I need to PP ! PP-70 that is.

[chesterfan2]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">HEIA Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have to say I have no idea what this means, but I presume that it's good. As for freindlies the pre-season is so long in Finland that I'd get bored if I didn't play them !

[Loeffle]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chesterfan2:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">HEIA Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have to say I have no idea what this means, but I presume that it's good. As for freindlies the pre-season is so long in Finland that I'd get bored if I didn't play them ! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tromsdalen is the team "of my heart" in Norway. And Heia Daaaaaaal is what the (on average) 100 fans "sing" during the matches

[chesterfan2]

WooHoo 100 posts. Thanks to Loeffle, Flying Fin and everyone else who has contributed to making this story as enjoyable to write as it has been for me.

Thinking caps on lads.

The problems we so apparently had in the centre of defence were beginning to worry me greatly. So I called a meeting of all the coaches in my office to try and work out a solution. First I asked them who they thought were the pair that they would pick at the back. Then I asked them if they thought we needed strengthening in this position.

Assistant Manager Miikka Murmi said that he preferred Timo Valkeapaa and surprisingly Matti Uoti, he said he’d go for further strength at the back. Coach Erkki Nieminen went with Uoti and Roger Nielsen. For Fitness coach Topi Priha it was Uoti and Nielsen as well. Per Arne Gjerdalen thought the same despite being in line for one of those starting spots himself. Modesty forbade perhaps? Jonas Klippvik went with the popular pair too and goalkeeping coach Bobby Gedddes thought along the same lines as the Assistant and went with Uoti and Valkeapaa

So Matti Uoti was a unanimous choice. This surprised me as Matti had been one of the least confident performers in the pre-season so far. But I would give the lad another chance, alongside either Nielsen or Valkeapaa. Personally though it would still surprise me if in the remaining pre-season Uoti did enough to grab a first team spot for himself. And I would get out there and look for some more defensive cover straight away.

[Suma]

Nice, I have enjoyed this story from start till now very much.... hopefully you will reach the top.

[chesterfan2]

Let’s have the first contestants please.

In the beauty contest that will decide who will be in the starting line up in the centre of defence for the first league game. Today’s pair Uoti and Valkeapaa, the game a home friendly against the Icelandic team UMFN the play at the equivalent level to us in the Icelandic league set up so we should see some level of challenge here today. With only five friendlies (only 5! seems like we’ve been at these for ever) I’m looking now to put out my strongest line up and fine tune it for the start of the season proper. Of course, it would be nice to be more settled in defence, but we are where we are and there are other questions I’d like an answer to, like who plays at Left back, I’ve gone with Riihimaki today but Etelamaki also has a very good shout for the spot. Who’s going to play on the right side of midfield, I have a number of candidates, Laitinen gets the nod today.

In the game itself we started brightly and were not flattered to take a tenth minute lead a deep cross from Pasanen at right back was expertly controlled in the box by Mikkola who took the ball past one man in the act of controlling it and then slotted it past the keeper from the angle for a very well taken goal. The game was nip and tuck after that, but we always had the upper hand. UMFN were reduced to 10 men when their clodding great centre half hauled back Eranan on the edge of the box, he was the last man, and had to go. Unfortunately, Riihimaki blazed the free kick well wide.

So half time and 1-0 up and I tell the lads to not get complacent I then pop back into the dugout for the second half. We applied some pressure but our shooting boots don’t appear to have arrived yet and we failed to get a single second half shot on target. The game, predictably, given those facts finished 1-0 to us and jolly comfortable it was too. The lads performed well and Uoti and Valkeapaa worked very well together. Uoti made 5 interceptions but only made one tackle whilst Valkeapaa made 4 challenges, one of them key. Both were impeccable in the air. A bery promising performance. Of the other questions Riihimaki acquitted himself well at left back but Laitinen was a little anonymous on the right.

Final Score PP-70 1 – 0 UMFN

A solid win and a good performance, Maybe I’m misjudging Matti Uoti ?

[chesterfan2]

News from home

A contact from my footballing days in England rang me to say that the manager’s position was vacant at Wolves and if I didn’t fancy that then Hartlepool were also looking. I thanked him for the info, but I told him I still thought I had a job to do here, so I wouldn’t be applying

[chesterfan2]

Next up, another friendly !

Premier Division side AC Alliansi were the visitors. I put Nielsen in in place of Valkeapaa and put Karhu on the right wing, otherwise we were unchanged. Alliansi dominated the first half but only really created half chances. Uoti relishing the chance he’d been given was excellent, Nielsen less so, shame I had thought a lot of the boy. Up front we were only capable of a few, mainly wayward, shots but we all came in at the half time break level at nil all.

I told the lads to play a bit more defensively as we weren’t getting too much of the ball and were giving the team from the higher division a lot of space to play in. I resisted the temptation to change the team as it’s more about finding out what these lads can do, isn’t it ?

We were a bit more competitive in the second period but AC Alliansi were also more on their game, they scored on 56 minutes when Nielsen’s attempted tackle didn’t prevent Vajanne from scoring. We changed things about a bit on 75, bringing some players on and going for the equaliser a bit more, but though we figured more as a force in the game it was no surprise when Alliansi got another at the death, Parikka capitalising on indecision between Uoti and Nielsen, got between them and beat Peltonen from close range.

So the game finished 0-2. Of the players I was interested in Uoti did well, Nielsen didn’t. Riihimaki struggled and Karhu{/b] and Lehtonen were also brought off midway through the second period. Some answers as to selection are forming in my head right now. Let’s see where they go after the next match.

Final Score : PP-70 0 -2 AC Alliansi

We tested ourselves against a better team and did not so bad, in places.

[chesterfan2]

Let’s try another combination

Next up was a trip to non-league KKV, from Kokovaki. They’re not a bad side at all, and one we can’t take lightly. Just for completeness’s sake I paired Nielsen and Valkeapaa at the back for this one, put Arjais on the right and gave Lahtinen a go in the middle of midfield and rested Eranen in order to give Panchenko a game.

The game started cagily with neither side making much headway in the middle of the park initially. As the game wore on we began to get an upper hand and scored on 19 minutes after a brilliant individual run by Olikainen into the box was foiled by a reflex save by their keeper only for the ball to drop to Sergiey Panchenko, and the Ukrainian slammed the ball home. Panchenko was denied a second by a brilliant save a minute later and we were made to pay for that miss five minutes later as KKV scored an equaliser with a screaming 30 yard volley. Their first sniff of a chance and it had gone straight in, not a chance for Peltonen or anyone in the defence. The parity didn’t last however and we were back in front on 32 minutes. Nielsen controlling a goal kick in the centre circle unchallenged was allowed time to pick out a superb defence splitting ball that put Mikkola one on one with the keeper. He made no mistake from 16 yards.

