Hasegawa Makes Vortis Bench!

On-loan Grampus goalie Toru Hasegawa makes the bench in tonight's game in Gifu. With Tokushima having two good goalkeepers in Oh Seung Hoon and Hideaki Ueno, it looks like Toru has been working hard to get a chance. I hope he can prove that he is good enough to join Vortis on a permanent basis, or better yet that he can challenge Takagi for the number two spot at Grampus.

Grampus 'Climb' to 11th

Despite another poor performance, and yet another injury. This time Chiyotanda and Yoshida joining those keeping the physios working overtime. It looks like we may get a chance to see how Arai does in defence on Wednesday. Our six points, from six games, is far from convincing champion's form, but sees us rise up to 11th and still leaves us above both Cerezo Osaka and Kashima Antlers.

* Match report to follow *

The Canadian Press: Promoted Ventforet Kofu upsets J-League champions Nagoya Grampus 3-1

The view from Canada! Why Canada?
The Canadian Press: Promoted Ventforet Kofu upsets J-League champions Nagoya Grampus 3-1

Masukawa Joins the Treatment Table

Grampus defender Takahiro Masukawa joined our list of injuries on Sunday, forcing the manager to shuffle Danilson into a central defensive role in an attempt to combat the rampant Mike Havenaar. (Personally, I think Piksi was a bit too effusive in his praise of the gangling forward, even if he is Dido's son.:-)) Masukawa is expected to be out for about three weeks.

The clash this weekend against Kashiwa Reysol should give us a good idea of where Piksi's priorities are. With the ACL game next week, it will be interesting to see if he risks Tulio and Kanazaki, or indeed Josh Kennedy, at the weekend. All are expected to be fit again by then, but only just.

Grampus Crash to Second 3-1 Loss in a Row

The two 13-hour flights to the UAE took their toll on the players who made the trip. As a result, the team crashed to it first consecutive defeats in over a year.

In the end, this was a game which saw us outfought by a hungrier team. Kofu outshot us 12-5 and looked much the stronger team in the second half, where they had the batter of the possession as well as the chances. It is hardly surprising that the likes of Masukawa and Ogawa found the game difficult after their excursion, especially as Yoshizumi has looked a bit off form all season. Even the sprightly Nagai looked a bit jaded.

Hanai Out for 4 Weeks

Grampus youngster Sho Hanai, who played in last Wednesday's ACL game, is out for four weeks with a torn hamstring. This might explain his somewhat lacklustre performance in that game.