`Do Of The Month No. 1

Everyone loves a shit haircut and we at Tokyo Nerdy are no different. Especially when it`s on some rich bloke with more money than sense. He probably spent 1000`s of dollars on his suit and private jets but forgot to spend 50p on a pair of scissors. My mum used to cut my hair as a kid and I`d go to school with the inevitable jeers which went with a having a new haircut. Not that my mum was that bad with the scissors just kids naturally take the piss out of new haircuts.
Maybe Donald Trump`s mum has been to busy to get the pudding bowl out. Anyway, a big round of applause for Mrs Trump!! A superb effort.

Gainare and Niigata Trumped and 90% Hulk

If anyone can tell where Don`s hair actually starts from at the front please write in.

Verdy trumped Gainare 5-1 in a training match over 3 halves this week. No words on goalscorers as information was taken from the Tottori website. In fact the information coming from the club from camp basically says the boys are enjoying breakfast, watching Champions League on TV and trotting about in a cold looking Kochi-ken. Still, goals are goals even it is only training.
In round two of the 3 half camp games (not involving Graham Norton, Atsugi woods and a bejewelled temperance spoon) Verdy ran out 2-1 winners against J1 Niigata with Josimar netting both. So there we go everything tickety boo in Camp Green. (Bar the fact that Verdy have currently sold 912 season tickets/fan club membership for 2012 season).
Finally, I read the other day that FC Porto paid 11 million quid in May 2011for further ownership (taking their ownership to 90%) of Hulk with the view of an enormous sale coming in a couple of years. Does that mean they paid Verdy 11 million sheets? You`d think so, but in the mirky world of football transfers and part ownerships of players Verdy in fact got nothing despite being the last club he played for. Verdy never actually owned him or any part of him. According to Wikipedia he was owned (and still is 10%) by one Club Atletico Rentistas (who??) of Uruguay.  Shame really as that kind of money could have paid for the enormous financial loss that Verdy are guaranteed to make on selling just 912 (so far) season ticket/fan club memberships. Money troubles? What money troubles? Maybe we need to call in The Don....

The ORIGINAL Josimar

He`s probably only the same age as Kazu. I remember playing footy as a kid and a huge chorus of  "Josimar!!!!" whenever anyone took a long range pot shot.  Mexico `86. Superb....except why the hell didn`t Waddle and Barnes come on earlier against Argentina????!!!!

New Slogan and Our Chances for 2012.

One of the "joys" of the close season is wondering what piece of meaningless crap the wizards at the club can come up with for the Team Slogan. From "Strong Soul" to "All For Verdy" to this years effort:

Team slogans are a complete waste of time and though ours isn`t as bad as FC Tokyo`s abomination it`s still a pointless exercise. So, how are we going to do in 2012? First things first and good news for Verdy and the league in general is that play offs have been introduced for J2 for 2012!! Great!!
Some people moan about that it`s unfair for the team in 3rd to lose out on promotion to a team who finished in sixth over the....yawn....course....season...better....yawn....team...deserves..yawn. For me the game is entertainment and I want to see my team in with a shout of promotion for as long as possible.  The league looks wide open this year with no "banker" to finish first. Verdy probably don`t have enough for top two but top six? I reckon so. It`ll be close though with a pile of teams all finishing within a gnats chuff of each other last season. The Greens finished 5th for the second season running but the next six teams were seperated by just THREE points.
The Boys have already kicked off the pre-season with a shoeing of JFL side Tochigi 11-3 over four matches played over different lengths of time. Abe, Josimar, Alex, Nishi and Kajikawa amongst the scorers. The Boys will be packing buckets and spades next week for the annual training Camp, this year to be held in Kochi-ken. Roll on March 4th!!!!!! The big kick off against J2 new comers Matsumoto Yamaga. For the complete list of 2012 fixtures click on the Misery Link as normal.

New Kit 15,970円!!! Wolfs Nipple Chips, Get Them While They`re Hot!!

It`s a kit, it`s new, it`s expensive.

Squad numbers for the kit buying population.

The Magic Roundabout New Kids On The Block 2012 Part Two

I thought there was only supposed to be one gay one in Boy Bands?

Verdy have been busy "Hangin` Tough" in the off season picking up all manner of waifs and strays to fill the gaps. We`ve got two new Brazilians, some ex-J1 and the inevitable promotions from the youth squad.
First of all let`s go to the Brazilians. Both new guys will be familiar to J2 watchers with Josimar (what Pat Jennings` nemesis?? holy shit!! no not THAT Josimar...) and Alex coming to Verdy after solid enough careers at Ehime and Kustasu. Am I excited? NO and A BIT, in that order.
Josimar had 14 goals in 77 for Ehime. OK, Ehime weren`t a great side but still hardly breathtaking stuff. I would expect him to line up on the bench behind Abe and Maki as backup. Next up Alex from Thespa Kusatsu. He is likely to be the direct replacement for Hiroki Kawano and if Kawano wasn`t so good then Alex would be a rock solid signing. He`s a very tidy player but will have his work cut out to fill Kawano`s boots. Will more than likely operate down the right flank or just behind the front two. Alex had 12 goals in 41 since signing for Thespa midway through 2010.
At the back we have Masaki Chugo coming in with tons of experience from Kashima Antlers, JEF United and last year a full playing season clocking up 23 appearances at J1 Cerezo Osaka. Chugo will possibly jump ahead of Naoya Saeki as defensive midfield partner for Yuki Kobayashi and at 29 should be OK for a few years. Good signing and in theory should be able plug a few of the leaks from last season. Another stopper is ex-U-20 international Mitsuyuki Yoshihiro signed from Ehime following spells at Hiroshima and Consadole.  Yoshihiro will be providing competition for Mori and Nakatani in the full back slots and again I would expect him to be back up initially.
Into the midfield again and we have three new signings with Verdy picking up Jubilo veteran Norihiro Nishi, Shingo Suzuki from Kyoto and Junki Koike from Mito Hollyhock. Nishi is a right midfielder and a virtual ever present in the Jubilo side for the last 12 years. 31 years old, stepping down to J2 after feeding at the top table for 12 years. Let`s hope he still has the heart. Suzuki comes in from Kyoto Sanga and at 34 years old looks to be a bit of a waste of a shirt the old "tons of experience" cliche, did his best work in a seven year stretch at Albirex Niigata with 55 goals in a 200 and something appearances stretch that finished six years ago...Finally in the midfield comes Junki Koike from Mito Hollyhock. An original product of the Urawa youth team, Koike made 4 appearances before transferring to Kusatsu for a season where he picked up 6 goals in 49 appearances before moving on to Mito Hollyhock. He picked up a further 6 goals in 67 in his time there and also one of the most ridiculous monickers around being dubbed  "The Mito Messi". We`ll see, but I`ll be most surprised if he is pictured with The Balloon D`Or next season.
Promotions from the youth squad include schoolboy international striker Shuto Minami, promising midfielder Ryota Kajikawa who we saw a glimpse of last season, forward Ryuji Sugimoto who again played a few minutes last year, defenders Shunsuke Tachino, Toshio Shimakawa and finally a Gamba reserve keeper Futori who will probably never see the light of day. That`s it people your 2012 Tokyo Nerdy Magic Roundabout.