That was how the score stayed until half time. I made no changes at the interval and sent the boys out with some words of encouragement. KKV were predictably lively at the start of the second period but it was us who scored next, just after the hour mark when Valkeapaa slotted home a penalty after Panchenko had been shoved in the back in a very unthreatening situation.

The game finished as a 3-1 win to ourselves and a very controlled performance it was too. There were some high spots Valkeapaa was excellent as was Lahtinen. Etelemaki looks to have secured left back and Panchenko was great, making a nuisance of himself very well. Arjais on the other hand was o.k., but not great, quite anonymous. Still a problem.

Final Score KKV 1-3 PP-70

I think the defensive pairing has just sorted itself out, don’t you ?

[chesterfan2]

A game against Premiership opposition

And one for which I intended to start with as close to my final starting line up as I could manage. For the game against FF Jaro at the Tammelan Stadion Uoti and Valkeapaa played at the centre of defence and my experimentation was limited to playing Kotilahti on the right and Eranen in midfield. I was planning a small tactical adjustment where I ask one of the central midfielders to push on, and one to drop back, and Eranen is an Attacking Midfielder as well as a forward, and could be very useful in that role.

Jaro scored within two minutes, the left winger getting inside Pasanen and scoring with a rasping drive. On 12 minutes they raced clear again, and scored with undesirable ease. We came back into the match after that, and had the best of the rest of the half, without really troubling the Jaro keeper. I was pleased with our attitude if not the application. Anyway 0-2 at half time and I told the guys to buck their ideas up, and quickly.

Into the second half we went, with our tails up, and I was proud to see us put Jaro under some pressure. And we got a goal back on the hour, Panchenko latching onto a deep Pasanen cross and turning it past the oncoming keeper from 8 yards out. And what’s even better from my point of view we kept it up thereafter and forced an equaliser five minutes from the end Lahtinen fed Eranen who, in his best act of the day in the midfield, played Panchenko in behind the defence to score from 12 yards out. 2-2 the final score, a result we, at the very least, deserved. In fact we probably did enough for a win, but given the number of chances we wasted as a team maybe a draw was the best result.

Still, a very pleasing game from many aspects. Two down after 12 as we got used to the new system perhaps? was then followed by long periods of the game where we dominated, and we deservedly got back to level terms by dint of our hard efforts. A good performance. On an individual level I reckon Kotilahti did enough today to get into my starting midfield. Uoti and Valkeapaa look the part at the back, Lahtinen excelled in the withdrawn midfield role, but Eranen need another game in that position to bed in. He’ll get his chance.

Final Score PP-70 2-2 FF Jaro

We played against the ‘better’ team and more than held our own

[chesterfan2]

Taking my eye off the ball ?

The preperations for the new season were in full swing and taking up all of the time in which I wasn't working at the 'day job'. It left little time to contemplate where my personal life had gone, and more importantly how to get it back. I think anyone on the outside would have been able to tell me at that time that I was throwing myself into it just a bit too hard, but I couldn't see it.

And to be honest what else was there for me to do ? I was, after all, a foreigner in this town. Made extremly welcome by one and all, yes. But it wasn't my home town and I knew nobody really well now that Hanna had gone, so what was I going to do other than work at Nokia and work at PP-70 ? Getting drunk wasn't really my style, and certainly not at these prices ! and whilst cross country skiing was certainly good for me, I still wasn't very good at it.

So I must have looked quite miserable as I sat, toying with my now empty coffee cup, in the breakout area at the Nokia office in Tampere. I was pondering if I'd make any changes for the next friendly, and at the same time where I would eat tonight. I quite fancied a pizza at Napoli, but I probably wouldn't want to go on my own which meant I'd have to pop into the supermarket at some point. Talk about more questions than answers !

So deep in thought I sat, when a voice snapped me out of my revelry.

"Do you mind if I sit down ?"

[chesterfan2]

It was Kaija, one of the 'code monkeys' that worked downstairs on the software that drives the phones. She passed off the usual 'woman in technical job dominated by men' sartorial get up of the 'kookie chick'. Bunched hair with ribbons in it, a loud, primary coloured t-shirt and a ra-ra skirt. Strangely enough she didn't strike me as being my type.

Kaija Salonen (KS): "You're Tristan Langley the PP-70 manager aren't you ?"

Tristan Langley (TL): "I am indeed. How is life down in 'Code Monkey' land ?"

KS: "Fine, I'm a big fan of the team, how's the new season coming along ?"

TL: "Pretty good, I'm just finalising the starting line up now, how do you think we'll do this year ?"

KS: "Isn't that you're job ? Seriously I liked the way we finished last year and if we can keep that momentum up we stand a great chance."

TL: "Well, don't tell anyone but I share your confidence."

KS: "So, is playing Eranen in midfield going to be a permenant thing?, I liked it when he played up front."

TL: "It's an option I'd like to explore, Kaija, I think he'll do well for us in whichever role I pick him in to be honest. Anyway I must go back to work, we must talk more. Actually would you like to come to the next friendly as my guest ?"

KS "I'd like that very much Tristan, thanks."

And so a beautiful friendship was born.

[chesterfan2]

Oh dear

Honestly, it hadn’t even entered my head that the next friendly was at FC Kontu, a non-league side in Helsinki, and that possibly that wouldn’t be the best place to go in the company of a new ‘lady’ friend. Not that I saw Kaija in that light at all, not at this stage anyway, but I knew who would, Hanna.

So it was with a slight sense of foreboding that I picked Kaija up. I had thought of putting her off, but our friendship was already well established, just after a few chats at work, and I didn’t want to jeopardise that. And you have to say that she scrubbed up nicely. Gone was the work ‘uniform’ of kookiness and in it’s place was an attractive, well turned out young woman. It worried me she was only 24 but what the hey, we’re only friends, right ?

We got to the ground in good time, and after a quick look round I made my excuses to Kaija and went to give the pre-match team talk. She made her way up into the stands where I also saw the familiar, beautiful, figure of Hanna. She looked at me quizzically, then smiled. I gave a quick wave back and hurried off to the dressing room. This was going to be a difficult night.

In the dressing room I gave some final words of encouragement to the team. Per Arne Gjerdalen was in for Matti Uoti who had picked up a knock in training and was rested as a result of it, no point in risking his fitness, was there ? Otherwise we went with the same team and formation as last time.

The first half was an even affair with few chances, but we managed to take one of ours in the 40th minute Ollikainen moving well down the left and playing in Mikkola who scored from the angle. 1-0 up at half time and we’re doing well so I made no changes for the second half.

On 55 minutes the game burst into life as Ollikainen again found space and put in Mikkola beyond the last man, who then pulled ’Mik’ back just as he was about to shoot. A red card for the offender was followed by a superb free kick, curled into the top left hand corner, over the heads of the wall, by Lahtinen We’re 2-0 up and FC Kontu is down to 10 men. We had a third goal chalked off for offside late on but even at 2-0 this was a comfortable win. Gjerdalen acquitted himself well but both Eranen and Panchenko were disappointingly quiet.

