Kuma Power

Aye, Omiya aren't having a great season. In real danger of being cut adrift at the bottom of J2 - mind you, there's a whole blob of teams ahead hovering above the relegation spots, so there's still time if they can get themselves back within striking distance. My team in Japan - Iwaki FC - are one of the teams in that blob. Before this season, I used to joke that Iwaki were the Cove Rangers of Japan. They came up through the leagues very fast with good financial backing, and played in a stadium in an industrial zone by the sea It then got very surreal when - just like Cove in the Championship last season - Iwaki started ok in J2 before hitting a wall, getting thrashed multiple times, sacking the manager and bringing the previous manager back. Thankfully, things are working out better for Iwaki's coach than they did for Paul Hartley, and they are now unbeaten in 6 and inching away from trouble.

Toyama's a great wee place! Kataller Toyama have struggled in the third division for a few seasons but are doing well this year and are currently in the promotion spots for a return to the J2 league. Weirdly enough, one of their biggest owners - and one of the largest industries in Toyama - is YKK, apparently the world's biggest producer of zips. Tomorrow's live streamed game is Vissel Kobe vs Kawasaki Frontale (kickoff 11am UK time I think). Vissel Kobe have a chance to open up a lead at the top of the table over second-placed Yokohama F Marinos, before things slow down in the top league for a couple of weeks to accommodate the various friendlies with European teams (lower leagues will be continuing full steam!).

Bizarre scenes in the Emperor's Cup (Japan's equivalent of the Scottish Cup) this week and last. Third division Kataller Toyama vs top-flight Albirex Niigata finished 2-2 and went into extra time, but with heavy rain making play impossible, the tie was stopped at half time in extra time with Niigata leading 3-2. Rather than replaying the whole tie, the teams met again to play the last 15 mins of extra time. Realising how easy it is to get football fans to part with money and smelling a giant-killing, Kataller got a limited edition run of '15 mins to go for win!' t-shirts made up and sold them at 3000 Yen (about £15) a pop. The final 15 mins were played yesterday and sadly it didn't go well for Kataller. Niigata scored soon after the restart to make it 4-2, and a late goal to make it 4-3 wasn't enough to stop Kataller being knocked out. https://www.kataller.co.jp/game_info/天皇杯jfa第103回全日本サッカー選手権大会-3回戦/ https://www.kataller.co.jp/all/game-info/天皇杯グッズ情報！/ ETA props also to the hardy band of about 50 Niigata Ultras, who made the 5 hour round trip to Toyama to watch their team play 15 mins of football! https://twitter.com/gomesssuuu/status/1681594195902107649?s=20

Couldn't find a thread for the Japanese J.League, so thought I'd start one in case anyone is interested. It's currently halway through the 2023 season, and for this season the J.League are streaming live free-to-watch games on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JLEAGUEInternational Great if you're looking for a match to watch with your morning coffee! Games are usually mid-morning UK time on Saturdays and Sundays, I think tomorrow (Sun 16 July) the live games are title-chasing Vissel Kobe vs Sagan Tosu; and relegation-haunted Kashiwa Reysol vs Gamba Osaka. Not sure I can match the level of insight or frequency that others put into some of the international threads, but will try to share anything interesting that comes up.

Also worth noting that - for today's game at least - they seem to be doing the live updates in a thread on the main Rovers Twitter account (the RaithRovers one); and not on the RRFCUpdates account.

That - along with Dundee in the Scottish Cup in 2010 - is the most pandemonium I think I've experienced in an away end. If I remember rightly (or I could just be making this up), there was a delay re-starting after that goal because the poor ref went over to get the players back and ended up getting poked in the eye with the corner flag!

I have the dubious honour of having left both Highland grounds around the 65 minute mark after seeing us turn in rotten performances in the early 2000s (I hasten to add that I grew up near Inverness so in both cases I was back home before the final whistle). One was an end of season game up at Ross County, where Martin Prest ran riot and we ended up losing 4-0. The other was a midweek game at Inverness where Dennis Wyness had scored a hat-trick by half time and we ultimately conceded 5. Grim times.

I've been sending stuff from Scotland to the in-laws in Japan for a good few months now (ETA - and the stuff has been arriving quickly!), so I think the international mailing problems the Royal Mail was having a few months back seem to have been sorted. If you're able to get the top mailed out to someone in the UK, they should be able to post it on to you I think.

Having Akio up front for us was a bit like taking one of those lifesize mannequins they use for free kick practice, standing it on top of a Roomba vacuum cleaner, and programming it to follow a figure-of-eight pattern across the 18 yard line on the fastest setting. Occasionally he would be in the right place, occasionally balls would bounce off him and go into the goal, but most of the time he looked lost and with little awareness of what was going on around him. I feel a bit bad for saying that, because he came across as a thorougly decent guy and showed up for us every week when we were deep in an injury crisis. But as others have said above, although he had a couple of moments where he looked like there might be something there, he seemed nowhere near the level we needed for the Championship let alone the Premier. Also worth noting he will be 25 by the time the season starts, so it's not as if he's a raw youngster with potential to develop.

Kawasaki Frontale vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the J.League the other day. Sanfrecce started very strongly, and Frontale's cause wasn't helped by striker Yu Kobayashi going off injured early on. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the introduction of replacement striker Leandro Damiao completely changed the dynamic of the game and Frontale started to come back into it. The wee shrine at the back of the home stand clearly worked as Frontale ran out 1-0 winners with a second-half goal. Over 18,000 came out in the pouring rain, with the singing sections of both teams in fine voice throughout.

