See you on the way down.....Verdy 1 - 0 SC Tochigi

So another 1-0 win, another 3 points and up to 8th place. Top of the Pack of the midtable teams with little to play for. It`s not much of a title to win but we`ll take it. It was a sweaty affair at Green Stadium which at the moment resembles more concrete grey stadium with the refurbishments going on there. Looks like it`ll be a tidy stadium when completed though, with no track and for football only. Well done Tochigi City Office for having the foresight to upgrade without feeling the need to put in a running track. Good work.
A crowd of 5,000 showed up for the first summer night game of the season and had quite an entertaining affair to watch with Verdy coming out of the blocks fast with Kikuoka through 1 on 1 with the keeper after only four minutes unfortunately with an all too predictably weak effort which should have been buried. Verdy were on the front foot for most of the first half with Iio just missing the target from the edge of the box after being put through, though his chance was far more difficult than Kikuoka`s. Hiramoto was largely anonymous for the first half yet it was he who got free down the right immediately after halftime and sent over a pinpoint cross for Kawano to again head weakly at the keeper when completely free. This was the second GOLDEN opportunity to score and yet again they missed. Still the season long problem of finishing is haunting the forwards and it was through a stroke of luck that Hiramoto was to score the winner. In the 72nd minute Iio crashed a shot against the bar from outside the box, Hiramoto followed up and had his shot parried by the keeper, given another bite of the cherry he scuffed his second shot across the face of the goal and in off the Tochigi defender. Following this Tochigi came to life and looked dangerous for the first time in the game, though not dangerous enough to break through the reinforced, inpenetrable, iron curtain, barbed wire, monstrosity that is Verdy`s defence this season. Hats off to the boys at the back, they are doing the business. Yokohama FC got promoted a few years back on the back of not conceding and nicking 1-0`ers. Verdy are highly unlikely to be able to get as far as 3rd place but they`ll certainly be a lot higher than 19th come the last game of the season.

Two Pints o` Lager and a Packet o` Crisps Please!!!

So the second half of the season kicks off this weekend with the Boys lying in 10th position safely above the wooden spooners but unfortunately too far away to be promotion space botherers. First game back and we`re off to SC Tochigi for a run around at their Green Stadium on Sunday evening. SC Tochigi have been the surprise of J2 this season currently flying high and within touching distance of the final promotion spot. They lost their last two before the break so hopefully The Boys can do the business. However, the old problem of scoring goals is still likely to be at the fore without any summer signings to add to the squad. Nevermind though readers we still have another half a season of more than likely meaningless J2 style entertainment to get through but now is the start of the best time of the season.......THE SUMMER NIGHTGAME SEASON!!!!!!!  For those unfamiliar with Japan, in summer it`s as hot and humid as the devils ballbag in summer and the J-Leauge in it`s entirity play league games in the evenings for the whole of July, August and into September. There can be fewer more pleasant ways to spend the evening than at the stadium, cold beer and food of choice in hand, Jesus!! Even watching Tokyo Verdy at this time of year is a pleasure!! Welcome back one and all Tokyo Nerdy 1969 readers!! Here we go again!!!

World Cup Finished / Back to The Green

Gotta love the English press.......do they never learn??? After another irritating, soulless, tepid non-performance from England in South Africa, Tokyo Nerdy 1969 has returned to normal life and back to normal football. Not a lot happening in camp Green at the moment, The Boys are currently on a mini trip to Shizuoka and were blitzed 5-2 over three halves in a training game against J1`ers Jubilo Iwata this week. Takuma Abe and Yu Tomidokoro were the Greens to hit the target in the 3rd half at 5-0 down. Oh well it`s only training.....

Verdy 1 - 0 Kataller 0 That`ll Do for the holidays!!

Verdy signed off on the first half of the season with another 1-0 scoreline to go into the World Cup break on a high, climbing five places to the top end of the pile of teams in mid table limbo. Not good enough to break into the top three but not bad enough to be worried about finishing last. A traditionally low Komazawa crowd of 3,000 saw Takuma Abe score his first goal for the club repaying the faith showed in him following his substitute appearance against Oita. He looked lively and did very well to bump and barge his way through the Kataller back line before lifting the ball over the keeper. 1-0 we were OK, Toyama were poor coming forward until the now traditional heart stopping moments at the end when Doi saved the day again. Highlights are here.... now let`s get back to the World Cup. Do we want Japan to win tonight? we really don`t mind either way, if they had a Verdy player or two in there (ha-ha!!) then we`d be interested but seeing as there is more chance of Kazu being brought back into the fold than any Greens donning the Blue these days, we will retain our position of mildly disinterested observers. Happy Holidays and a great World Cup to all readers of Tokyo Nerdy 1969 (except supporters of any teams playing England, you guys can all absolutely sod off for the next few weeks.......:)!!