I had a quick word with Hanna after the game. It was good to see her, but I think both our lives have moved on. She’s really happy doing the weather on national telly and it’s only a matter of time until her career sky rockets. She said some complementary things about the team and we left it at that. But I caught her looking as I showed Kaija back to the car.

Kaija had the common decency not to ask me about Hanna in the car on the way home. It was common knowledge that we were together when we were both back in Tampere but it wasn’t really something I wanted to discuss right now. Instead we talked about the game on the way home, and I have to confess she may be right about Eranen, he may well play better up front. But if I don’t play him in the attacking midfield role who do I play there ?

Final Score FC Kontu 0 – 2 PP-70

I don’t think I’ve heard the last of this.

[chesterfan2]

In work,a couple of days later

I told you that the trip to Helsinki wouldn't be forgotten. This wasn't the day after the trip, not even the same week, but there was a little bit of tension between us. I knew it would come out eventually, and indeed today, in the breakout area, was the day.

Kaija Salonen (KS): "So did you only take me to Helsinki to be a trophy you could wave in front of your ex ?"

Tristan Langley (TL): "Of course not, when I invited you to the game I didn't even think where it was being played"

KS: "O.K. I think I believe you, but it was still nice to show me off in front of her wasn't it ?"

TL: "It wasn't like that. It's true I used to go out with Hanna but that's all in the past, we have both moved on."

KS: "So do you not want to show me off then, do you not think of me as your girlfriend ?"

TL: "In the sense you are a friend who is a girl, yes but not in the way you're thinking."

KS: "Shame."

The conversation moved quickly on, and soon enough I had to get back to work to finish my morning's shift. But I believe that as I walked out to my car to go to the ground I walked just a little bit taller, and with a spring in my step.

[chesterfan2]

A game, at last, a game

At home to premiership giants KooTeePee,in fact. A defensive mix up saw us a goal down inside six minutes. Not the start we would have hoped to make, and not the start I’d like from my starting defenders, because that’s who I’d picked for this match. However we restired parity as early as the 13th minute when Eranen crossed deep from the right wing to find Mikkola ahead of his man and heading home at the near post, a well taken goal.

The game really came to life on 25 minutes when we took the lead, good work in the right midfield area by Kotilahti saw him play a ball through to Eranen just inside the opposition half whereby the experienced striker took the ball past his man and raced through to goal unchallenged before slotting the ball under the oncoming keeper from just inside the box. The lead lasted just 7 minutes until Pukki got his second of the game for KooTeePee as he rose above Matti Uoti to head home. 2-2 then, but parity only lasted a couple of minutes before Eranen got his second and our third as he latched onto a 25 yard pass from Lahtinen, rounded the keeper and scored. 3-2 became 4-2 on 42 minutes as Mikkola too got his second goal after Uoti had played a raking pass to Kotilahti and his ball across the box was turned home by Mikkola. But the first half scoring wasn’t done yet as only 2 minutes later Kotilahti had his shirt tugged in the box and Valkeapaa placed home the resultant penalty.

The second half, in contrast, appeared to be going nowhere until on 86 minutes Eranen completed his hatrick with a shot from the edge of the box under a great deal of pressure. There was even time after that for Pasanen to pick up his second yellow card and an early bath. It finished as 6-2 to us, and we had comprehensively beaten a team from the Premiership

Final Score PP70 6-2 KooTeePee

A great performance from all the team to win this one

It’s also worth noting that just prior to this game we had been drawn away at non-leaguers KaaPo in the fourth round of the Finnish Cup. This competition has a reputation for knocking out of so-called ‘better teams’ by non-leaguers so this is one we had better watch out for.

[chesterfan2]

A night out with the reserves

I had actually pencilled in one last game intended to be a run out for the ‘reserves’, i.e. the players on the fringes of the first team, to give them a chance to show me what they can do. The match was at VoPpk, a non-league team from Kuusankoski (and if you don’t know where that is you’ll just have to look it up on a map cos I’m just not going to tell you, it’s not that I don’t know myself, honest). TBH they’re not very good and my ‘reserves’ didn’t have much trouble with them.

Samu Ruisniemi scored after only five minutes with a shot from inside a crowded penalty area, set up by Andre Arjais, playing on the right wing. He picked out Samu with a pinpoint pass and the striker then turned on it and put the ball under the keeper’s dive and into the corner of the net. 1-0. We then traded chances with VoPpk for the rest of the half without either team scoring again, defences on both sides doing well. So 1-0 at half time. I encouraged the lads and brought off Ruisniemi who’d picked up a knock and replace him with Panchenko who’s fallen a little out of favour since I took the decision to let Eranen play in his best position up front.

The second half started much like the first with us scoring. Per Arne Gjerdalen broke up an attack, passed the ball to Tomi Rajamaki on the left who pinged a 50 yard through ball beyond the VoPpk defence for forward Kalle Hamalainen to run on to and them chip the keeper from the edge of the box as the net minder came out to meet the onrushing striker. A picture goal. VoPpk upped their efforts after this and probably shaded the rest of the game. They could only produce a single reply however, a 79th minute goal where the forward broke clear of Jaakko Vesala at the back, ran the ball into the box and slammed the ball into the net from around the penalty spot. But that’s as good as it got for the part-timers, who may have done better had they been able to shoot (but I guess that’s why they are non-leaguers, eh ?) 2-1 to us, the final score. Impressive performances from Gjerdalen at the back, a man of the match performance, and Lasse Vornanen in the defensive midfield role also took the ye, but we were generally pretty good. I don’t think I have many problems in terms of depth which is, of course, good.

Final Score VoPpk 1-2 PP-70

A good work out for the guys who’ll have to spend a long time on the bench this year

[chesterfan2]

The first injury of the season

With only a couple of days to go before the opening game of the season, the cup tie against KaaPo, Per Arne Gjerdalen picked up a neck ijury in traing, physio Jani Helin says he's sprained it, and that could be as much as a couple of weeks on the sidelines. I don't think I was going to pick him in the starting line up, but after his performance in the last game he we have got a spot on the bench.

A shame for him, but a chance for someone else perhaps ? In our regular moring chat Kaija had sung the praises of Ilja Gronlund but truth be told I was more likely to stick to the perceived wisdom and select Roger Nielsen on the bench. I shied away from telling Kaija as much.

[chesterfan2]

Up for the cup

The day of the fourth round of the Finnish cup had come around and with it our visit to non-league KaaPo. I didn’t pull any surprises in team selection and my lads went at the non-leaguers with lots of gusto but not much in the way of application as seven first half chances went begging with the opposition keeper only having had to worry about two of them. 0-0 at half time and KaaPo hadn’t had a sniff.

