Wednesday 16 July 2008

Kawasaki S-Pa - Preview

This Thursday, 15th placed S-Pa make the not-so-long trip up the Tōkaidō to face many people's pre-season tip for the title, Kawasai Frontale. Currently sitting in 11th and having been decidedly hit and miss so far this season, S-Pa can steam into this one without too much to fear. Sadly neither me or Fuz will be heading up to Kawasaki, but a good number of the extended UKU family will be at the Todoroki with an army of S-Pulse who will be filling their end and doing their bit for the cause.

Despite us sitting just above the drop zone, it's (probably) far too early to be worrying that Kenta's position at the helm may be at risk. The J. League is also free (for the most part) of the managerial merry-go-round (© every British tabloid ever) which blights English football, but Marinos, who are just one space below us, sacked their manager and head coach this week. It's also a fact that only one S-Pulse manager has ever made it past three years. That was Steve Perryman who had us up there only missing out on a championship title on penalties. Kenta really needs a win right now. I can't help starting to wonder how long he's going to get to turn things around. Local legend though he is, another couple of dodgy home defeats and an exit from the Nabisco next month could see things get very uncomfortable for him. What we need is a solid away performance to get us back on track and help swell the gate on Sunday for our tie with Albirex.

Well, with a stupidly busy week keeping me from any extended preview, I'm off to my bed. Two days at the office and then it's off for five weeks. With my big bro hitting Japan for a fortnight on Saturday, we'll be off to 'Daira on Sunday and off on a BDO to Omiya next week - bring it!

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