127/status/975239497955733505

                        Lovely turn and shot by Taiki Tamukai of shock J2 leaders Mito Hollyhock yesterday.

                        https://twitter.com/J_League/status/974980920301121537

                        Sanfrecce Hiroshima are the surprise leaders of J1 after four games and to the delight of, well, certainly me, it’s theoretical big guns Gamba Osaka and Urawa Reds who currently are the bottom two. matt j’s new favourites V Varen Nagasaki are third bottom after they conceded in the fourth minute of injury time to lose 2-1 in their longest away trip of the season, all the way up north at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.

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                          J2 minnows Kamatamare Sanuki held a competition for fans to win a year's supply of the local delicacy, udon noodles. The two winners were both away supporters of far distant clubs Mito Hollyhock and Albirex Niigata.

                          https://twitter.com/kamatama_kouhou/status/975941672130379777

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                            https://twitter.com/efc_iyokanta/status/977749913340665856

                            Ehime FC’s mascots indulge in some cherry blossom-viewing, with what looks a bit like added passive aggression.

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                              Wa-hey! Omiya are at home when I'm in Tokyo in May. Orange! Happy!! Football!!!

                              But who are these Gifu chaps? What should I know about them?

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                                AG, sorry to miss you - I’ll be at the home game before that one. FC Gifu are a small club from a rural prefecture trying hard to develop their infrastructure and become competitive further up J2. Omiya were preseason favourites for promotion but the Squirrels have found the first half dozen games rather tougher than anticipated, so if that continues the Gifu match could be close.

                                Meanwhile, Oita Trinita today scored a free kick from inside their own half against strugglers Kamatamare Sanuki.

                                https://twitter.com/J_League/status/977878513725341697

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                                  That is too bad. I thought about going earlier in May but it's Golden week, isn't it? Hotels are hell to find. Plus this lines up better with the basho.

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                                    Tremendous assist by Ataru Esaka for Kashiwa Reysol’s first goal in their 2-1 win over Vissel Kobe this evening.

                                    https://twitter.com/J_League/status/979695509894938625

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                                      Lots of surprises in the early stages of the new season, with relegation favourites Hiroshima top of J1 and unbeaten. At the bottom are two of the biggest clubs in the country - Urawa and Gamba Osaka - accompanied by J1 newcomers Nagasaki, who are doing that trick of really giving it their best shot in every game, but always coming up that bit short.

                                      The similarly topsy turvy nature of J2 was underlined today, Sunday, when previously unbeaten leaders Okayama lost at home to Ehime, who moved off the bottom of the standings as a consequence.

                                      J1 top three (5 matches played)

                                      1. Hiroshima 13
                                      2. Sendai 11
                                      3. Kawasaki 10

                                      J1 bottom three

                                      16. Nagasaki 2
                                      17. Urawa 2
                                      18. Gamba 1

                                      J2 top three (7 games played)

                                      1. Okayama 16
                                      2. Machida 15
                                      3. Oita 14

                                      J2 bottom three

                                      20. Kyoto 6
                                      21. Ehime 6
                                      22. Sanuki 4

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                                        ... and Urawa Reds have sacked coach Takafumi Hori. Shame!

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                                          Here’s a brief taste of regional-level football in Japan, as Tochigi Uva meet Yokohama Takeru in the Kanto League (which covers the very substantial Greater Tokyo area). Bit surprised local TV are showing highlights of this sort of stuff.

                                          https://twitter.com/msakera1/status/980785638990520320/video/1

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                                            https://photos.app.goo.gl/xbBMKYpctW6uH9Gu1

                                            V Varen vs FC Tokyo

                                            Beautiful day for football, if a bit chilly in the upper level. Great stadium location, easy access (though we parked at a pachinko parlor), good food and beer.

                                            Lots of goals, terrible defending. Don't watch if you care about attentive defense. Juanma was poor, as was the Aussie in a substitute appearance. FC Tokyo's main man (Brazilian Diego) scored a hattrick.

                                            V Varen remain winless in league.

                                            I had fun. I plan to go back.

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                                              Hirotaka Mita’s gorgeous, still-rising-as-it-hits-the-back-of-the-net volley for Vissel Kobe v Kawasaki Frontale.

                                              https://twitter.com/J_League/status/990208257569558529

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                                                V Varen managed to win four straight in the league after that debacle I saw. A couple more runs like that and they should stay up.

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                                                  Sketches of Nagasaki's planned new stadium.

                                                  https://twitter.com/asano_shotaro/status/989427538219778048/photo/1

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                                                    Hey Furtho what is with the mid-table mediocrity nonsense from the Squirrels? Was expecting immediate bounce-back like last time.

                                                    (also - am I right in assuming there will be no trouble getting match-day tickets for a Saturday in may or should I look into getting tickets in advance?)

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