I told the boys ahead of the second half that a single goal would be enough to win this game but I didn’t expect them to take me quite so literally. We again dominated proceedings without getting much on target. Not until the 72nd minute when Jarno Eranen met a Timo Etelamaki cross with a diving header from 10 yards out that flew into the bottom left hand corner of the net. This livened KaaPo up, a little, as they managed their only two shots on goal (neither on target) in a couple of minutes after the goal. Not much more to report thereafter, other than it finished 1-0 and we are through to the next round.

RoPS and Inter Turku of the Premier Division fell at this hurdle to non league teams, whilst Division 1 teams VG-62,Rakuunat, SalPa and VPS went the same way.

Final Score: KaaPo 0-1 PP-70

Fourth Round safely negotiated.

[chesterfan2]

Springtime in Finland, and a man's thoughts turn to notions of <STRIKE>love</STRIKE> the opnening game of the season

Things were going pretty well with Kaija. We had started to see a bit of each other outside of work and, like I say, it was all going well.

Alot of our friendship was based around our shared love of football and PP-70 in particular. We talked over players and tactics and future games. It hadn't been my intention that I would use Kaija as a tactical advisor, more that is was nice to have someone who knew enough about the team to bounce ideas off and get a coherent response.

And she'd come up with the goods at least once so far, Eranen was alot better suited to a forward role, so I was alot more likely to at least listen to her point of view. Not that she was going to by my Eileen Drewery, not by any means, but it was always nice to talk.

So now in my favourite spot at the museum cafe we chatted about life in general and the forthcoming opening league match. There'd be ten days between the cup game and the start of the season proper, but I didn't think that we needed any more games crammed into that gap. I'd rather have the lads keep their focus on the task in hand. I figured if we went into the games with that attitude it would take us a long way towards where we want to go, that being the top of Division One.

[Loeffle]

Very nice Season kicks off soon, and Chesterguy has spring feelings!

[chesterfan2]

as ever, cheers for the nice words old buddy

In cup news this week.

In a replay last year’s cup winner’s AC Alliansi were knocked out, and in the fifth round draw we pick up what must be the tie of the round a home tie against local giants Tampere Utd. The local press have gone wild over this news and for a time I was besieged in my office at the training ground….well Dag Hammerfest from the local rag turned up, which he hasn’t been doing much of lately, which is odd seeing as he is supposed to be their PP-70 reporter.

In other news the odds for the forthcoming season are published, we are slated at 14-1 and a mid-table finish is in the minds of the bookies (at least that’s better than what they reckoned we’d do last year). Honka are not surprisingly the favourites with VG-62 also in the reckoning, apparently.

Also the fifth round cup game will mean that our first league match against MP is moved back, instead we’ll visit GBK on the 11th May for the season’s opener instead.

[chesterfan2]

read all about it

The Dag Hammerfest column Aamulehti 01 May 2006

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">PP70 draw local giants in 5th round glamour tie

It's true, in the 5th round draw for the Finnish Cup our own minnows at PP-70 have pulled the rabbit out of the hat and will host local premier league giants Tampere Utd. quite how far the Tristan Langley revolution at PP-70 will take the team in this tie remains to be seen, but if the pre-season game against KooTeePee is anything to go by the lads from the Tammelan Stadion should do well.

And how about the league, that's just about to commence. In the pre-season Langley has shipped out a number of defenders and brought in new players. It remains to be seen whether this will proft the club in any way beyond the money from the transfer fees. The bookies precdict midtable mediocrity. Langley looks like a man who expects more, and who knows, if they can get a good start to the campaign maybe he just might get it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[united_forever]

Going well my friend

Its a good read.

Keep it up. Can't wait to read more when you post it.

[chesterfan2]

Thanks united_forever. I still read your stuff with interest, the latest story looks good

PP-70 set for Finnish Cup clash

The bookies have us as 9-1 outsiders for this match, and quite clearly reckon that we have no chance. I show this information to the players in the hope it will annoy them and get them fired up for this clash.

And it seemed to have worked as we started very brightly but with Eranen wasting two good opportunities in quick succession., but the forward was to make up for that indiscretion in the 13th minute when he turned into the net a ball prodded into the box from the left edge by Etelamaki after Karhu playing on the right wing had hit a 40 yard cross field pass to his feet, a great goal. And something for Tampere United to think about. They responded well, and within a couple of minutes had buried a header into the side netting when it looked easier to score. At the other end Lehtonen had a close range effort brilliantly tipped over. Things got a little desperate at the back as the half wore on. Tampere blazed a couple of chances wide, had one chalked off (correctly) for offside and generally put us under a great deal of pressure. We were limited to a couple of runs down the flanks that had little in the way of end product. But the half eventually came to a close with us still in the 1-0 lead.

The question was how would I tackle the half time team talk ? I chose gentle words of encouragement and some instructions to play a little deeper and a little more defensively. Well it was like the Alamo in the second half. They hit the post within a minute of the restart were profligate in front of goal and Peltonen made a couple of great saves. But unfortunately just as time was beginning to become an issue for the Premier League side they equalised with a scrambled goal in the 89th minute. Disaster.

Still, how to pick the boys up for extra time ? I told them we only needed one goal, told them to forget about putting up the barricades and told them to try and play some football. Karhu on the right wasn’t having the best of games so I replaced him with the youngster Linus Blomster.

We were put under the kosh again in the first period of extra time, but managed to hold on, Peltonen once again to the rescue. Blomster was injured at the end of the period and had to be replaced by Sivohnen, a more defensively minded player, so not entirely a bad thing. However glory was not to be ours as despite us doing better in the second period of extra time it was Tampere United who grabbed the winner, in the 118th minute, leaving us no time to get back into the game.

Final Score PP-70 1-2 Tampere United

Truly a sickener. We were so close. I guess we now can concentrate on the league !

[Flying_Fin]

Still a great read mate

Keep up the good work!

[united_forever]

its great to hear that people are interested in my stories.

Unlucky with this last match mate. Local derby's are always good matches

[chesterfan2]

Too right with that point, mate ! Cheers, as ever, to Flying Fin also,

Picking up the pieces

After the game the mood in the dressing room was despondant to say the least. I told the lads that I was proud of their efforts and that they had come damn close to causing an upset. I went on to tell them to take pride in what they had achieved here, tonight, in giving what was, on paper certainly, a far better team a real fright.

The players got dressed and one by one drifted off home, or off for something to eat, or wherever else one went after a crushing dispointment. One player hung behind though, clearly wanting to speak to me. It was Antti Peltonen the goalkeeper.

Antti Peltonen(AP): "Sorry boss."

Tristan Langley (TL): "Don't be ridiculous, mate, you were phenomenal tonight"

AP: "But I screwed up for the second goal."