Marcus Tulio Tanaka Wig Check: Candy Floss Factor 10 and rising......

The 2010 Marcus Tulio Tanaka World Cup Slaphead Challenge!!

The challenge is to get Tanaka to admit his baldness and do the decent thing  before Japan get knocked out of the World Cup. This is one of the best Japanese players we are talking about here!! Love him or (most people) hate him, the man is struggling to admit to something that he should be proud of!! Think Duncan Goodhew!! Yuel Brinner!!Mini Me!! David Armstrong!! Schillaci!! My Uncle Don!! That Italian ref...Romper Stomper!! This Is England!! The man is the effectively the damn (along with Kawashima) protecting the Japanese goal line, the last thing Japanese fans want is him worrying about his aliceband / Brylcreem / camera angle / hair-for-life-advert. If you know Tanaka, his family, friends, are a fellow proud baldy, or just want to help Japan last more than the usual in the World Cup spread the word and  please TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE!! THE BLOG THAT NO-ONE READS IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD!!

It was the best of times and the worst of.......

It`s been a funny old night on the telly at Nerdy HQ this evening, first up Disney channel reigned supreme until tiredness kicked in thank the lord...........following this came a show about the poor old husbands/wives in Japan who have to put up with mentalist husbands/wives/families in Japan. To be fair absolutely BIG UP the guy who had built a 15m scale model of Mt. Fuji complete with volcanic eruption mode and lake in his garden and a big Nerdy shoutout to the 82 year old guy who lives with his dog as a caveman in the garden while his wife cooks his dinners for him. Whoever said Japanese TV was shite???!!
Subsequently  though came the Sunday Night Sports shite...dear oh dear. The usual clueless presenters, Morishima and two Japan womens team players "discussing" the "keywords" of the first 15 minutes of the game, "the middle bit" and "the last 10 minutes". THE SPORTS REPORTING IN THIS COUNTRY IS ABSOLUTE DOG SHIT!!!!　It`s been said in many places before but sometimes it hits you again.......
Anyone see Tulio on NHKdespersately holding his wig down at a rather windy looking airport in South Africa today????. Which leads us to........

Oi!!!!!!....50p `ead!! Boing! Boing! Boing!

1-1 today folks though it was definately a case of two points dropped as opposed to a point won. Again Verdy`s lack of a decent striker saw them fluff their lines with three golden opportunities to either take the lead or score a second...... ALL FREE HEADERS AND ALL WIDE OF THE TARGET FROM THE EDGE OF THE SIX YARD BOX!!! The first doinged off the corner of Toshiyuki Takagi`s riceball shaped head within minutes of the kick off, the second skewed off  the point on Hiramoto`s forehead and the final one hit the 90 degree corner of Takahashi`s perfectly square head. Nothing to do with skill today folks, Coach Kawakatsu`s lack of "Overall Squad Headshape"  forethought  has cost us two points.....The first half was to be honest tough to watch, both teams struggled to build up any kind if rythmn and with both goalkeepers having little to do. Oita scored on a nice move from their Korean striker Bum Fun Joy (or something.....) who skipped past (as in beat easily he didn`t have a rope or anything) four Verdy covering players, laid Tomisawa on the deck with a nice fake and slotted sweetly past Doi. A rare moment of quality in an otherwise dull first 45.
Second half, and Verdy were to have the majoirity of possession for the duration, Kawano eqaulised with a sweet first time strike after being played through by Fukuda. He came across a screen of defenders to lash home from just inside the box. Then came the fluffed chances from Hiramoto and Takahashi and once again Doi had to be on guard at the end to save the points. Verdy once again proved that they aren`t SO bad, they are definately a different team to the junk that could be seen at the start of the season. Verdy are simply a couple of decent strikers away from being more than midtable also rans. It`s annoying to know exactly what the problem is but know that Verdy in the current financial situation can do nothing about it. Ho-hum!!
One more game then it`s the break for the World Cup, let`s hope the Boys can round off the first half of the season with 3 points next week to go into the break on a high.

NICE HORN!!!!!!

Finally, those African Horns that the tosspot  TV companies are making such a fuss about "spoiling their broadcast" looked bloody noisy at the Oita game today. I`ve ordered one for myself and shall be blowing the thing like a prozzy on piecework next week should England beat The Yanks!!!