That's a really interesting point - given how the squad is shaping up, it might make sense for one or both of Ross and Gullan to go out on loan (just not to another Championship club, as that's bitten us on the bum before!) Both are coming off the back of injury-hit seasons and are into the final year of their contracts with us. Would reduce our outlay on their wages, and give them a chance to rebuild their confidence and get some game time. We also then have the option to recall them if they are doing well and/or need cover.

I wonder if Spencer might be heading to the States, given his youth career and family connections? Agree his time with us had come to a natural end, and with Matthews coming back from injury and McGill signed we do have options in that area of the pitch alongside Brown. Also agree with a lot of the comments above about how we're spending our budget. As well as MacDonald moving on, the fact we've only offered Dick a one year extension and have signed Scott McGill for one year initially suggests we're not just handing out lucrative contracts to anyone for the sake of it. But the fact we're able to get guys players like Hamilton, Connolly and Mullin - who won't have been short of options - tied down on multi-year deals hopefully shows our new owners have got a clear vision, and that they're able to sell it to players.

Some really impressive lists here - well done and full respect! Can't come close to those, but can add in a few overseas ones I've been to: Japan Nissan Stadium (Yokohama F.Marinos) Ajinomoto Stadium (FC Tokyo) K's Denki Stadium (Mito Hollyhock) Rohto Field Nara (Nara Club) Best Denki Stadium (Avispa Fukuoka) Miyanosawa Shiroi-koibito Park (Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo) J Village (Iwaki FC) Germany WWK Arena (FC Augsburg) Olympiastadion (former FC Bayern) Millerntor (St Pauli)

New manager and new goalkeeper crisis SOLVED:

Still got both of mine from when I was wee! The lurid green and yellow stripes on the one from our second stint in the Premier are enough to distract a striker bearing down on goal

I’d also like us to do something a bit different for the goalie top (and make these available for sale if the finances allow). Noticed during the Partick vs Ayr game last night that the Partick keeper had a fairly lurid Technicolor effort. Clearly not everyone’s cup of tea, but reminded me of the wild goalie tops we got in the 1990s rather than then single colour efforts we’ve had in recent years.

I'll bite before anyone else says it: Ryan Stevenson. Ironically had one of the better goals conceded to games played ratios from most of our keepers around that era. Had forgotten all about Rory Brian. Never felt he really got a good crack of the whip after coming all the way from Australia.

It's worth remembering too that the playoffs for the Premier and the Championship are still ongoing. No disrespect at all intended to Thomson and Dick, but of all the out of contract senior players who we'd realistically be looking to keep, I'd say they are the two who are least likely to have other options available that might depend on who gets promoted/relegated, who finishes where etc. So in that sense it's maybe not surprising that Thomson and Dick have been announced first now that the new owners are in place. Like others have said, perfectly happy to have these guys on board as squad players and for the continuity they'll bring on and off the pitch, but it's the signings that come next that will really matter.

Ha! As soon as I saw your post I was minded of that very shirt It was 'generously' reduced to £270 for a while but is now back up at £300! Didn't even know we did a version of the 1995-96 shirt without a sponsor on the front (and if you're being really perinckety, I think the number on the back is the wrong colour for that season). On that note I see Classic Football Shirts has a home and away shirt from the cup-winning season up for sale at the moment, albeit at their usual 'premium' prices...

Someone I could see ending up at Cove is Shane Sutherland, if he's able to get back to fitness. Read in the Inverness Courier and over on the ICT thread that his contract is up at the end of this season and hasn't been renewed yet. We apparently tried to sign him at Raith a few seasons ago but the deal didn't go through. If I remember rightly, geography was a factor - or it could just be that he ultimately had a much better deal lined up at ICT Incidentally, the team I follow in Japan - Iwaki FC - have followed a very similar trajectory as Cove, climbing rapidly through the leagues before hitting a bit of a brick wall in the second division this season (they got thumped 9-1 at the weekend...), so I do sympathise. All the best for next season.

Like you, I've not seen a lot of Airdrie this season - but was always impressed with Airdrie's current keeper Josh Rae when he was at Queen of the South, and it seems we might be in the market for a goalie. Mind you, he did go and get himself sent off tonight!

Solar panels and electrifying the heating in the main stand is a brilliant idea if we're planning to do it and can make it work with the age and layout of the main stand. The investment should pay for itself quickly and make good financial sense in the long term. Showing we can generate most of our electricity ourselves from renewable sources will be great publicity for the club as well.

Agree on this. The other thing I'd add is that Akio will be 25 by the time next season starts. In that sense, it's a bit like Frederiksen in that we're not exactly dealing with a raw teenager who might have potential to significantly improve if we give them some game time. Don't get me wrong, I love Akio's attitude and enthusiasm and I hope he finds a club soon*, but with a small squad we can't afford to be having senior players who we need to treat with a kid glove. *I might have mis-heard this, but I think they said on Raith TV that someone from a US team was looking at Akio, so it would't surprise me if he heads back to north America.

Tiny, tiny point in the grand scheme of things, but nice to see the old club crest back on everyone's lapels in the PR photos today (although to be fair the ties have the current badge on them). Wonder if we're going to be using the old crest more again from now on?

Great to see this over the line and looking forward to hearing what the consortium has to say. Also - for a minute I thought that was Ian Murray on the back row right in the consortium photo. Did not realise how similar he and Andy Barrowman are starting to look in their post-playing days. Huge potential for elaborate pranks and circumventing touchline bans ahead.