It happened to be true. I skated over it a bit in the match report but it was partly his fault the second goal, the killer goal, had gone in, he had spilled a shot into the path of the onrushing striker. Perhaps he should have held it, perhaps not, it was a hard shot. I wasn't going to hold it against him, he was one of the club's top assets, and now it looked like I'd have a job to protect his confidence too.

TL : "Nonsense, Antti. I don't think many keepers could have held that shot besides it's down to you that we were still level at that point"

AP : "Thanks for that boss, but I still feel I could have done better"

TL : "Just look at the facts, they were all over us. They had 17 shots on target, we had three. The sponser named you man of the match, for god's sake, they wouldn't have done that if you had been at fault for the goal, would they ?"

AP : "I guess not. Thanks for the chat boss, I'll get off now and get some food"

TL : "You do that, mate. And don't forget this, the first name I'll have on the teamsheet on Saturday will be yours."

And with that he was gone, looking just a bit more chirpy. I was really pleased with Antti that night. The loss of the game really mattered to him, and I liked that intensity. What I didn't want, however, would be for that to carry over into the next match.

I left the changing room. Kaija was waiting for me outside.

Kaija Salonen (KS) : "Bad luck tonight, do you want to go and eat somewhere, it'll help you take your mind of the game."

Tristan Langley (TL) : "Cheers, but do you mind if we just go somewhere for a pint ?"

KS : "I was hoping you'd say that. Let's go."

One of the truly great things about Kaija was that she thought like a true football supporter.

[chesterfan2]

Opening Day

Opening Day of the season saw us travel away from home to play GBK. Scout Juha Lund reckons they are a strong side physically but thinks them a little lacking in pace up front. We’ll see. GBK are new to Division 1, having been promoted up from the lower reaches of Finnish football last season and the bookies make the slight outsiders for this one, despite being at home. We rate at 6-4, they sit at 13-8 with 2-1 the draw. We go into the game with no injury worries to speak of so we can go with a full strength team, Kotilahti getting the nod on the right wing.

Playing in our all blue away strip we start brightly with both Olikainen and Eranen shooting wide when well placed. But we didn’t have to wait long for the first goal, coming in the 9th minute, a great through ball hit 30 yards by Valkeapaa for Mikkola to run onto, he took the ball round the onrushing keeper and slotted the ball home with ease. 1-0. We eased off a little without ever losing control of the game, but it wasn’t until the 34th minute that we even created another chance, one that we took with great aplomb. The second goal came from a raking 40 yard pass to the wing by Uoti who found Mikkola in acres of space. Mikkola charged down the right wing, beating the last man all ends up and then swung the ball across the face of goal 15 yards out where Eranen volleyed home, running onto the ball and shooting past the hapless netminder and into the bottom left hand corner of the net. Later on in the half Lahtinen saw a free kick from distance whistle the wrong side of the upright. So 2-0 at half time was a good return for us, and one I was more than happy with.

I gave the lads some encouragement and told them to play with just a bit more attacking verve in the second period. I was rewarded on 52 minutes with another well taken goal.Etelamaki’s long ball from the back was flicked on by Mikkola for Kotilahti, inside the box, who raced to the byline, then pulled the ball back across the face of goal whereEranen was there to beat the goalie from close range. It was only after this that GBK actually put together anything at all in the way of forward play. They eventually pulled together 6 chances, all off target and though we didn’t score again the 3 goal cushion was clearly going to be enough to claim the three points Pasanen was named man of the match and 521 hardy souls came to watch the game today.

Final Score GBK 0-3 PP-70

Just the start to the season we wanted

Cuurent League Position : 1st on goal difference

[chesterfan2]

The first game at home

The first home game of the season saw the visit of MIFK. Unlike GBK Juha Lund believes MIFK to be a first rate side, strong and quick in attack. And this is reflected in the bookies odds. MIFK favourites at 6/4. We are 7/2 with the draw 9-4. Even with only two days rest since the last game we have no injury worries and I name an unchanged side from the one that dominated the last game so well.

The game started badly for us with MIFK getting the early goal after three minutes when Weckstrom stole in unmarked at the near post and guided the ball past Peltonen. Peltonen made two more excellent saves before the half was out, but it managed to get to 1-0 to the opposition at the break without us having created anything at all.

I had a go at the players at the break, their performance so far had been lacklustre and aimless. I told them to pull their collective finger out and to give this game a go. And that we did, we made them work. Three chances were created with the first three minutes of the half and we only had to wait until the 52nd minute for the equaliser. A loose pass across the back line was seized upon by Eranen who nipped in front of the keeper (who was miles out of his goal) and then passed the ball into the empty net from 25 yards out. 1-1. MIFK responded by marching straight down the pitch and scoring, Weckstrom again the scorer, turning in a cross from the right once again in complete isolation from his ‘marker’. We responded in kind but Mikkola was very unlucky to see his effort chalked off for offside. Never was in my book. But a second equaliser did come, in the 83rd minute following an excellent passage of play. PP-70 passed the ball around the backline until an opening appeared, Pasanen crossing from deep and Eranen getting a head start on his defender to meet the ball first and flick it beyond the reach of the keeper. It looked to be heading for a draw but in a sickeningly common scenario that every manager of note must face on a regular basis in this FM world of ours MIFK scored with the last kick of the game. An uncharacteristically wayward kick out by Peltonen, a missed challenged by Lahtinen and lo, behold, a winning goal from MIFK as the ball comes straight back down the pitch into the path of the substitute MIFK forward and from there past Peltonen and into the net. Annoying to say the least.

Final Score PP-70 2-3 MIFK

And it came to pass that we lost a game we should have got something out of, at least if we want to go anywhere with the team this year we should

Current League Position : 8th

[chesterfan2]

A walk in the woods

The day after the MIFK Kaija and I went for a walk through the Vihilahdenpuisto woods.

Vihilahdenpuisto is a special wood planted in the summer of 1995 to commemorate the IUFRO XX World Congress held in Tampere. Most of the species planted in this park are trees thriving in Finland, but there are some new ones, too. Especially pretty at this time of year were the flower meadows that form a large part of the park.

As we walked, we talked.

Kaija Slaonen (KS): "A bad way for the game to end yesterday, especially for the goalie, how did Antti take it ?"

Tristan Langley (TL): "Not so badly, actually. This time he actually recognised the part he played in keeping MIFK out, especially in the first half. He dissapointed to have chosen to kick the ball at the end rather than throw it, as he had done for all of the rest of the game, but at the end of the day we had more chances to clear it, and we didn't. I just want to know why the centre of the defence chose to go AWOL at that precise moment."

KS: "Yes, it was a bit of a sickener to watch as well. It's like you could see it all unravelling in slow motion. Horrible."

TL: "Indeed, anyway enough about yesterday. I don't have time to mope, it's MP in two days time. "

KS: "That's right a nice walk through the woods will help us to forget about yestrday's game and help to put us in the right frame of mind for Wednesday."

TL: "O.K., Sounds good. Anyway why aren't you at work this afternoon, time off ?"

KS: "Compassionate Leave. My boss is a PP-70 fan too and reckons I'll do more good cheering you up than actually doing any real work."

TL: "I like this man already ! Anyway which way shall we go ?"

KS: "If we take this path, then that goes up through the trees back to the main part of the Hatanpää Arboretum. What could be nicer than a stroll through the woods arm-in-arm ? When we get back to the Arboretum, you could buy me an ice-cream"

TL: "Kaija, That's the best offer I've had all day."

And it was.

[Loeffle]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by united_forever:

its great to hear that people are interested in my stories.

Unlucky with this last match mate. Local derby's are always good matches </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

How many people did watch it?

I just got the sack at Hibs And that after Hearts didn't win ONE out of the last 12 derbies. On 23rd Burley got the sack, on 25th it was me

And Im in my best season ever better to say was ...

[chesterfan2]

Loeffle, cheers buddy. There were 2966 fans at the Tampere Unuted game. At home to MIFK in the league ? 264. And bad luck with the Hibs job, they obviously don't know a good thing when they see it !

Three more days and let’s play again…

It’s another home game, the rearranged fixture against MP. Not the game I would have fancied to pick ourselves up with as MP are a side that Juha Lund holds in quite high regard. Back in the 70’s and again in the early 90’s they were a force in the Premier League, but more recently have been down as far as Division 2. Juha says that have a strong, quick attack allied to a hard working, tough midfield that will be a package that could prove to be quite hard to break down. The bookies only have MP as slight favourites with a win for us as likely as a draw.

The way we started the game we looked a little shellshocked. We couldn’t string two passes together for the first ten minutes and thereby handed the initiative to our opponents. They didn’t do much with it mind, other than blazing wide a very good chance in the 7th minute. We started to get our act together after that and we were in the ascendancy by the time that Lehtonen headed a Pasanen cross past a helpless goalkeeper for a one-nil lead. This spurred MP into action and from that point on in the first half they dominated, creating numerous chances that, if on target (and that was a big if) Peltonen was well able to deal with.

1-0 at half time. I told them not to get complacent and asked them to be a little more defensively minded in the second period. Despite these changes though it was more of the same in the second period. Eranen missed a glorious chance to make it two when he caught the keeper off his line but his lob bounced agonisingly wide. Peltonen was again on top form when called upon, which won’t have been enough for the liking of the MP coach, but was fine by me. Indeed the MP strikers were woefully bad today.

1-0 at full time and a win we perhaps didn’t deserve, but they say these things even themselves out over a season don’t they.

Final Score PP-70 1-0 MP

No more than we deserved ?

Current League Position : 4th

[chesterfan2]

Unbelievable

I had a call from AC Alliansi General manager Oliver Suray asking if they could loan Antti Peltonen, along with a guaranteed future price of £4,000. I'm afraid I just laughed down the phone at him.

If they think I'm going to fall for that one they have another thing coming. I stopped laughing long enough to tell him where he could stick his offer and then slammed down the phone.

[chesterfan2]

An away trip to Helsinki

The following Sunday saw us take a trip to the capital, to FC Atlantis to be precise. I didn’t see Hanna in the crowd, but then I don’t know if I expected to see her. What surprised me was the fact that I hoped that she would be there. Kaija had decided against making the trip, and I missed her more. Perhaps neither wanted to see the other, or perhaps I think too much of myself.

Anyway, to the game. Juha Lund calls this lot strong too. Quick in attack and creative in midfield. We are narrow outsiders (7-4 against FC Atlantis’s 5-4), but what does it mean at this stage of the season anyway ?

Things started badly for FC Atlantis as they had centre back Ekuri dismissed in only the 5th minute for what was a fairly crude hauling back of Eranen on the edge of the box as he went past him. The resultant free kick was in a promising position but Lehtonen curled his shot well wide. Despite having a man advantage the play was fairly evenly contested with both sides producing chances, not many of them on target. We struggled to make any headway until the 40th minute when a poor kick out from goal was returned from the centre circle where Lahtinen won a header and firmly planted up the field where Mikkola, who’s been quiet so far this season, ran onto it and steered it past the onrushing keeper for a one-nil lead. Olikainen, Eranen and Kotilahlti all had chances to extend the lead before the break but they all failed to do so.

1-0 at half time and we were good value for the lead. I told the lads not to take the foot off the pedal in the second half as I was wary of letting them back in given our defensive frailties at times. And so it was no surprise that after wasting a couple more opportunities we let a goal slip on the hour mark, a two on one break well executed and the score to one-all. We applied some pressure after that but without ever really stretching the keeper, and the game finished one-all. I’m afraid I had to tell the lads how disappointed I was with their performance as this was one we should have won.

Final Score FC Atlantis 1-1 PP-70

And we only have ourselves to blame for this one.

Current League Position: 4th

[chesterfan2]

A difficult task

That being pre-season favourites Honka at home. An exceptional side the scout says, with a hard-working midfield but a slow attack. The bookies have Honka at 4-5on favourites, we are 3-1, and we’re playing at home. Doesn’t that count for anything ? The draw is 2-1.

We went into the match unchanged again and were soon a goal down as Honka’s relentless forward pressing in the first ten minutes got them a goal, a shot half cleared, turned back in for strike to pounce. One of those. Honka were guilty of relaxing after the goal and we were on level terms within three minutes a Pasanen cross from deep on the right somehow eluded the keeper and was turned into an empty net by a suspiciously off-side looking Eranen. A forrest of Honka arms went up to claim the off side but the ref and linesman were unmoved and the goal stood. On 22 minutes it got even better for us as we scored another. Kotilahti’s run and cross from the right was knocked down by Lehtonen to the feet of Harri Mikkola, who made no mistake from 12 yards out, slamming the ball past the keeper and into the net. Now it was Honka’s turn to come back into the game as the equalised on 26 minutes, a cross from the left, eluded all the defenders and was turned home by an unmarked midfielder at the far post. Another two minutes and things got worse as Matti Uoti was adjudged, very harshly, to have fouled the Honka forward in the box. A penalty was given and that was dispatched with aplomb past Peltonen.

Things calmed down a bit after that and it finished at half time 3-2 to Honka

I told the lads that I expected better from them and to go out and attack in the second half. Within 2 minutes we were level as a firm backpass was miscontrolled by the Honka keeper and the ball was rolled into an unguarded net by Mikkola for his second of the game. 65 mins and Honka regain the lead, a header home from a corner. The jumper was unchallenged which is a disspointment. We had a chance to equalise late on but it was well saved, and the game ended up with us on the wrong end of a seven goal thriller.

Final Score PP70 3-4 Honka

Poor defending cost us today

Current League Position: 6th

[chesterfan2]

This one is supposed to be easier

Away at Rakuunat. Juhan Lund says them to be determined, but not very good coming forward. We’ll see , eh? They lie 11th in the league and will likely be involved in that relegation scrap all season, like they were last year.

Unchanged again, but if we fail to win this one then I can foresee changes on the way. A lively opening quarter of an hour saw us have a goal ruled out for offside, Rakuunat have a man sent off for a professional foul (I thought he had cover, but don’t tell anyone) and then Mikkola score an opening goal after picking the ball up in the opposition’s box unchallenged. We failed to dominate after this point and it was no surprise when an equaliser arrived courtesy of a well taken free kick on the edge of the box. On 36 minutes, however we were back in front, a Kotilahti cross was headed goalwards by Mikkola the keeper saved that effort but could only palm it into the path of Eranen who made no mistake from close range. Just before the half time break Pasanen made it three, turning in another Kotilahti cross.

3-1 at half time and we are coasting. We take it pretty easy in the second period but Rakuunat can’t find much in the way of response. Neither side makes any chances to speak of and the only thing of note is an injury to Mikkola right at the end of the game. Let’s hope that’s not too serious.

Final Score Rakuunat 1-3 PP-70

Quite an easy game

Current League Position: 4th with 10 points from 6 games

[Aaron Meadows]

After a very slow start it is now 5 pages long ... impressive. still cant be bothered to read it though

[Loeffle]

Fantastic start in Veikausliga for you Hope you can keep your form!

I'm starting a game in Southern Italy now - ever heard of Melfi?

[Flying_Fin]

Woo That Tampere Utd game was a nasty one yeah, but there IS a big difference between those two teams after all.

Oh, and the level of footie in Finland is quite low compared to it's neighbour Sweden (where I've lived for the past 20 years before coming to Holland).

Some pointless info, but hey - I am waiting for FM to finish loading, so...

[Loeffle]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Flying_Fin:

Oh, and the level of footie in Finland is quite low compared to it's neighbour Sweden (where I've lived for the past 20 years before coming to Holland).

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Even if the level of footie in Sweden is also very low compared to its neighbour Norway Did a Swedish team make it to Champions League this century? Last was Helsingborg I guess?

[chesterfan2]

Thanks for the comments guys

We'llbe sorry to see you go

In the week after the Rakuunat game I had a visit at the club offices from our 'talent' scout Julian Carrera.

Julian had been a friend of mine from our days back in England and I had signed him up as a scout whne I got this job, well we needed a scout and I knew that he needed a job, a perfect match. Indeed he had uncovered some real gems, Harri Mikkola being the most obvious one. So I was curious about the reason for his visit, fortunatly he got straight to the point.

Julian Carrera (JC) : "Tris, thanks for seeing me, mate. Look I thought I'd keep you in the picture but I've been offered a job back in England, and I think I'm going to take it. No offence to you or PP-70, it's been great here, it'll just be nice to go home."

Tristan Langley (TL) : "Thanks for being so honest Julian, which team is it ?"

JC : "It's Tranmere Rovers."

TL : "That's great, Julian, Tranmere were a team I had a lot of dealings with when I was Chester manager, they are run by a very good team of people, it sounds like a great move."

JC : "Thanks boss, you don't mind or anything ?"

TL : "Not at all, now the season is underway here, and I have a squad I'm pretty much happy with there's not alot for you to do here. So if you are going to leave then now is a good time to do it. Best of luck mate."

JC : "Cheers, we'll I'll be seeing you around."

And with that he left. Truth be told that whilst it was a pretty good time for him to leave if he was going to leave, I was pretty miffed that Tranmere had decided to go about it behind my back. They probably wanted Julian simply because he now has a year's worth of scouting experience in Scandanvia, and that's probably how they'll use him.

We get a little compensation too, and a little time to look for a replacement before he'll be needed in earnest, so maybe I can turn this negative event around. All I need to do is find another unemployed scout. That might be easier said than done.

[chesterfan2]

Another local derby

Next game up is against TPV or to give them their full title Tampereen Pallo-Veikot. New to Division one this season they are Tampere’s third club and share the Tammelan Stadion with us. We are nominally at home today. The bookies have us as Evens favourites and TPV at 9/4 with the draw the same. TPV lie 13th in the table and are fancied by all and sundry as relegation fodder. Just the sort of match we could screw up then.

One change to the starting line up as Harri Mikkola got a bang on the head in training and as a precaution will sit this one out. Hopefully the double vision will clear up in a couple of days otherwise he’ll be out for the next one also. Sergiy Panchenko will deputise.

The first half wasn’t a lot like a football match more like the Siege of the Alamo, we threw the kitchen sink at them but got absolutely nowhere. They manager a single off target effort, but nevertheless we’ll need to watch out for them in the second period. 0-0 at half time and what do you say to them. “We can win this†was the rather lame, ‘Escape To Victory’-(the film not the rather good FM story)-esque line that I came up with. Nevermind hopefully it’ll have some effect.

The breakthrough came on 51 minutes. A free kick on the edge of the box was curled in by Kotilahti, One-nil. We kept up the pressure but to their credit TPV kept up their defence. We didn’t score again until the 80th minute when, in a goalmouth melee, Panchenko was on hand to bundle the ball home for his first ever league goal for PP-70. After the second goal we were content to sit back and coast home for the victory which we duly did 2-0. Jaakko Pasanen was given the man of the match award, mainly for the attacking threat he carried despite being the right back. We move to third on goal difference on the back of this win MIFK lead the way on 16 points, Honka are 2nd with 15. Then come three teams on 13 points, ourselves then MP and then SalPa the other newly promoted side.

Final Score PP-70 2- 0 TPV

A comfortable win for us, but I fear a long season for our near neighbours

Current League Position : 3rd

[chesterfan2]

The opening Day of the World Cup

It was June 7th, and in the world outside ‘my’ football club there was a World Cup going on. In the opening game holders Brazil would face World Cup newcomers Togo, a baptism of fire if ever there was one. In the other opening day match, later on in the evening the other teams in Group A Ireland and other newcomers Canada would face each other.

I was pleased that in Finland we would approach the tournament as fans much as we would in England, so I accompanied Kaija into the bar at Plevna and we sat down to watch the footy, in the company of other football fans and some lovely beer.

As for the football, Brazil started slowly and left it late to get their goals in a 2-0 win over Togo. Ireland on the other hand scored twice early, got another midway through the second period and coasted to a 3-0 win over Canada.

Having spent a very pleasant four or five hours in a pub we wended our merry way home. I kissed Kaija goodnight at her place, fuelled by the alcohol it was a longer, more sensual kiss than we had shared before. I wondered for a second if she would invite me in, but after hesitating for a second she gave me a peck on the cheek and turned to go inside. I continued on my own way home a happy man, and that wasn’t just the effects of the dark lager.

[chesterfan2]

My head hurts

Unfortunately the following day I had first work and then at the football club some administrative matters to take care of. My head was pounding, and paracetamol weren’t having much of an effect but by the afternoon, when I rolled into the club offices I was at least beginning to feel human again.

The business matters to attend to were as follows. A new scout to fill the vacancy left by Julian Carrera, and two loan enquiries.

The new scout was another Englishman, 34 year old James Kifer, not that good a scout but he’s young and more importantly available for nothing.

The loan enquiries were for left winger Jarkko Riihimaki from Premier Division outfit TP-47. They want to loan him for the season with an option to buy. I’m not in the business of standing in the way of players I don’t need when they get better offers so I accepted. When I contacted him Jarkko practically whooped with delight at the prospect and before the day was through the paperwork was signed and he was on his way to the Premier Division. The other enquiry was for right back Aki Iso-Pietila from division rivals VPS. After a little thought I decided to accept. Aki had been very patient despite not getting many opportunities and deserved to get a few games under his belt, so I told him he could go. He said he’d think about it.

[chesterfan2]

More games, more beer ?

Actually, no. I stayed in taht evening to watch highlights of the afternoon's game, a real thriller where Holland beat South Africa 4-2. I watched the evening game where hosts Germany dispatched Mexico 2-0 in the other Group B match.

[chesterfan2]

Aki Accepts

After giving it some thought Aki Iso-Pietila has accpeted teh offer for VPS. This is handy for them as they play us tomorrow.

Three World Cup games today, in Group C the Czech Republic were stunningly beaten by Nigeria, 4-0 the final score there. In the other Group C match Croatia beat Saudi Arabia 2-0. In the opening match in Group D Portugal beat Ukraine 3-0. Perhaps Nigeria are the ones to watch here ?

[chesterfan2]

england expects

It was going to be a good day. The day before teh game against VPS and it was England's turn to join the world cup fray. I found the "English Pub" in Tamperre (there is one believe me), and found it populated by the small britsich ex-pat community in Tampere, most of whom I didn't know. But I shared a table and rounds of beer with James Kifer and we sat down to watch the days games. In the opening game of group E we saw Turkey beat Colombia 2-1. We then saw highlights of the Group D game between Jamaica and the Ivory Coast which happened at the same time as the Turkey game.

8:00pm local time saw England kick off against Japan in Berlin. England dominated the game, but failed to score and left us all deflated with a surprising 0-0 draw.

I regret to say that James and I, and most of the rest of teh ex-pats thought that the best way to tackle the disspointment was to drink more beer. As I staggered into to bad late on Saturday night I couldn't help but reflect that this wasn't the best idea.

[chesterfan2]

Wow. I do appear to have beaten all known records for marginal spelling in this one. I do apologise.

[chesterfan2]

And so to a football match. Remember those Tristan ?

VPS were the visitors. A strong team with a speedy attack intent on playing attractive football according to Juha Lund. They lie in 7th spot but are widely regarded as potential promotion candidates and come into this game strong favourites with the bookies. Team wise no changes from the TPV game, although recovered from his injury Harri Mikkola is not match fit so Panchenko will get another game up front.

The game opened up quite caged but burst into life on 12 minutes when Olikainen streaked down the left, burst past the full back into the box, only to be hauled back. The protests of the VPS players were futile as a red card and a penalty were the only option the referee really had., right back Saranpaa the culprit. Lehtonen stepped up to tack the spot kick and made no mistake, blasting it just left of centre and low down. 1-0 to us. On 17 minutes it was 2-0 as Kotilahti weaved his magic down the right and crossed for Lehtonen to rise to head home his second of the game. It was all PP-70 after that as VPS struggled to get to grips with their man deficit. Lehtonen was denied his hatrick from a trademark free kick that was well saved.

2-0 it remained at half time and I told the guys not to let their performance levels drop. In truth I wanted to tell them how proud I was of them but I thought that might be counterproductive and anyway I could save that for the end of the game, as long as we were still winning. This proved to be the right message to give across as we scored again after just 22 seconds of the second half, Eranen shooting home from the edge of the box after the ball had been won in the centre circle by Etelamaki, who’d fed the ball into space for |Eranen to exploit. On 58 minutes, after more incessant pressure we scored again this time a stunning curling strike from 30 yards by Timo Valkeapaa, if that’s not goal of the month I’ll want to know why. VPS showed a little more life after that but there was no way back for the supposed favourites and the game finished 4-0. Against one of the fancied teams I think this shows that we mean business.

Final score PP-70 4-0 VPS

Did the sending off change things ? Probably not.

Current League Position : 2nd as Honka could only draw

Meanwhile at the World Cup, In Group F Argentina beat Australia 2-0 whilst in Group H Sweden beat Ecuador 1-0 and Spain beat South Korea 2-0.

[chesterfan2]

Injury news and congratulations

The following day we had a couple of visitors to the treatment room. Timo Etelemaki hurt an elbow in the game and will be out for between one and three weeks. Meanwhile Joni Lehtonen picked up a dead leg in the game and will be out for a few days, maybe as much as a week.

I also received a telephone call from the chairman Pentti Kainulainen who was effusive in his praise for the 4-0 win over VPS but most especially for the manner in which we achieved it. It’s always nice to receive praise.

In the World Cup the last six teams made their Cup entrances. In Group F Italy squeezed past Iran 1-0. Group G on the other hand could become known as the Group of Death (by extreme boredom) as both France and Serbia & Montenegro and Tunisia and the USA fashioned 0-0 draws. Not a thrilling day. 270 minutes of World Cup footy and one goal. Whoever called this the beautiful game ?

[chesterfan2]

The next round of World Cup games

The next game wasn't for another ten days as next weekend was cup weekend. During the week not alot happened but I watched a fair bit of the World Cup. The results form the second set of group games were as follows:

A Brazil 1-0 Ireland

A Togo 1-2 Canada

B Germany 2-1 Holland

B Mexico 0-4 South Africa

C Czech Republic 1-2 Croatia

C Nigeria 3-0 Suadi Arabia

D Ivory Coast 0-0 Portugal

D Ukraine 0-1 Jamaica

E Turkey 2-1 Japan

E England 2-0 Colombia

F Iran 1-1 Australia

F Argentina 1-2 Italy

G France 2-0 Tunisia

G USA 3-0 Serbia & Montenegro

H South Korea 0-1 Sweden

H Ecuador 0-5 Spain

After two games Croatia & Nigeria from Group C, Turkey from Group E, Italy from Group F and both Sweden and Spain from Group H are definitely through to the next stage of the competition. This means that South Korea and the Czech Republic are both out of the competition already.